yes, do not use the UA1D...it's not bit perfect.
here is the proof, from edirol rep:
From: SAlpert5@aol.com
Subject: Edirol UA-3 and USB Digital I/O
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 00:40:31 EST
I had read some items on this list regarding USB digital audio interfaces, in
order to research the matter for myself. There was some discrepancy between
some posts, but I believe that I can clarify them (thanks to Edirol) for the
benefit of everyone who reads this list.
Scott.C.Brown uses USB e-magic EMI 2|6 with i-book with no problem....
Kieth Bode talked about USB being "fine" but wanted to know about how to
prove it is bit for bit...
"Jesse" got a letter from Isaac Balloun, a Technical Support Representative
at Edirol Corporation North America who confirmed that USB (1) is bad for
digi-audio, that USB-2 would be fine (but Roland does not make such
interface) and that Roland products are fine.
Jesse says that's hogwash, since the speed capabilty of USB is sufficient.
As you can see, they're "both" right... It is really a driver issue.
Scott uses an i-Book, which you can well imagine uses different drivers than
a PC.
Well, I got several e-mails from Edirol regarding the matter when I
investigated whether this was perhaps the unit for me (the UA-3).....which I
have deemed for now that it is NOT.
According to Edirol, it is MICROSOFT'S driver that is actually the problem.
For all you DAT-Heads, here is the text of what Edirol wrote to me regarding
this matter. Hopefully this will put to rest any of the questions. If anyone
would like to respond to me, please do so directly to my e-mail address,
since I do not have time to read each issue.
There is more than one reply since I asked a few different questions. All
their replies are here.
From: Catherine Carey, Edirol Corporation
One of the reasons that I love this job (even after six years), is that I
learn something new every day. Here's the skinny on the digital transfer
capabilities of the UA-3. You were quite correct that it is not a bit for
bit transfer, and if the purpose of your transfer is preservation of the
audio quality from your DAT, the loss of data is so insignificant that human
ears won't decipher any difference. If however, you are transferring data
that will eventually need to be encoded back to the original file, the UA-3
would not be suitable for your needs.
I briefly mentioned the UA-5 to you when we spoke on the phone this
afternoon. Although we can't confirm this now, there is a very good chance
that because this is using a specific driver (written by Roland), there
would be no bit loss in the digital transfer. The UA-3 and UA-30 both use
the Microsoft USB audio driver. It is our estimation that it is the driver
itself that interferes with the data transfer, thus having a better driver
would be quite promising.
Another option to explore would be using the Propagamma USB ASIO driver with
the UA-3. Again, because this is not a generic driver, it would stand a
better chance of capturing the data accurately than the Microsoft driver.
This Propagamma driver is $50.00 however, and with the benefit of the
additional ports on the UA-5, may I suggest you take a hard look at the
Edirol UA-5.
I look forward to hearing from you again with further questions when you
have them.
Best regards,
Catherine Carey
Edirol Corporation North America
>>>
From: Catherine Carey
Sorry about the delayed response - we've been extremely busy. Because the
UA-3, UA-30, UA-1A or UA-1D are all using the Microsoft USB audio driver -
none of them will be capable of capturing bit for bit information. I
seriously doubt that Microsoft cares about any bit loss as the original
driver was to facilitate digital speakers hooked up through USB.
Regarding the bit data capture of the UA-5, it is possible that we'll have
further specifications that would include any bit loss data, but I most
certainly wouldn't hold your breath. At this point in time, I would think
that there will be no data loss.
>>>>>
From: Catherine Carey
To my knowledge, we are not planning a firewire device, particularly with
USB 2 (somewhat) around the corner.
>>>>>>>
Well, there ya have it.
Topic: Is there a loss of quality transferring files from computer to DAT? (Read 3192 times)