Review on Douk Audio U2 PRO XMOS XU208 Digital Interface - USB To TOSLINK/Coaxial/Optical/HDMI IIS Adapter For DAC, Preamp & Amplifier | PCM & DSD256 Support by Michael Vargas

Mini XMOS XU208 USB Digital Interface Coaxial/Optical /12S Audio Adapter DSD256 (AKA U2 PRO)So far, I’ve only used this to transfer audio from the USB C port on my Mac Studio to my AV receiver whose DAC can process up to 196 kHz audio. The Douk can play up to 196 kHz audio using the optical/coaxial port. Most of my music files are encoded in 44.1 kHz / 16 bits, so I’ve set the audio quality in the Mac’s Audio MIDI Setup app to 48 kHz/24 bits for most of the time. The Mac Studio’s (2022) audio DAC (Digital Audio Converter) can process up to 96 kHz high resolution audio on its own, but if you want to play higher resolution audio you’ll need a device like this one or a device with an external DAC (my external DAC is inside my AV receiver). Still, great audio from this little DSD (Direct Stream Digital) converter.I have not tried the HDMI iiS (i2S) port yet, but I do plan to test it out. That port can play up to 384 kHz from a PCM audio file, FYI.The only problem I ran into with this device was with using the power adapter. If the Duok is plugged into a USB port, it will draw its power from there. However if you also plug in the power adapter, it tends to make the device a bit unstable… disconnects from the system often. Then it needs to be powered down to reset it. If the USB port is its only source of power, it’s very stable. It’s best not to use the power adapter.