We too have had some of the best results with the XLR and BNC clock. Really excellent on the Aurender products. Great implementation.
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Seems likely, @Jonathan_Gullman will have to confirm.
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I can’t think of any advantages over the XLR connection. I would be happy to be proven wrong though. Also, this is just a CD, not a SACD player.
What you really want is the transport to run off the audio clock in the DAC. Many sources send the M clock so this isn’t unique. The ideal CD/SACD transport would have a word-clock or master clock input. To date, I haven’t seen any that support this.
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Given the excellent results reported by many Aurender users with MSB DACs (AES/EBU on XLR with clock link on BNC), and their very simple CD ripping process, I wonder if I might be better off with one of their products for “offline” digital music rather than a CD transport. I will retain my Roon Nucleus into the Network Renderer module in my Reference Digital Director for streaming purposes.
I have an Innuos Statement, similarly able to rip CDs and several times had the same thoughts.
Anyhow I decided to keep the Transport because:
- never ripped anything (I’m lazy) while sometimes I like to play a physical silver disc (call me nostalgic but I still like that ritual)
- even though it happens rarely, I still can play SACDs throughout the Transport, via I2S new module I mean, that is a great plus (I have a PS Audio SACD transport)
@Daniel_Gullman and @Jonathan_Gullman thanks for that module, I’v just modified my rack in order to have the Transport close to the DAC, hope the beta units are almost ready to be tested.
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The C.E.C. TL2N which I use has a word clock input. Works great with the Premier.
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I’m just finishing up the code for the proto Universal I2S input and it has turned out great. The two main problems with I2S that I have identified are that it doesn’t natively include any provision for isolation, and there is no standard implementation. It’s basically anything goes. We have seen varying cable pinouts, inverted signals, sample rate incompatibility, format incompatibility, reversed channels and inconsistently implemented flags. Our input implementation features an isolation barrier and extreme flexibility. The isolation, which dramatically increases the I2S interface performance, is close to, but does not quite equal, transformer isolated S/PDIF. The second problem is solved with individually verified settings for each product accessible from the menu on the DAC. The products we have tested so far will each have slightly different supported feature sets due to inconsistency (even when they claim compatibility). We are working hard to enable the largest set possible that each implementation can support. One drawback is that we will probably require each supported implementation to be individually physically measured, programmed and verified. DAC micro updates will be required to support newly added products. The scope of interface support is, PCM, 44.1Khz to 768Khz, and up to 8x DSD with auto, communication and flag based format detection. Any pinout, polarity, flags and communication protocol is supported. Only an I2S interface on an HDMI connector using differential LVDS (or CML or PECL) is supported. Single ended I2S signals, either 3.3V or 5V are not supported.
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Good news and great, great job !
I bet if you had known in advance what mess you were getting yourself into, you would have thought twice before doing it. 
But we are all glad that you did it !
Regards
Alberto
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Congrats Dustin and MSB all! Well done!
Can’t wait to try it with my PS Audio PST.
I also received great news from “the other Luca” @Daniel_Gullman, it seems next weeks will be great for my system! Really really thank you.
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Hi Daniel and hello to everyone, just want to see if the I2S module will work with both the directstream memory sacd and cd player as well as the perfectwave SACD transport. I am assuming it will work with both, but wanted to check before I go hunting for a transport to use. Thank you again and very excited for the module. Best, Jim
@jamesmroger , it should work! We don’t have one on hand to test, but if it follows PS Audio’s own protocols you should be golden. If there are any playback issues, it is something we can work on and send an update to fix. We may need to borrow one from someone to test thoroughly if something bigger is troubling playback. Hope that helps.
@luca.pelliccioli , I have been waiting for one to come through my office… when I saw it, I knew exactly where that refurbished unit was going! Cheers!
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Hi Jim,
being a PS Audio PST SACD owner since years (and being a member of PS Audio Forum) I strongly recommend you to go for the PST, for a bunch of reasons: (i) there are enough parts available to satisfy customer needs for years to come, (II) it sports a more modern technology, (iii) as per users who used both of them, it sounds better.
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I’m honored, my friend! Thank you.
As promised, I hope to thank you properly when I can have you as my guest for lunch here…
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I would definitely be interested in trying the I2S module connecting my reference DAC to my Jay’s transport.
I would definitely be open to beta testing if possible.
Thank you, Luca, I think that’s the direction I’m headed for sure. Appreciate the recommendation. Are you going to be beta testing or buying the new MSB I2S module? Would love to hear your impressions and confirmation that the PST talks to the MSB. Best, Jim
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I can’t wait to buy it as soon as it’s ready and of course I’ve already offered to test any beta units MSB deems useful.
Happy to share my thoughts here on the forum.
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@Audio1 , we will check this unit over and see. Are you based in the US? If we need to get a unit in-house for testing, we will be offering a free input module on a case by case basis when needed. If you cover the shipping, we will return the unit tested, verified, and including a I2S Module. We will of course need to do a little homework and check the viability first. Every I2S is different 
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@luca.pelliccioli , I cannot wait to take you up on that offer! Cheers!
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Daniel I am based in the US. Dependent on what you discover sending it to you could cetainly be an option. Not sure if the I2S would improve upon the AES XLR that I am currently using, but given the player has the output option I have always hoped to be able to try it with my MSB DAC.
Thank you,
Buddy Hume