USB Power Surges and Kills It
 

Bought a 115V to USB Adaptor. I don't believe I've even got a year
usage out of it. Had a power outage and an external processor,
serving for SPDIF red-laser audio to analogue conversion, would not
power back up. (I like it for when mixing processed signals for it's
part as an oversamped reference signal.)

Better the USB adaptor than the audio processor unit, once I
remembered it was drawing USB power from a 115V source.

My first experience having bought a USB power adaptor. Also
apparently popular variously for charging units. So I guess they're
cheap, don't last, and hopefully wouldn't be dangerous enough to feed
a straight 115V through.

Not that drawing USB power for the SPDIF converter from a computer was
an issue in the first place. I just can't recall if I paid more than
$1US from a Chinese market.

USB Power Surges and Kills It
 

On Sat, 04 Aug 2018 14:11:37 -0400, Flasherly
wrote:

(I like it for when mixing processed signals for it's
part as an oversamped reference signal.)

After using a compressor and EQ unit -- even though it wouldn't be
exactly inconsiderable not to go back, this new dimension of TOSLINK,
an external computer hardware derived source, processing optical
audio-band PCM wavelengths -- well, that's something I wouldn't care
to. I expand, rather than compress, on the base audio analogue
signal: Quieter passages therefore are boost-amplified (it's a DBX
brand name compressor/expander). The trade-off and byproduct is
higher-frequency noise, conditional when misaligned through infinitely
variable thresholds (amplification on detected signal threshold), to
of course include the sum EQ output. The PCM sample rate, however,
several times over CD audio quality, is a nice reference for first
establishing, then adding added EQ frequency under a higher
compression-threshold floor (stronger signals do not receive further
amplification). A power outage would have been a nothing short of a
shame, had I lost this old- and new-school mixing aspect, because of a
$1 USB source killed the TOSLINK analogue conversion unit. I'm
relieved, thankful, back up and dialed back and in;- hardly any lost
time to continue an approach to seminal influences evident within Lou
Reed's 70's recordings.