Bitzie DAC compatibility grows
Printed From: Graham Slee Hifi System Components
Category: Digital Audio
Forum Name: CD, DVD Audio, DACs, ADCs and Digitizing
Forum Description: The existing (and obsolete?) digital formats
URL: https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5429
Printed Date: 27 Mar 2026 at 12:15am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Bitzie DAC compatibility grows
Posted By: Graham Slee
Subject: Bitzie DAC compatibility grows
Date Posted: 04 Mar 2022 at 1:41pm
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Bitzie update:
It's over a year since the launch of the Apple M1 chip, and surprisingly, I've never had anybody enquire if the Bitzie is compatible. Perhaps Bitzie users simply take it on faith? But in case anybody wants to know...
"Apple refreshed the 13-inch MacBook Pro in November 2020, adding an Apple-designed "M1" Arm-based chip to replace the prior Intel chips." ( https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-pro-13/ - https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-pro-13/ )
The news from Leo:
"Just testing some Bitzies I've been building this morning with MacBook Pro using M1 chip, wasn't sure if they'd work with apples silicon (they used to use intel which works ok). Had to get a USBC connector but works absolutely fine. No drivers required."
https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/dacs-digital-audio/bitzie-usb-dac.html - https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/dacs-digital-audio/bitzie-usb-dac.html
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That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps
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Replies:
Posted By: Ash
Date Posted: 04 Mar 2022 at 3:18pm
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I will have to try connecting my Majestic to my Raspberry Pi 3B+.
Intel is x86-based so is CISC architecture. Apple M1 (ARM-based) is RISC architecture. RPi (ARM-based SBC) and most smartphones are RISC architecture.
If the USB connection is OTG-compatible, I assume it will work with pretty much any OS.
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Posted By: lfc jon
Date Posted: 04 Mar 2022 at 4:57pm
It's great to hear a product with no compatibility issues. There are so much computer stuff that won't work with one another it can be hard to make up your mind on what to get, this is part of the reason I don't do computer audio, the other is I can't be bothered and I haven't the time & when it comes to music I JUST wont to relax and listen.
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Reflex M, Solo (both with PSU-1) CuSat50, Lautus, Spatia & Spatia links cables. Ortofon Bronze.
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Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 04 Mar 2022 at 5:07pm
Well, all I can say is it kept up with 8 years of changes so far.
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That none should be able to park up and enjoy the view without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps
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Posted By: Ash
Date Posted: 04 Mar 2022 at 7:27pm
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I remember trying a couple of budget-end smartphones with the Bitzie several years ago. One of them was a work colleague's and I took a Bitzie into my workplace to connect to it. Wasn't recognised because the S3-mini didn't seem to support OTG. I tried with a Samsung Note (3?) and it was recognised straight away so would have worked. I don't have a USB-C OTG cable to try my LG V30+ with the Majestic DAC but I could get one as it would be useful to be able to connect USB-A devices to the USB-C port on my motherboard. Your "driverless" approach to USB audio seems to allow compatibility with more than one type of computer architecture. Maybe I should try hooking it up to a Playstation 3, not sure what ISA it uses.
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Posted By: Jonathan
Date Posted: 28 May 2022 at 9:47am
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Hello everyone,
For those still wondering if the Bitzie is a good companion to the new Apple M1 products : it’s brilliant !
I use it on my MacBook Air and I must say that the quality of the usb bus power on this machine - which has no fan - is really good.
I come from PC machines and I used to always have something to power the Bitzie externally because of really bad USB-bus power quality on my previous laptops.
With the MBA, I can simply plug and play the Bitzie : it’s really a no brainer. (Of course, I left it « always-on » whenever I’m not travelling.)
The driverless design really is a competitive advantage over time. I mean that. I’m going to sell some audio stuff (D/D and D/A converters) because, well, it doesn’t work with new M1 products and companies have no interest in updating the drivers…
So, after having a Solo SRGii, a Bitzie, a Novo (for my gf) and a SE2, I’m finally buying a Majestic and a pair of Proprius next month (yeahhhh !) knowing that I will have zero trouble using the Majestic in 10 or 20 years from now. Thank you Graham !
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Posted By: lfc jon
Date Posted: 28 May 2022 at 10:31am
Does anyone know why others use driver software for products like this? I can remember buying stuff that came with a disk or having to download software, In fact I may still have some discs some where. As write this post I remembered that my CD/DVD writer came with one, I didn't need it, but that may have been because it's the same make as my laptop.
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Reflex M, Solo (both with PSU-1) CuSat50, Lautus, Spatia & Spatia links cables. Ortofon Bronze.
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Posted By: Fatmangolf
Date Posted: 28 May 2022 at 11:17am
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I believe those special drivers are to stretch the normal USB interface from 48 kHz and 24 bits to much higher frequencies and bit depth. I am very happy with the standard USB audio interface my Majestic and the Bitzie use. It is the default setting so almost all computers will work with a DAC with USB and I'd hope the 'special' DACs would work on USB 2 even if their manufacturer advises their drivers are installed.
Like you Jon I've found outboard cd drives and other USB hardware worked fine. There's usually a pause whilst Windows finds its driver for that type of USB device and may offer the chance to supply your driver on disk or download.
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Jon
Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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Posted By: Fatmangolf
Date Posted: 28 May 2022 at 11:19am
That is great news Jonathan and opens up possibilities as you say. Jon's right about ease of installation.
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Jon
Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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Posted By: Jonathan
Date Posted: 28 May 2022 at 11:38am
I think there was one good reason companies used to rely on "drivers" : to overcome the sound and volume mixer of Windows at a time when no easy solution existed to do so.
The mixer act as an interface for all applications and process the signal (bitrate conversion, tonal control and so on)
Drivers allow applications to send bitperfect signal to the DAC (in ASIO or WASAPI modes).
The gain in sound quality is tremendous when you bypass the OS mixer, really.
But, as a matter of fact, there is no more need for proprietary drivers to do so : one can send bitperfect signal to any DAC using ASIO4ALL or good playback softwares such as Foobar2000 (choosing WASAPI exclusive mode + event style so the Bitzie or the Majestic pull data) or Audirvana (on MacOS). Today, even the Qobuz app allows us to bypass the mixer ! |
Posted By: lfc jon
Date Posted: 28 May 2022 at 12:21pm
Thanks for clearing that up, Can't say I understand all of it. I was just wondering as HiFi DACs don't have compatibility issues or at less I don't think so, maybe with streamers, I'm only guessing!
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Reflex M, Solo (both with PSU-1) CuSat50, Lautus, Spatia & Spatia links cables. Ortofon Bronze.
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Posted By: BAK
Date Posted: 28 May 2022 at 1:24pm
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Both the Bitzie and Majestic DACs work great with my MAC MINI on USB 3 running in USB 2 mode automatically... no settings required. The DACs also work on my old Windows XP.
The sound quality is super!
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Bruce
AT-14SA, Pickering XV-15, Hana EL, Technics SL-1600MK2, Lautus, Majestic DAC, Technics SH-8055 spectrum analyzer, Eminence Beta8A custom cabs; Proprius & Reflex M or C, Enjoy Life your way!
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Posted By: Ash
Date Posted: 28 May 2022 at 1:34pm
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The advantage of USB is that it is ubiquitous across all types of computer ISA and "driverless playback" potentially allows the DAC to be easily used with any operating system you want. Macs have gone from Intel x86 instruction set architecture to M1 ARM-based instruction set architecture, like what smartphones use. Any device that can be used with either will be versatile and should escape future obsolescence.
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Posted By: lfc jon
Date Posted: 28 May 2022 at 1:59pm
I do know when it comes music the different file systems can be a problem, I have had it with my car's audio system the only one that's any good is mp3 so I've had to convert from FLAC to mp3 so that I can play a USB stick with music on it in the car, not a problem as I have the software for that. The digital age is so complicated. back in the day all you had worry about was could you amp play MM or MC and what tape format ie chrome or metal, so most of us used ferric.
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Reflex M, Solo (both with PSU-1) CuSat50, Lautus, Spatia & Spatia links cables. Ortofon Bronze.
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Posted By: Ash
Date Posted: 28 May 2022 at 2:09pm
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The USB of Bitzie/Majestic is really liberating because it can be used with Windows/OSX/Linux and Android, as long as the hardware support is there. YMMV but in theory, use with all of them should be possible.
Another great thing about a Bitzie is that you can use it to achieve two digital outputs from one digital input. So you can send the same signal to two different DACs if you are doing digital crossovers.
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Posted By: robbiec
Date Posted: 17 Jul 2022 at 12:36am
I can confirm that the Bitzie works on an all USB Type C design Dell XPS 15 (2021 & 2022) Models under Win 11 Pro using an adapter and also on an AMD X570 Platform (Asus Crosshair VIII Dark) again under Win 11. The X570 is an interesting test in that I've used USB 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2 types with no issue (this is USB A to USB B connections - std no name printer cable and a dedicated GS Lautus PowerWire) - I shall be upgrading to the unreleased AMD X670 platform in a few months and will report back with an update.
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Hang on tightly, let go lightly.
Voyager x 2 | Bitzie | Accession M | Solo ULDE | Enigma | PSU1 x 2 | Proprius x 2 | Majestic | Rega Planar 2 & Exact | Focal Aria & Elegia | Libran | Lautus | Spatia
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Posted By: Ash
Date Posted: 17 Jul 2022 at 8:15am
Thanks for the information. With the Lautus PowerWire and a linear PSU, I bet the Bitzie will be very close to the Majestic in terms of analogue output.
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We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
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Posted By: robbiec
Date Posted: 17 Jul 2022 at 7:51pm
Excuse my ignorance but what is a Linear PSU?
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Hang on tightly, let go lightly.
Voyager x 2 | Bitzie | Accession M | Solo ULDE | Enigma | PSU1 x 2 | Proprius x 2 | Majestic | Rega Planar 2 & Exact | Focal Aria & Elegia | Libran | Lautus | Spatia
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Posted By: Fatmangolf
Date Posted: 17 Jul 2022 at 10:22pm
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Instead of a switched mode power supply the linear supply has a heavy mains transformer feeding low voltage rectifiers and smoothing capacitors.
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Jon
Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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