Interfacing Linux: Douk Audio U2 USB

Today we’re going to find out if the Douk U2 USB to Toslink optical and coaxial converter knows how to Linux. This was a bit of an adventure since the first unit never reliably powered on and the second was incorrectly assembled.

TL;DW Douk Audio has some serious issues in their QA department, if they have one at all.


Jackbox: Testing setup

CPUAMD Ryzen 7 1700
RAMCorsair LPX 16GB
MotherboardMSI B350 Tomahawk
GPUNvidia Quadro 4000
SSDSamsung 840
PSU:EVGA 600 B1
Firewire:Syba SY-PEX30016
Network:Intel i350-T4
OS:Debian Buster
Kernel:5.4.47-rt
Desktop:XFCE 4.12

Alsa setup:


Pulseaudio setup:


Jack setup:


Verdict: I’m unfamiliar with the Douk product line and the Douk U2 has convinced me to keep it that way. Poor build quality and unreliable hardware are not things I look for in audio devices.

Douk U2

3.3 out of 10
$39.99
Works out of the box
1 out of 10
Ease of setup
1 out of 10
Stability
5 out of 10
Features
8 out of 10

Pros

Sounds decent, if it works.

Supports 192khz

Cons

First unit did not reliably power on.

Second unit was not correctly assembled.

USB micro connector.

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