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Any leads to a good win 8 software package for usb digital stream output to an external dac (a loner DacMagic Plus)?

I have tried foobar with my 3 yr old asus laptop and neither ASIO or WASABI output plug ins work and generate error messages. (I admit to total noob status here, but did not think this should be so tough to pull off) Yep - I did RTMs for the dac and foobar.

If I read the fine print, my laptop may be to old to pull this off - but this seems odd. I believe I do have the dac set for required USB 2 mode (though this is tough to be sure of).

I am most open to guidance. Thanks.

USB Audio 2.0 (not to be confused with USB 1.0/1.1/2.0/3.0 data rates...yeah, whoever named the USB audio types practically the same way is a moron) typically requires drivers. Set it to USB Audio 1.0 and see if it works.

Hm, I don't use Win8, but for USB Audio Class 2 you might be able to get away with ASIO4ALL. The DacMagic Plus does support Class 1.0, but it's limited to 24/96.

Thanks. I have installed the USB 2 (audio - I assume) dirvers from CA's website. Will try USB 1.0 also.

Update - So I am running Foobar to a Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100 (no headphone amp) and am very happy. After some tweaking I am running an unaltered USB output to the DAC (off a cheapo dell inspiron). My flac files are the usual - not super high quality.

The sound (after 2 weeks of burn in in the DAC) is very 3 dimensional and full. I am happy with many recent recordings (some older ones have obvious limits from their age and available tech). There is a lot in the music

I have an Asus Xonar essence on my main PC - and use it to run Grado 325s - a very fine "in your head" - between the ears - headphone experience thru its really fine DAC - but listening is no comparison to the fullness and spatial location of the CA DAC and good components (good mid-fi).

Neil Young may be onto something that mp3s and the usual conversions loose a lot of the spatial aspects and detail of music compared to how it sounds live in a room. (But I am not sure I need another converter.)

Thanks for the ideas gerbils. (John Hiatt in the background.)

An alternative option for digital out with Foobar is kernel streaming. I prefer this over ASIO or WASABI myself - not because of any major audio fidelity improvements (we won't go down that particular rabbit hole here), but I've found it to just work with my USB DAC, so I stick with it for dedicated music playback.

WASABI huh? You must like hot and spicy music