The Musical Fidelity V-Link is a simple device that does one thing, but does it unerringly well. It connects to your PC or Mac by USB 2.0 on one end, and offers up two digital audio interfaces on the other: RCA coaxial and Toslink optical. To overcome PC jitter issues, it uses asynchronous-mode USB transfer.

In short, it’s the missing link between any computer that can host and play digital music files; and any hi-fi system with a digital audio input.

The Musical Fidelity V-Link is a simple black-painted aluminium box, with no on/off switch nor other buttonry. Its energy draw for the few chips inside is minimal, and so takes its power from the 5V USB bus.

Once connected to a PC, it automatically appears as a sound device, requiring no proprietary drivers that can potentially destabilise your system. And in another blow to the similarly specified and priced M2Tech HiFace, it introduces no latency in its decode chain, so is happy to work in perfect synchronisation with film and video material too.

Musical Fidelity cites lab measurements that suggest the unit introduces no jitter of its own whatsoever, the only new traces on the graph plots being those inherent to the measurement equipment itself. And listening to music through the V-Link, we heard what may be the closest approach to the original (PC) sound.