Hiccups with DSD

I think we first have to check ethernet too, before ruling the Mini completely out :wink:

in the whileā€¦ Uptone Regen (as obvious, technically being just an USB hub) and Audiophilleo SE can be also ruled out: played two full albums (DSD 64 and DSD 128) with just the Regen re-added and halfway through another one, now, with the Audiophilleo too: not a single glitch

ooops, spoke too soon: just had an hiccup with the Audiophilleo in the chain :frowning:

Yes, believe it or not, I thought about that, but Iā€™m going to put it down as a low-percentage (but real) possibility. Do you have a way to test the Ethernet without the Aries in the chain?

ā€¦ and another one right now :frowning:

tomorrow Iā€™ll try my usual ethernet setup with just the Audiophilleo out of the chain :cry:
(soā€¦ NAS > Mac mini > Aries > USB Regen > Chord 2Qute)

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nope: only ethernet Roon endpoint I have is the Aries.
but see my previous post and sinceā€¦ Iā€™m having more and more hiccups

As a fellow Audiophilleo owner (itā€™s unused at the moment, Iā€™ll be lending it to a friend shortly), you have my sympathies. That seems to me like somethingā€™s wrong with the Audiophilleo ā€” Iā€™m sure Philip et al. will make it right.

sure, Philip is indeed an extremely kind guy :slight_smile:

thoughā€¦ had this Audiophilleo 1 upgraded to SE (and PurePowerā€™s battery pack replaced with a new one) just a few months ago :frowning:

back now to ethernet with Aries in the chain and files on Mac miniā€™s SSD (will try files from NAS tomorrow)
too early to say it works flawlessly butā€¦ SQ Iā€™m getting is sooooooo much better than from plain Mac miniā€™s USB :slight_smile:

thinking about itā€¦ not necessarily itā€™s the Audiophilleo: might well be 2Quteā€™s s/pdf :neutral_face:

Do you have a non-Chord DAC you can test with?

hhhhmmā€¦ the Metrum Hex doesnā€™t do DSD but does PCM up to 384
I can upsample some PCM but Iā€™m not sure the result would mean something or not :-/

andā€¦ just had an hiccup without the Audiophilleo in the chain: just Mac mini > Aries USB > Regen > 2Qute :angry:
(DSD 64, files on Mac miniā€™s SSD)

:sob:

Have you thought about testing without the Regen?

it was first testing step yesterday: no issues with two full, longish (1+ hours), albums. one DSD 64 and one DSD 128
then, yesterday, I did the same with Regen in the chain and had no issues too

difference, today, is the Aries as endpoint, instead of Mac miniā€™s USB
only had, so far, three light hiccups on a 1 and 1/2 hours long DSD 64 album

troubleshooting this thing will be a nightmare!

Mac mini > Aries > USB Regen > 2Qute
hiccups are very, very, very few but still there (2 or 3 in a 1 and 1/2+ hour DSD 64 album)
files from Mac miniā€™s local SSD or from NAS doesnā€™t make any difference

might try removing the USB Regen butā€¦ it was proven, yesterday, to work flawlessly on the USB chain straight from the Mac mini, so it shouldnā€™t make a difference when using Aries USB output

:neutral_face:

todayā€™s tests:

  • NAS > Mac mini > Aries > USB Regen > 2Qute -> very, very few hiccups (same as yesterday)

  • NAS > Mac mini > Aries > USB Regen > Audiophilleo SE > 2Qute -> hiccups (one every other track minimum)

  • NAS > Aries > USB Regen > 2Qute -> no hiccups at all (ā€¦ so far :neutral_face: )
    the above meansā€¦ no Mac mini and no Roon

got, in the while, a reply from Philip Grubele saying thatā€¦ the Audiophilleo doesnā€™t even know/care if itā€™s PCM or DSD: all it knows about is just the bitrate.
so if it has no issue with 176.4 PCM thereā€™s no way/reason it might misbehave with DoP DSD 64

:slight_smile:

Isnā€™t the Special Edition supposed to be able to handle up to PCM 384 and DS128? (I realize this doesnā€™t help much with the troubleshooting.)

Is there any question about what the 2Quteā€™s S/PDIF input can handle? If there were a problem there, that would coincide nicely with your positive results with USB into the 2Qute.

exactly: had my Audiophilleo 1 upgraded to SE because the 2Qute is one of the very few DACs that can do PCM 384 (and DSD 128 DoP) on s/pdif too

anywayā€¦ these tests are leading nowhere: hiccups are randomly happening (more or less frequently) whatever I try

  • NAS > Mac mini (Roon) > Aries > USB REgen > 2Qute -> plays fine for a long-ish while then starts misbehaving
  • NAS > Aries > USB Regen > 2Qute -> one hiccup after a few minutes/seconds then plays smoothly for hours

:confused:

Check out this post:

Maybe the solution?

thanks, David, but my Mac mini is on 10.11.6, not Sierra, andā€¦ staying there! :wink:

today Iā€™m testing NAS > Mac mini > USB Regen > Audiophilleo > 2Qute (no Aries, just Mac miniā€™s USB out):

  • tried Audirvana, first, with a DSD 128 Album -> a couple very light hiccups
  • then Roon (same album) -> 5 or 6 hiccups (one ā€œheavy-ishā€)

playing now a DSD 64 album using Roon and already had 5 hiccups in just track 1 :rolling_eyes:

EDIT: and itā€™s getting worse: three more just a couple of minutes into track 2!!! :angry:

todayā€™s tests:

files on Mac miniā€™s internal SSD, Mac miniā€™s USB out:

  • Audirvana > USB Regen > Chord 2Qute -> not the slightest hiccup (DSD 64 and DSD 128)
  • Roon > USB Regen > Chord 2Qute -> not the slightest hiccup (DSD 64 and DSD 128)

files on Qnap HS-251, Mac miniā€™s USB out:

  • Audirvana > USB Regen > Chord 2Qute -> not the slightest hiccup (DSD 64 and DSD 128)
  • Roon > USB Regen > Chord 2Qute -> not the slightest hiccup (DSD 64 and DSD 128)
  • Aries (Lightning DS, no Roon, no Mac mini) > USB Regen > Chord 2Qute -> not the slightest hiccup (DSD 64 and DSD 128)
    (btwā€¦ holy cow: how good does the Aries sound on its own!!! :slight_smile: but this is another story :stuck_out_tongue: )

so far looks itā€™s either the Audiophilleo (unlikely) or 2Quteā€™s s/pdif in :neutral_face:

tomorrowā€¦ Aries as Roon endpoint :nervous: