Sorry once again for asking what might be a silly question. For some reason, I hear a slight background hiss while playing music through Roon. I first heard it in my listening room, when my MacBook Air, a dedicated Roon Core, was connected directly to the Pro-ject DAC Box DS2 Ultra and then to the amp. In that set up, the hiss was gone when I played music via programs other than Roon.
Sadly, the hiss persists in another set up – Roon from my iPhone 7 plus through the Audioquest Dragon Red to the Schiit Asgaard Headphone Amp. Again, no hiss when playing directly through another program.
Evidently, there is something in the Roon settings that is causing this. I disabled Parametric EQ, but that did not help matters either. Can you please walk me through a solution? The hiss is not so much as to destroy the music, but is definitely latent in the background.
One more thing. In the second scenario, the Dragonfly is not visible in the set up. Is this the way it is meant to be, although the iPhone is connected directly to the Dragonfly and then to the amp? Please see the screenshot and advise me if this is the way it should be.
Many thanks for responding. I did some tests over the long weekend. At first glance, it appeared to be clearly something to do with Roon’s settings, because the DAC, directly connected to any other source, does not produce this white noise or low level hiss.
However, when I turned the knob of the treble control all the way down on my integrated amp, the hiss largely disappeared. So, there is something to do with Roon’s output passing through the DAC messing with the treble setting on my integrated. I should note that my amp is a two channel analog thing, with no internal DAC.
I have followed your kb article no how to set up the external DAC, and nothing there addressed the problem. It took the treble to turned all the way down. However, I can’t help but feel that there is something wrong with the way I am configuring Roon.
Also, would you please also address the other issue – of the fact that when I output from my iPhone to a Dragon Fly Red and then to my headphones, the Dragonfly DAC is not visible? Please see the picture above.
Just to verify, does the same hissing behavior occur if you have DSP disabled?
Can you share a screenshot of Settings > Audio? Does the Dragonfly DAC not show there at all? If you connect the Dragonfly to a different device (Core machine or another remote) does it appear there?
Yes, the hissing happens even with DSP disabled. The only way to reduce it is to turn down the treble all the way down on my integrated amp.
And here is the screenshot of the settings with the Dragonfly connected to the iPhone (called Pussy Galore’s Home). As you will see, there is no mention of the Dragonfly.
Thanks again. We are however talking about two different issues here.
a) Hiss: mainly in the main system. Happens only on Roon and not on other audio software. Happens on all types – not just MQA. The only way to reduce it is to turn down the treble on the amp all the way down.
b) Dragonfly not appearing on the Roon interface: Only on the iPhone. I am using the standard Apple adapter, with the USB and lightening ports.
My sincere apologies here — I seem to have lumped the two issues together.
This is the expected behavior here, my apologies. I was asking some other questions about this device thinking that it had to do with the hissing sound, but I have confirmed that the dragonfly does not display when connected to an iOS device, so everything seems find here.
Can you share the signal path when experiencing this behavior with the Pro-ject DAC Box DS2 Ultra so I can take a look?
No worries – I should not have put in two different things in one message.
So, on the Dragonfly/iPhone issue, is it true that although the DF does not appear on the Roon menu, it is superseding the iPhone, which appears on the menu as the device?
As for the second topic, I’ll send a screenshot this evening after returning home from work.
I am writing to close the second of these topics. I took the Pro-ject DAC over to the dealer, and we both listened. There is definitely a hiss. I am not sure whether it is because of Roon, but I suspect not. So, I decided to return it and buy something else. I do have a question about the new configuration, though, and a suggestion, and I’ll therefore send two different messages.
