Hey @Gabor_Dietrich – I know Eric is still looking into this but just to note, some earlier versions of the QB9 rely on Vbus power, so even if we were able to get hardware we’re not necessarily going to be running into the same issue you are, and the same could be said about the resolved thread you mentioned.
If I remember correctly you are using DietPi – that should be fine, but it might be worth trying RoPieee just to see if that modulates the problems at all.
Also, have you spoken with Ayre about this at all yet?
Hi Mike,
I have tried the PoPieee. This time was a litle bit different, but no sound.
I tried to play a CD quality file.
It started playing on the screen (no sound) and after a few seconds it stoped with the uploaded messages.
I did not contact with Ayre yet.
After I sent the reply, just by chance i start the play again, and it plays for 1 second witch I can hear!!! for just a second.
Then it showed the longer message.
Hi @Gabor_Dietrich ----- Thank you for touching base with us and sharing the observations made during your testing. Apologies for the slow response here.
Mike is currently out of the office on business but the last he and I spoke he wanted to look into this behavior further and will be touching base upon his return. In the meantime you may want to consider talking to Ayre about this issue. We don’t usually suggest that our our users talk to the hardware manufactures but in this case our contact over at Ayre explained what they believe the problem is here and may be able to offer some further troubleshooting advice.
Thank you for your answer. I have contacted Ayre with this issue. They answered the same as you. They also mentioned a possibility to upgrade to a QB-9 DSD which is not USB powered.
So I decided to investigate this power problem.
As I mentioned, I have built an analog power supply. Now I have changed the regulator to an adjustable one (LM350).
I use a helitrimm and set the regulator so that I can change the voltage between 4.8-5.4V.
The power supply has two usb 2 connectors, 1 type A and 1 type B. Type B is the one that comes from the computer, type A to DAC. I let the D+ D- Ground and sheld pins through. The Vbus pin on type B from the computer was left open. The Vbus pin of the type A to the DAC was connected with the power supply +5V.
I have tried a lot of things, but I will mention only the important ones.
As I mentioned earlier the QB-9 runs from my MacBook without error (never was one).
Now I put the new Power supply between the MacBook and the QB-9. Everything works fine. I even set the voltage to 4.8V. No problem. I think it sounded a little better than without the power supply.
Now I pulled the USB and the Ethernet cabel from the Mac and put it to the Raspberry. The Dac was powered from the new power supply the whole time.
The first time it worked for 12 seconds (I heard the music) then it stopped (long message). After that it didn’t work any more. The DAC was on the same Power supply as with the MAC.
Based on this I am almost certain that it’s not a USB power problem.
I am curiously waiting for your opinion: am I right?
Hey @Gabor_Dietrich – I wish there was more we could do here. Eric brought this to myself and the technical team, and everyone agreed that these symptoms pointed to a power issue. When I reached out to Ayre, they too confirmed that your unit is likely to require bus power, and that the symptoms you’re describing point in that direction – the unit is simply not getting enough power.
I understand you’ve done a good deal of testing, but I’m not sure where to go next here – there’s a pretty strong consensus about what these symptoms indicate. That said, I’m open to other ideas. How can we help?
I would like to upgrade to lifetime and I have a few days left to do it.
I have send an e-mail to the address contact@roonlabs.com with a question.
Is it the right place to get information about the upgrade?
@Gabor_Dietrich ---- That is the correct email address I have left word with our accounts manager that you would like to upgrade and he should be able to get this squared away for you.
I didn’t mentioned earlier I am an electronic engieer. Now I think it can be important.
I did a last test.
I have borrowed an Agilent E3644A professional DC power supply (0-8V 8A).
I have connected the Raspberry and the D-link DUB-H4 USB Hub power through separete wires to the Agilent.
I have connected the QB-9 USB to the fast charging port (It can deliver 2A) of the D-link. The Upstream port was connected to the Raspberry. Now the Rasberry didn’t power the DAC, but the Agilent trough the USB Hub. I also checked, that the USB HUB uses the Agilet Power, not from the Raspberry.
I tried the Voltage from 4,5V to 5,4V. No success.
I push the Upstream port to the Macbook.
I tried again the Voltage from 4,5V to 5,4V. Even with 4,5V everything was OK. Without a pop or dropp.
If the Agilent not good enugh power supply, then nothing.
After that I am 100% certain that it is NOT a power problem.
If you think even after that its a power problem though, please let me know where is the weak pont of my logic.
Now I am not certain that I should go with the Pi. If you know enything the QB-9 ultraRendu coworking please let me know.
To answer your question, I think the only way to solve the problem if you can somehow try the PI with a QB-9 from Ayre.
(I run a litle computer company and we also reparing notebooks. I know the golden roule : never belive to the Costumer, check everything, although we never mention this to him/her.)
Best,
Gábor
ps.: I have thought a lot about the problem. I dont think its an USB signal level problem, because the USB hub have an own protokol engine and it is fully decoding and recoding the USB signal. And it works fine with the Cambridge Audio DAC. I also know that the Pi LAN card is shareing the USB bus inside the PI with the USB ports, here can be some problem. The only other possibility which came into my mind is some software incompatibility between the Raspberry Linux Alsa driver and the QB-9 USB engine.
@mike,
I think with using of the Agilent E3644A Labor Power supply I eliminate the possibility of a power problem.
If You think not, please exlain me why not with technical terms.
Hey Gabor – I think Ayre is going to need to weigh in on this, since I had already spoken with them, and passed on their feedback to you.
If you’d like us to check with them I can, but they’ve already said they suspect this is a power issue, and I’m not in a position to test with the version of the hardware you’re using.
In the interest of resolving this for you in a timely manner, my advice would be for you to check with them directly, but let us know how you’d like to proceed here.
Hi Eric,
In the mean time I have replaced the PI with an UltraRendu.
It is almost perfect, the only problem I can’t solve is when I switch on the UltraRendu It didn’t recognise the QB9.
I have to pull out the USB cable and push it back, after that everythig working fine.
I am measuring the current and the voltage trough USB cable, no diference compared to the PI.
Gábor
Hi @Gabor_Dietrich ---- Good to hear form you and thank you for sharing this most recent observation with me.
What is the experience like with another DAC mounted to the UltraRendu, the same? Additionally, what is the “boot order” of things in the chain of communication? Is the QB9 powered up before the UltraRendu or vice versa?
Hi Eric,
I tired it fist QB9 and First UltraRendu, the result is the same.
If I switch the Ultrarendu of, and on again the QB9 stays in sandby, and the Ultrarendu Web page cant recognise the DAC. When I pull out the USB cable and push back, the QB9 goes into normal state and the Ultrarendu recognise it and after that everythig goes in the normal way. If I switch off the Ultrarendu and back no DAC.
I can switch of the QB9 any time and switch on everything is fine, until I switch the Ultrarendu off.
The Cambridge Audio DAC is working fine in any boot order.
Gábor
Thank you for the follow up @Gabor_Dietrich, the insight is appreciated!
I must apologies as there is one piece of information from your most recent post that is a touch unclear to me. You mentioned that the Cambridge DAC is working fine in any boot order. Just to make sure we are on the same page here, when the Cambridge is connected to the UltraRendu. If the UltraRendu is shut off and then turned back on the Cambridge is still present correct?
I have left word with our accounts manager that you would like to upgrade and he should be able to get this squared away for you.