Problem with Drop-outs

I recently tried a different DAC, the Chord Electronics 2Qute. I’ve played several hi-rez albums (DSD128 and DXD) and haven’t had any problems with playback skipping. I can’t say this solved the problem but I’m hopeful. Of course, it doesn’t solve the problem for my PS Audio DirectStream DAC, which was the one experiencing the problem.

Vade

How big is your computer’s hard drive, and how much free space is left on it?

  1. First, How is the 2Qute. I’ve been thinking about that one vs the Hugo. Any personal reviews would be helpful.
  2. Try changing the Trendnet switch which has both computer and NAS plugged into it, test it by plugging both into the ATT? (not sure if that router also has a switch part).
  3. Copy 1 DSD128 file to your computer and just play that on repeat to see if the drop out occurs (assuming you have space on your computer for that 1 work).

Hi Ludwig,

The drive is 1.5 TB, and there’s a moderate amount of space available. I don’t want to fill it up with music files, though; that’s why I got the NAS. I review equipment for TAS and some of the servers I review require a NAS, so I want to use my NAS for all servers. It’s too tedious copying large numbers of files to different servers. I think I’ll try playing a hi-rez file from the internal drive per Rugby’s suggestion to see if that makes a difference.

Did you have another idea?

Vade

For Rugby

  1. The 2Qute is extremely nice. Haven’t heard the Hugo, though, although I think they use the same FPGA for DAC purposes. The Hugo has a battery PSU and a headphone amp; the 2Qute does not. For further details, see my forthcoming review in TAS.

  2. I substituted another switch I had. Will try that one.

  3. OK, I have plenty of space on the computer, just not enough for all my 1600+ albums. Will give that a try.

Vade

Can you be specific? Exactly how much space?

Hello to everybody
I am also experiencing drop-outs with DSD files (DOPs). I have a PS Audio DStream as well, with the latest software (Yale). The problem occurs only with Roon, connected thru a Mac Mini/NAS via USB. If I use JRiver on the Mac Mini connected via Ethernet to the DS Bridge instead, everything goes well.

There’s 1.23 TB of vacant space.

Vade

Hi @ridom – can you let us know a little more about your setup? What kind of NAS and which Mac Mini would be the most important details, but it would also be helpful to know a little bit more about your network, as described here. Let us know some more details and we’ll figure out what’s going on.

Also, @vforrest – note that some work has been happening internally to reduce dropouts. We’ve implemented some additional buffering to minimize the chance of dropouts, so while I don’t have a firm date for our next release yet, look for some improvements in this area when our next update goes live.

Thanks guys!

Hi Mike
Thx for replying. The Mac Mini is a mid-2010 (the last one with a CD driver); the NAS is a Lenovo PX4-300D with 4 WD Red HD, 2 tb each. It’s a 1 Gb network with a Netgear Blackhawk and a Netgear smart switch for a physical connection (RJ45 cat6) to the audio components (fixed addresses). According to speedtest, the net speed goes up to 120 mbps. The library is about 13,000 audio files, from 44.1 up to DSD 128. The software versions of both Roon and Yosemite are up to date. The PSAudio DS DAC is connected to a MacIntosh pre, and I use either a MacBook pro as a remote, or an Ipad with VNC. The USB cable is a WireWorld Platinum. I used Jriver both thru USB and Ethernet (with the PS bridge) and Audirvana in the past and never had a problem with dropouts. The Direct Stream uses now Yale software, but the dropouts were also present with Pike Peak SW. Thx for your attention, Ricardo.

Hi @ridom – thanks for the info. I think the buffering changes we’ve made should help here, but I’d still like to get some more info about your setup.

I’ve sent you a PM, so take a look and let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

Mike, I can’t find your private message.

Vade

Oooops, sorry, PM not to me.

Vade

Hi Mike. I already sent you a reply. Thx!

It’s weird. I just resucited JRiver to recheck that it does not produce any dropout (it doesn’t) and discovered that for JRiver Bill Evans’s piano in So What fron Kind of Blue is on the left, while for Roon is on the right speaker. If I remember right, in this case is Jriver the one that is inverting channels. Am I right? If not, is there a way to set channels in Roon? Btw, i am using the usb connection with both players

I just listened and the piano is on the left in Roon. I’m streaming to a Meridian MC-200 endpoint.

It’s on the Left for me too.

Thx for the answers. I will recheck the settings of both players this evening

Hello again. I restarted everything and now the 3 options (Roon-usb; Jriver-usb and Jriver-bridge) are throwing music to the appropriate channels. Thx.

A post was split to a new topic: Drop Out Issues