I’m a little confused, if it worked then you’ve surely it looks like you have found a potential solution?
However in my previous post…
but i realise now this may not be clear, I meant to say… “try powering up the Dave then, after a few seconds, power up the Mscaler to allow the devices to synchronise before turning the power amplifier on…”
PixelPopper thank you for your help & thoughts.
You are correct that I said that it worked. BUT that solution (if it is reproducible, I didn’t try) required powering up, powering down and powering up again the DAC. FYI, When I say power up or power down I mean physically connect or disconnect the power cord after using the power button. Maybe it is a solution but not “elegant” or even “smooth” at best.
I did spend this afternoon more rigorously trying various possible procedures that I thought might make a difference. Used BNC connections 3 & 4 but didn’t see any differences from 1 & 2. Swap out USB cables. Added USB resync unit. And so on… Between every test physically turning off the DAVE, M-Scaler and also turning off the Nucleus before any cable changes to it. All to no avail. The best solution that I could find is this:
This sequence of steps is clunky but worked repeatedly for me. Disappointed this sequence is what is required.
And then the light goes on…
Was searching the Nucleus documentation trying to find an answer and seeing if I missed something.
And in Nucleus Media Storage and Audio Devices (roonlabs.com) came across this:
"…
If you plan to use a DAC, headphone amp, A/V receiver, integrated amplifier, or active speaker system connected directly to Nucleus via USB, connect them to one of the ports on the back panel of the Nucleus and make sure it’s powered on.
…"
At which point I had the DUH moment!
Via the very limited testing that I have done, rebooting the Nucleus solves the issue. My new startup procedure is 1) Turn on everything and 2) Reboot the Nucleus.
Because I have multiple zones, my Nucleus is on all of the time, never knowing if I’m going to want to use it and not be near it. ARC also increases the need for the Nucleus to be powered up, since you are likely not near it when you want it.
My new suspicion is that there is a hardware and/or software issues with hot plug Plug-N-Play (PnP) functionality between the Nucleus and the M-Scaler USB interface. Hot plug may not be supported at all. All of which is consistent with information that I received from CHORD and shared earlier in this thread: “M Scaler’s galvanic isolation on the USB input is causing the Nucleus to not “lock in” correctly” By having the M-Scaler powered up already when the Nucleus is powered up, eliminates hot plug functions, eliminates the issue and follows the instructions in the documentation.
You may be right but I’m not sure, there certainly is a usb sync issue but i don’t think it’s specific to the Nucleus as I don’t have one. My core device is a Windows 11 pc which is permanently powered on (& automatically does a scheduled reboot at 3 a.m. daily).
At least you’ve found a workaround, happy days…
PixelPopper - Thanks for your thoughts, they helped me find a workaround.
Excited to have a workaround that is not overly onerous. Fingers crossed, one day there is a fix.
Based behavior is seen on your configuration, Windows 11 PC, hints at something in the M-Scaler implementation. Have to admit I have seen cases were designers of both sides of the interface think they implemented the standard, but their device doesn’t work together. Luckly the workaround is easy, power up the sever after the M-Scaler is powered up.
Thanks again
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