USB pops during playback

[PENG]

Yes the Marantz works. The MacBook is a 2016 model with 3.0 USB. Same cable and same song running from ITunes. I’d try my wife’s macbook but I believe this is a 2011 model with older USB.
I really hate the thought of having another issue with an entirely different Parasound product. I sent Technical an email. I’ll post what they have to say when they reply.

So yours has the same kind of USB as mine just a regular port, yet as I mentioned I've never experienced any such issues. With my windows PCs yes because drivers could be tricky with DSD files, but my Mac always just worked the first time and every time; and I mean with all my DACs, at least 6 or 7 including the external ones.

You should email Richard directly, he's the boss and he always respond to my emails in the past.

 

[PENG]

I'm pretty sure that his Parasound is rogue. Most likely it is not detecting the extra USB 3.0 connections and signalling to the PC it is 2.0. Whether it is host or receiving device a USB 2.0 device has to signal to the 3.0 device, so that the 3.0 device acts as a 2.0 device. I suspect this is what is not taking place with his Parasound unit.

Well anything is possible, we are going to have to wait and see. He emailed them, and knowing Parasound, help will be on the way. It is really unusual for Mac to not work with a USB dac, I mean they don't even need special drivers.

 

[sterling shoote]

That is a good idea, but it will have to be another Apple device. Windows has to have ASIO drivers downloaded. Making the first connection for audio can at times be tricky. I have to use ASIO drivers on my current DAW and had to use them previously. In addition you have to download drivers specific to the Parasound unit in order to USB stream from Windows. So it would not be that simple. The unit is designed for Apple PCs primarily.

Yes, and if the connection from PC to device is removed, sometimes the driver either needs to be reinstalled, and/or PC rebooted. I now in fact find that a pre-flight check is useful to assure audio output for the driver operating my OPPO, as well as the one operating my X-FI HD.

 

[TLS Guy]

Well anything is possible, we are going to have to wait and see. He emailed them, and knowing Parasound, help will be on the way. It is really usual for Mac to not work with a USB dac, I mean they don't even need special drivers.

I agree this is a really puzzling issue.

 

[PENG]

I agree this is a really puzzling issue.

I just realize I made a typo. I actually meant to say it is really unusual..... Mac OS typically just works right off the bat, unlike Windows, that typically require special drivers that one has to download; and they could get tricky with DSD files and other high resolution files.

 

[ematthews]

I agree this is a really puzzling issue.

*****Its fixed!!!! So Technical sent me a message to check the MIDI settings. It was wrong. Once I changed it to 192 KHZ 2 channel 32 bit it worked. Default on the apple was 44.1 2 channel 24 bit. Thanks goodness. Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[PENG]

*****Its fixed!!!! So Technical sent me a message to check the MIDI settings. It was wrong. Once I changed it to 192 KHZ 2 channel 32 bit it worked. Default on the apple was 44.1 2 channel 24 bit. Thanks goodness. Thanks for all the feedback.

Congrats! Now you can focus on enjoying the superior DAC in the Halo, whether you can hear the difference or not it a different story. I would never thought of that MIDI setting thing being the issue, because you said the same music file worked with the SA8005, wonder why..

 

[ematthews]

Congrats! Now you can focus on enjoying the superior DAC in the Halo, whether you can hear the difference or not it a different story. I would never thought of that MIDI setting thing being the issue, because you said the same music file worked with the SA8005, wonder why..

Yeah.. Strange that it worked in the Marantz. Maybe the Marantz doesn't have trouble with different bit-rate's.
Parasound has to be exact. I told them maybe they should put a note online under the product info page.

 

[TLS Guy]

Yeah.. Strange that it worked in the Marantz. Maybe the Marantz doesn't have trouble with different bit-rate's.
Parasound has to be exact. I told them maybe they should put a note online under the product info page.

The instruction manual was totally silent about that! It was that type of issue I suspected from the beginning. That information absolutely should be in the user manual, especially since that unit is primarily designed for streaming from Apple products and it is not set up for the Apple default settings. What should really happen is that the unit should be able to switch on the fly without the user involved like the Marantz.

 

[PENG]

Yeah.. Strange that it worked in the Marantz. Maybe the Marantz doesn't have trouble with different bit-rate's.
Parasound has to be exact. I told them maybe they should put a note online under the product info page.

I just try one of my many DACs on my Mac, play a 192/24 flac file using iTune. The default 24/44.1 2 channel setting works just fine. Something weird about the Parasound I would assume, but will do some serious Googling on this issue, you just got me very curious. May be it is player dependent, do you use iTune, or something else?

 

[ematthews]

I just try one of my many DACs on my Mac, play a 192/24 flac file using iTune. The default 24/44.1 2 channel setting works just fine. Something weird about the Parasound I would assume, but will do some serious Googling on this issue, you just got me very curious. May be it is player dependent, do you use iTune, or something else?

Itunes. Mostly. I have a lot of FLAC files downloaded from Bandcamp. I play either directly from Bandcamp or import them into Itunes.

 

[PENG]

Itunes. Mostly. I have a lot of FLAC files downloaded from Bandcamp. I play either directly from Bandcamp or import them into Itunes.

From my power Googling, it seems that depending on the DAC connected, depending on the program/player, it may automatically change the midi setting to match the music file's resolution. I tried one of my DAC at 192/24, I am going to try it on my Sonica and Mojo and see if they work the same, pretty sure they do as I don't recall having any issues in the past. I'll try it with the DSD files as well.

 

[ematthews]

From my power Googling, it seems that depending on the DAC connected, depending on the program/player, it may automatically change the midi setting to match the music file's resolution. I tried one of my DAC at 192/24, I am going to try it on my Sonica and Mojo and see if they work the same, pretty sure they do as I don't recall having any issues in the past. I'll try it with the DSD files as well.

I have been wanting to try my Mojo for a while on my full system. I currently only use it from y phone to my headphones. Wasn't sure if keeping it plugged in all the time would do any battery harm. The Mojo is an incredible DAC.

 

[PENG]

I have been wanting to try my Mojo for a while on my full system. I currently only use it from y phone to my headphones. Wasn't sure if keeping it plugged in all the time would do any battery harm. The Mojo is an incredible DAC.

I have just tried 3 more, the Oppo HA-1, Sonica DAC and Mojo. They all worked with iTune with midi set to 44.1, and all the way up to 768 kbps. With the Mojo, I could see the LED color changed accordingly as I increased the bit rate. It looks like iTune would convert the bit rate of the source file to match the midi setting, but not the other way around. If I understand this correctly, it does not do "bit perfect" playback unless you manually set it to match the source file's resolution. Apparently you can download an App to work with iTune for bit perfect playback.

It is obviously better to set midi to match the file's bit rate to avoid any conversion, but it should work even if you leave it at the default setting of 44.1. So far I have tested 4 DACs, and I have no doubt the other ones will work too because I know they did before. I don't know why the Halo integrated won't work unless midi is set to 192.

 

[ematthews]

I agree. I sent another email and was basically told it works now. Enjoy the music. Your problem if addressed to others would be very low on the poll to address. We are busy in new product development. Okidoki then. Hello Marantz.

 

[PENG]

I have been wanting to try my Mojo for a while on my full system. I currently only use it from y phone to my headphones. Wasn't sure if keeping it plugged in all the time would do any battery harm. The Mojo is an incredible DAC.

A well designed device of this kind should regulate the current according to the charge state. As far as I know you can leave it plugged in all the time. I suppose it is a good idea to turn if off when not in use. You can email them if you want it in writing.

 

[<eargiant]

*****Its fixed!!!! So Technical sent me a message to check the MIDI settings. It was wrong. Once I changed it to 192 KHZ 2 channel 32 bit it worked. Default on the apple was 44.1 2 channel 24 bit. Thanks goodness. Thanks for all the feedback.

Looks like whoever wrote post #14 was right all along

 

[ematthews]

Looks like whoever wrote post #14 was right all along

Well yeah I didn’t know how to do that.

 

[<eargiant]

Well yeah I didn’t know how to do that.

That's OK, I guess you didn't ask because my suggestion got shot down right away. I'm glad you got it sorted out.

 

[PENG]

Well yeah I didn’t know how to do that.

Exactly, I thought you got it fixed by increasing the midi setting sample rate from the default 44.1 to 192, not by increasing buffer size? Regardless, I have the latest iTune version and it seems they no longer offer the streaming buffer size adjustments that was there before to help deal with streaming related issues, not for USB DAC. So you really didn't miss anything.