USB instability issues

[Ropet]

I have frequent issues with instability using USB connection. The contact with my dac is simply lost and to get contact again I have to switch to another input on my dac remote and then back to USB again. Another way is to remove and put back the USB cable again.

 

I have had the problems for years using JRiver (from v16 to v26) and different laptops. Lately I bought a Lumin U1 Mini and switched MinimServer in a network. Unfortunately it is the same problem. I can have weeks with no instability at all or just one or two. Last week I had the issue 3-4 times per day. My dac is an Aesthetix Romulus Signature. I have tried three different USB cables; Transparent, QED and Beltek. I can't say they differ in this respect.

 

For the power I have dedicated line/phase from an own fuse that is cleaned from the worst power phases creating disturbences but it is not possible to 100% of course. I suspect there are some issues connected to the power network as sometimes I loose contact when I light up the kitchen fan or open the fridge. Anyway it seems to be very sensitive. At this time I use AES3 instead with no issues of whatsoever but then I have convert all dsd-files.

 

Anyone who can give me some hints of "why" and pieces of advice, tip of accessories/tweaks to get rid of this?

[PAR]

According to your description you have changed all of the input permutations available to you, both  sources and cables yet the fault remains . The only thing that hasn't  been changed is the Aesthetix Romulus DAC/transport. Logically the fault is therefore likely to lie with this.

 

The USB input of this model is supposed to be galvanically isolated by use of opto couplers. The fault recurring when mains switching happens may suggest that the isolation is not operating as intended.

 

I would suggest speaking with or emailing Aesthetix describing the problem. This looks like there may be a need for a service engineer to tackle it.

 

 

[sandyk]

6 minutes ago, PAR said:

The USB input of this model is supposed to be galvanically isolated by use of opto couplers. The fault recurring when mains switching happens may suggest that the isolation is not operating as intended.

 It does suggest that.

It is also possible that the DAC's isolated input is not drawing a sufficient current from the USB port to retain lock.

This can also happen with USB where +5V VBus is isolated at the PC/Server end of the cable and the USB port of the DAC receives an external +5V supply from a USB Regen etc. (Personal experience)

[davide256]

7 hours ago, Ropet said:

I have frequent issues with instability using USB connection. The contact with my dac is simply lost and to get contact again I have to switch to another input on my dac remote and then back to USB again. Another way is to remove and put back the USB cable again.

 

... I suspect there are some issues connected to the power network as sometimes I loose contact when I light up the kitchen fan or open the fridge. ...

 

Anyone who can give me some hints of "why" and pieces of advice, tip of accessories/tweaks to get rid of this?

 

 these should not cause USB synch loss unless the power solution in the location has issues. In all likelihood your USB synch loss is due to HVAC switching activity

 

 

[plissken]

8 hours ago, Ropet said:

I have frequent issues with instability using USB connection. The contact with my dac is simply lost and to get contact again I have to switch to another input on my dac remote and then back to USB again. Another way is to remove and put back the USB cable again.

 

I have had the problems for years using JRiver (from v16 to v26) and different laptops. Lately I bought a Lumin U1 Mini and switched MinimServer in a network. Unfortunately it is the same problem. I can have weeks with no instability at all or just one or two. Last week I had the issue 3-4 times per day. My dac is an Aesthetix Romulus Signature. I have tried three different USB cables; Transparent, QED and Beltek. I can't say they differ in this respect.

 

For the power I have dedicated line/phase from an own fuse that is cleaned from the worst power phases creating disturbences but it is not possible to 100% of course. I suspect there are some issues connected to the power network as sometimes I loose contact when I light up the kitchen fan or open the fridge. Anyway it seems to be very sensitive. At this time I use AES3 instead with no issues of whatsoever but then I have convert all dsd-files.

 

Anyone who can give me some hints of "why" and pieces of advice, tip of accessories/tweaks to get rid of this?

 

I would go get an inexpensive DAC off of Amazon as a troubleshooting aid

 

Honestly I think it's your DAC. It's the only constant in all your variables.

[Ropet]

Thanks all of you. I have contacted the Scandinacian distributor who will try to get hold of Jim White to gave his opinion.

[wklie]

On 1/30/2020 at 4:13 PM, Ropet said:

At this time I use AES3 instead with no issues of whatsoever but then I have convert all dsd-files.

 

I recommend you stick with the AES, in case getting the USB fixed turns out to be not viable due to downtime / cost / logistic / technical reasons etc.

 

You don't need to convert your DSD files offline.  You can simply turn on the volume control of the U1 MINI, DSD automatically becomes PCM before output to your DAC.

 

In addition to having Lumin convert the DSD to PCM on the fly, alternatively you may also choose to do this at the server - MinimStreamer, Roon, or JRiver (I think) in case you like the SQ of their algorithms better.

[Ropet]

6 hours ago, wklie said:

You don't need to convert your DSD files offline. 

I only did this on one file to check. Convert dsd to pcm on the fly with Lumin over AES works excellent now that I switched to MinimServer. No clicks, no gaps or other noise that I got with JRiver between tracks. Unfortunately JRiver forum could not help out either.

 

The Scandinavian agency on Aesthetix has spare USB card and DSP on his shelves so we will change the coming weekend to see if that is the route cause.

[StephenJK]

On 1/30/2020 at 3:13 AM, Ropet said:

I have frequent issues with instability using USB connection. The contact with my dac is simply lost and to get contact again I have to switch to another input on my dac remote and then back to USB again. Another way is to remove and put back the USB cable again.

 

I have had the problems for years using JRiver (from v16 to v26) and different laptops. Lately I bought a Lumin U1 Mini and switched MinimServer in a network. Unfortunately it is the same problem. I can have weeks with no instability at all or just one or two. Last week I had the issue 3-4 times per day. My dac is an Aesthetix Romulus Signature. I have tried three different USB cables; Transparent, QED and Beltek. I can't say they differ in this respect.

 

For the power I have dedicated line/phase from an own fuse that is cleaned from the worst power phases creating disturbences but it is not possible to 100% of course. I suspect there are some issues connected to the power network as sometimes I loose contact when I light up the kitchen fan or open the fridge. Anyway it seems to be very sensitive. At this time I use AES3 instead with no issues of whatsoever but then I have convert all dsd-files.

 

Anyone who can give me some hints of "why" and pieces of advice, tip of accessories/tweaks to get rid of this?

Whenever there’s a problem with static devices, always suspect the mechanical aspect of things. 
 

Meaning that your USB cable and/or connector could be worn or needs a food spray of contact cleaner. 

[Account Closed]

29 minutes ago, SJK said:

Whenever there’s a problem with static devices, always suspect the mechanical aspect of things. 
 

Meaning that your USB cable and/or connector could be worn or needs a food spray of contact cleaner. 

Also, try a generic USB cable to make sure that the current one does not have a problem.

[Ropet]

4 hours ago, bobflood said:

Also, try a generic USB cable to make sure that the current one does not have a problem.

As mentined previously I have tried three different USB cables.

[Ropet]

4 hours ago, SJK said:

Meaning that your USB cable and/or connector could be worn or needs a food spray of contact cleaner. 

This has also strucked me as an idea, but I have not tried. What I have done is to tried different USB cables. I doubt that there is mechanical issu in the contact, maybe on the cards? But I will give it a try.

 

There is another thing that I have thought of lately. I made an upgrade to Signature about 5 years ago. One year later I started to have some issues when playing cd records. (Normally I play only ripped files but I still have some boxes that are not ripped). From time to time I got an error message E7 when loading the disc. I got a new cd-drive which worked ok, but "how ok" has been difficult to judge as I mainly use it as a dac. However, the E7 error is still there some times. My thinking is that this is related to the same problem meaning that it could be linked to the DSP and the optic transfer to the dac. Just a thought.

[wklie]

USB instability, E7 error and 88.2kHz incompatibility (from another thread).   Hmmm.

[Ropet]

10 hours ago, wklie said:

88.2kHz incompatibility

Since I moved from JRiver to MinimServer the 88,2-issue is completely gone. I tried with JRiver again an it was back. Don't ask me to explain why.

 

Today I followed an advice to use contact spray on the contacts and on the USB- and DSP-cards. So far so good... if the USB issue disapper completely by this it was a good advice. We'll see... 

[wklie]

I see.  Hope this works out for you.