Warning to Potential HRT Music Streamer Purchasers - UPDATE: Issue getting resolved

[khollister]

So I ordered a HRT Music Streamer II+ to try with my Mac-based music rig. I received the unit from Amazon and was auditioning it when I noticed dropouts only while playing 88.2 kHz. Emailed HRT and received an email from Kevin Halverson saying there is a known issue with asynch USB and 88.2 playback on all recent versions of OS X. Stated there is a workaround in firmware version 1.5 and pointed me to a PC utility to check the version. Hooked it up to my wife's PC and had v1.4 (on a brand new unit received this weekend). Kevin informed me v1.4 cannot be flashed and the firmware chip (which is socketed) must be replaced. I replied fine, gave him my address and told him I could replace it myself.

 

Imagine my surprise when I received an email back saying I was welcome to procure a flash chip and program it myself with a firmware image available on their website or contact a dealer to "obtain a preprogramed firmware device" which I think is code for pay more money.

 

I have sent a reply back to Kevin (you can probably imagine the contents) but I am rather stunned that

 

A) There are apparently a significant number of these things in the retail chain that do not operate as advertised with Mac OS X and cannot be easily updated by the user

 

B) There appears to be no warranty or support from the manufacturer - I was essentially told to go work it out myself with a dealer. The unit came in a plain white box with exactly 2 pieces of paper, neither of which explicitly had anything about a warranty.

 

I should also point out there is no indication on the box of the firmware version, so I fail to see how one would ever know they are getting a working unit. I am certainly OK with the company charging for an update to add new features, but I feel it is deceptive at best to charge to "update" a brand new unit to meet the operating specs advertised.

 

I can return this and get my money back, but wanted to warn others that in spite of this being a very promising unit for the money (it sounded very nice at 44 and 96), it appears to be an "as is" proposition with no support from the company if something goes wrong.

 

Quite disappointed after all the positive press HRT has received. Certainly left a very bad taste in my mouth for anything this company might produce in the future.

 

[labjr]

Maybe Kevin Halverson thinks the kind of people who buy USB DACs are fairly computer savvy and would want the quick solution rather than send the unit back when the user can just change a socketed chip.

 

I don't imagine the dealer would charge for this.

 

I have a programmer so I would probably take the chip out and reprogram it. It appears to be a 24C64 8 pin serial eeprom. No big deal.

 

 

 

[khollister]

I did volunteer to swap out the chip, but the part that really put me off was his response of "get your own part or see a dealer" rather than offering to send me the part, given that this is a defect relative to the advertised capabilities of the unit. These things are being sold thru places like Amazon, so it is unrealistic to expect the kind of support you would get from a high-end audio dealer.

 

It was the "not my problem" attitude that surprised me.

 

I don't have a PROM programmer, so I am unable to fix this myself by reprogramming the device in the unit.

 

The real reason for the post wasn't just to vent about HRT, but to alert Mac users that these units may not operate as advertised and there is no way for dealers to identify whether they are shipping one with the OS X workaround since the firmware version is not on the box (and there is no SN on the unit itself). It is a crap shoot with apparently no support from the manufacturer if you loose the firmware lottery.

 

[labjr]

I think Kevin Halverson seems kind of geeky and maybe doesn't realize that he's like that. He likes to design products which are great values and leaves the customer service to his dealers etc. That's the way a lot of high end products are.

 

I'm pretty sure he has a partner in the HRT line. I think it's Michael Hobson of Classic Records. I would maybe try to contact him instead.

 

Personally, I wouldn't have bought this kind of product from Amazon because of the very problem you are having. You are now stuck either contacting a dealer which you didn't buy the product from for help or returning the unit.

 

[bikemig]

Not everyone lives in a city where you can buy products from a dealer. I certainly don't. I appreciate the post because I was ready to buy the HRT streamer II and now I'll hold off and consider other products.

 

[labjr]

There are dealers that will ship you products. Audio Advisor claims to have good customer service.

 

I don't know what the reason for buying a digital audio product from Amazon is but I wouldn't have done it.

 

 

 

 

 

[khollister]

The reason was I have free shipping with Amazon and no reason to think I was going to need this type of customer support. I researched this pretty well and saw no mention of a 88k problem or different firmware versions. It was what appeared to be a low cost commodity item.

 

[labjr]

To me, free shipping isn't a good enough reason to buy anything from Amazon unless it's CDs. I ordered CDs from them at the beginning of December that I still haven't received.

 

It seems odd that HRT would be sold through Amazon when there are other outlets which would seem far more suitable when it comes to customer service.

 

I've bought a fair amount of hifi over the years and had various experiences with customer service or lack of it. I did buy a Muse DAC 15 years ago which was a great value. However, it didn't work well in my system and so I returned it. I wasn't that impressed with Kevin Halverson's attitude back then. The dealer was great though.

 

I had a far worse experience with some speakers when I went to another dealer for a better price. So I'm pretty cautious now when I make an expensive purchase.

 

My next purchase may be a DAC and I'll be seriously looking at Metric Halo because of their great reputation for customer service. They have some great dealers too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[khollister]

Got an email from Michael Hobson (CEO) and we just talked on the phone. I am sending the unit to them and they are going to update the firmware and send it back to me. He was very nice and wanted to make sure I'm happy.

 

So, aside from a few days in transit, everything will work out.

 

Still, heads up on getting one with the right firmware if you are on a Mac until the supply chain flushes out.

 

[labjr]

I'm glad it worked out Okay. Shouldn't be that way though.

 

Kevin Halverson may be a good designer but perhaps he should stick to what he does well and leave the customer service to someone who's better at that end of the business.

 

[khollister]

Yeah - I've been accused of that sometimes as well

 

[One and a half]

Can you please clarify the rating of the HRT.

 

Most DACs publish data ie 88.2, 96, 192 etc. in kHz speed, HRT publishes in kS/s, what is the big "S". (Samples??) Is this to do with PCM?

 

A lot of data aquisition modules are rated in this manner, just strange to see it on an audio DAC.

 

[sq225917]

Nice to see it resolved by the guy with the communication skills and the eye on the leading computer music website....

 

[bikemig]

I am planning on buying a HRT music streamer II and own a mac so I was concerned about the problems that were being reported. Apparently this is a known issue with 88k2 sample rate and asynchronous transfer protocol with macs. I e-mailed HRT support and received a series of very prompt and informative e-mails from Kevin Halverson, the HRT CTO. I wanted to give kudos to HRT. The e-mails dispelled any lingering concerns I had with the HRT streamer and convinced me to buy their product. This is the kind of company I like to do business with.