Hello !

I found a problem with Teralink connected to my DAC, some bachground noise, kind of kssst-glinggling (like deset snake)
I was searching a long time during , with my PC configuration, drivers and so on....changed computer 3 times !!!
Then I changed my dac, for a Dacmagic (old one, 4x Tda1541), the noise disappeared !

Conclusion of my problems : Teralink doesn't work when coupled with an ESS Sabre24 9008(TwistedPearAudio ), so back to pcm2707

R.C.

Quote:



That doesn't make sense. If the ESS Sabre has a SPDIF input and so does your Dacmagic, then the logical conclusion is that the ESS Sabre does not work properly - not the Teralink X.
Think about it.......

Hello !

May be....But ESS Sabre24 works correctly with any other USB/spdif converter, pcm2707, pcm2906

Something is wrong when Teralink and ESS Sabre are coupled together, so I may conclued also :" ESS Sabre24 doesn't work correctly when connected spdif with Teralink"

I can't demonstrate who is guilty ...
R.C.

Quote:



the CM-108 driver allows SPDIf to be turned off with the software - have you checked that this is not the case?

I really just want to find the cause of this problem for you.
Teralink X outputs SPDIF signal - you have proven this because it works with your TDA DAC.
Are you saying that when you use the same software and you play music on your TDa dac and its working fine, then you unplug the RCA spdif connector and connect to your ESS dac and you get distorting hissing sounds, then you connect your TDA dac and all works fine?

What sort of input is there on the ESS dac?
Is it an AES (balanced) input?
The ESS is a kit yes?

I think there may be some problem with your cable?
Or perhaps you changed software settings?

Please try to work with me to figure this out because since i heard your report i think this is very strange!

I like the Tesralink X - i have two of them and no problems at all, but i have had some software problems.
I can confirm that i have had similar hissing sound issues when trying to play music at 96Khz as i think it only likes to play 44.1 or 48Khz.

Thanks for interesting with my problems !
Some more details :
before using Teralink :
I play Flac files (riped from CD) from USB drive 750Go, (44,1khz 16b) , from a laptop, XP Pro, no special drivers, player is Jriver Media Jukebox to DS windows drivers
From USB hub, I connect a USB/spdif converter (pcm2707 ), and to my ESS Sabre24 , output use simple Jensen transformers to convert balanced to unbalanced Preamp Mc Intosh C24
Everything plays well in this configuration, I want to upgrade with Teralink

Using Teralink :
I have just to swap pcm2707, with the Teralink , usb and spdif connectors to swap, 5minutes, that's all !
Lauch a piece of music, I'm used to play and knows each note : music plays at lower volume, and a cyclic sound 2s , every 20s, something like "kssst-glinggling"
I have upgraded to Asio4all drivers, changed the computer, and finally , changed Sabre Dac to Cambridge Dac to obtain a good (normal) sound with Teralink/Cambridge
The ESS Sabre is a "kit", boards are populated, just to wire connectors each others...
The input can be configured (on-board dip switches) spdif or I2S
I use an USB/spdif/I2S converter configured spdif, because I would like to use my Dac, either with a laptop, or with a CD player (spdif output)
I've opened Teralink, and the components are totally different compared to those on Ebay...I have 4 caps oscon 47µ on left, LT1084 upper, and others (2x2) oscon caps each side of CM108
Sorry for my poor vocabulary

Thanks for your help,
R.C.

I use CMP+Cplay and i used to use foobar, so not sure about JRiver but anyway:

I think maybe DS driver is causing the problem.
Try this as a test:
Connect the Teralink X.
Can you try going into windows control panel > sounds and audio devices > audio > sound > playback : and set the default sound device to the C media usb device. open windows media player and play a song and see if you get clean audio output from the Teralink X.
Remember this is just a test. I dont recomend WMP.
Or perhaps you can do the same with JRiver, but WMP uses the default device so is a good test.
Lets take this one step at a time.

I have another idea, you said you use a USB hub.
The teralink sounds better if you give it seperate power. Also best to use 1 - 3 meter cable from the computer. USB audio sounds better with a shorter cable.
I would not use the hub. I hope i am not misinterpereting what you say.
thanks

Are you using Win XP or Vista, I had skips and such with XP but Win 7 is flawless, there is actually an article by the chief engineer on how they optimized windows 7 to eliminate skips.

Latest tests this afternoon :

PC Laptop, Windows XP Pro
Flac files on local disk
Connected with <1m Usb cable to Teralink, no hub
Teralink is powered with external 12v PSU
Teralink to DAC ESS Sabre24, spdif cable RCA, about 15cm
Launch WMP , listen to music .....cyclic KKKSSSTTT
I'm through with this, a bit frustrated (?), every one enjoy and play with his "toy Teralink " but me !!!

I stop for a moment , waiting for a genial idea you would give ?
Thanks !
R.C.

Just to confirm, did you set the C-media as the default device?
Ok so connect the ESS dac and you get strange noises, so if you leave a song playing and then only remove the spdif connector from the ESS and plug it into anther dac do you still get noises?

"spdif cable RCA, about 15cm"
Hi, did you make your own SPDIF cable?
Perhaps this is the problem? Is it 75 ohms cable?

Hello !

I don't have to set to C-Media, because as soon as you plug Teralink to usb, windows detect automatically and swap the internal sound card to C-Media..
Yes I made my own cable, with audio cable, and I think the impedance of the cable has nothing to do, when you are in LF audio (z = SQRT (L/C), where L and C are ~0 ), but have tried before with a audio RCA cable, was 1m length
The noise appears when music is playing, only, either not during silence inside a piece of music, anf follows the volume level.
There's no noise with a Cambridge Dac.
I've bought another Teralink to compare...

Thanks

It certainly is a strange problem, but the symptom sounds to me like there is some form of problem with the digital reciver in the ESS locking on to the SPDIF signal coming from the Teralink X.
OR interference of the SPDIF signal caused by reflection of the electrical signal.

Are the wires from your RCA socket to the PCB on the ESS Dac twisted pair or straight?

If you can be bothered, i would try connecting the Teralink X to the ESS Dac using i2s and see if it plays ok.
If it does then i would assume that something is wrong with the SPIDIF reciever IC.

You are right, i'm gonna test I2S connect,
But this solution , is not the goal Iwas researching, I wanted to have USB (for my PC) and spdif to connect a CD drive

Thanks
R.C.