[greenkiwi]

^^^ Could not agree more.  I think that the DC-1, in particular, is a great piece.

 

[Sal1950]

Mine will most likely remain in my system till it dies of old age and repair is no longer financially feasible. I see no tech coming in the immediate future that would push me to an upgrade, I have no interest in DSD.

 

[Happytalk]

Just curious what you guys are doing to get the best out of USB performance with your DC-1. I'm using a MacBook Pro, and bitperfect/iTunes some songs are on an external hard drive, however the album I used for comparison was on the MacBook.

 

[Sal1950]

Just curious what you guys are doing to get the best out of USB performance with your DC-1. I'm using a MacBook Pro, and bitperfect/iTunes some songs are on an external hard drive, however the album I used for comparison was on the MacBook.

Nothing else special, what are you looking for?  I run Linux using Clementine media player with Bit Perfect config.
When playing Hi Rez files does your DC-1's display show the correct sample rate, IE 88, 96, 192 hz?
If DC-1 is getting true bit perfect stream via the USB asynchronous line all should be best possible.

 

[Happytalk]

It does show the correct sample rate. Should I adjust settings/preferences in bitperfect?

 

[Sal1950]

It does show the correct sample rate. Should I adjust settings/preferences in bitperfect?

NO,  That was just a test, your getting the data stream not down sampled to a lower res, so you should be fine. Nothing more to do AFAIK

 

[Zoom25]

To upgrade my DAC capabilities, I stopped using Macbook Pro as a transport. I was running it fully optimized with Audirvana Plus and Amarra. It's really good, but ultimately falls short of my Bryston BDP-1.
 
A solid playback renderer does wonders.

 

[Zoom25]

 
I just noticed this post - so, please disregard this reply if you have already been taken care of. I'm not sure who you talked to, or the exact circumstances, but I can't understand why you didn't eventually get your DC-1 fixed. The problem you're describing is a bit of an odd one, and is sometimes intermittent, which could be why it didn't show up when we tested the unit here. (The ASRC we use is usually very reliable, but we got a few bad ones in one batch). We've only had a few units with that problem, and it does act a lot like a ground loop, which might explain both why whoever you talked to wasn't familiar with it, and why they walked you through the diagnostics for that sort of thing. (And, yes, most DAC support calls we get really don't turn out to be a hardware problem, so our support guys do tend to assume that's the case until until after a pretty exhaustive set of diagnostics.)
 
So, if you haven't already been taken care of (I can't look up your name from your info here), call in and get an RMA, and we'll get you taken care of. (We now have a Canadian repair facility, so you won't have to pay two-way shipping to the US any more either.) 
 
(Note: Our support folks don't all read Head-Fi, so don't expect whoever you talk to on the phone to necessarily have read this post... so, if you run into someone not familiar with this particular problem, feel free to copy it into an e-mail 

 

 
Nope never ended up getting an RMA. Just got jerked around on email first. When I didn't get any replies on email, I called on the phone a few times and they did nothing to help. They just couldn't agree and/or acknowledge that I had the problem. 
 
LOL for fun I decided to look up the dates on my email I sent to customer support. Well within the period. It was like within the first week or two when I got the unit delivered to me. I not only described my problem in the email, but in the email I also added a link of my full problem and diagnostic tests which I had put on the Emotiva site: http://emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/26584/dc-1?page=73
 
(I hope your supports folks do check the Emotiva support boards 

)
 
Here's the funny thing I remembered again. At the same time I got my unit, other users were also complaining of the same thing. A few pages plus or minus, look for comments by "davidvanderbilt" on that thread. EXACT same asynchronous problem! I think around 2-3 people had returned their unit at that time because of this problem. I honestly think I just got one of those problematic returned units as I bought a refurbished one at that time.
 
So much for:

 DC-1 international orders are tested before they leave to ensure that they meet our performance expectations so that they are guaranteed 100% operational before they leave our facility.

 
 
LOL sorry for the ranting again, but my customer support experience with the DC-1 was 180 degrees different from when had I bought the Mini-x-a-100 in the past. I have probably sent you a good 5-10 customers to buy the Emotiva Mini-x alone and at least 5 for the DC-1. Got nothing against the products (when they work).

 

[KeithEmo]

Actually, your "ranting" seems pretty well justified, and I'm sorry you didn't get taken care of properly - even when you e-mailed and called in. All I can say there is that it was a really unusual problem, and an especially unusual symptom to be caused by a hardware problem (that's the first time we've ever even heard of a bad batch of those chips), so the first few times it was reported it was pretty much "put down to customer error or a compatibility issue". (Engineers are only human and, like the saying goes, "if you hear hoofbeats you usually assume it's horses and not zebras".) That said, all I can do about that is apologize. I do, however, have two things to add.....
 
1) Anyone who is currently having this problem with their DC-1 SHOULD call in and get it fixed. We have a five year warranty, so I'm pretty sure every DC-1 ever made is still under warranty (you will need to transfer the warranty if you bought it second hand).
 
2) Our forums are just that - USER FORUMS. They are NOT tied in with our "formal" e-mail and telephone support. In other words, while some of our support folks, including myself and several of our engineers, do frequently read the forums, and OFTEN respond to posts with suggestions, you should NOT assume that we will necessarily read every post, or that we will contact you if you report an issue you're having on the forums. Therefore, if you're experiencing an issue with one of our products, you should always at least e-mail support (and, since e-mails do occasionally fall through the cracks for various reasons, it is better, especially if you haven't received a response within a few days, or if you're in a hurry, or if it seems to be a complicated problem, to call on the phone).
  
 
Quote:

   
Nope never ended up getting an RMA. Just got jerked around on email first. When I didn't get any replies on email, I called on the phone a few times and they did nothing to help. They just couldn't agree and/or acknowledge that I had the problem. 
 
LOL for fun I decided to look up the dates on my email I sent to customer support. Well within the period. It was like within the first week or two when I got the unit delivered to me. I not only described my problem in the email, but in the email I also added a link of my full problem and diagnostic tests which I had put on the Emotiva site: http://emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/26584/dc-1?page=73
 
(I hope your supports folks do check the Emotiva support boards 

)
 
Here's the funny thing I remembered again. At the same time I got my unit, other users were also complaining of the same thing. A few pages plus or minus, look for comments by "davidvanderbilt" on that thread. EXACT same asynchronous problem! I think around 2-3 people had returned their unit at that time because of this problem. I honestly think I just got one of those problematic returned units as I bought a refurbished one at that time.
 
So much for:
 
 
LOL sorry for the ranting again, but my customer support experience with the DC-1 was 180 degrees different from when had I bought the Mini-x-a-100 in the past. I have probably sent you a good 5-10 customers to buy the Emotiva Mini-x alone and at least 5 for the DC-1. Got nothing against the products (when they work).

 

[Zoom25]

 

1) Anyone who is currently having this problem with their DC-1 SHOULD call in and get it fixed. We have a five year warranty, so I'm pretty sure every DC-1 ever made is still under warranty (you will need to transfer the warranty if you bought it second hand).
 
2) Our forums are just that - USER FORUMS. They are NOT tied in with our "formal" e-mail and telephone support. In other words, while some of our support folks, including myself and several of our engineers, do frequently read the forums, and OFTEN respond to posts with suggestions, you should NOT assume that we will necessarily read every post, or that we will contact you if you report an issue you're having on the forums. Therefore, if you're experiencing an issue with one of our products, you should always at least e-mail support (and, since e-mails do occasionally fall through the cracks for various reasons, it is better, especially if you haven't received a response within a few days, or if you're in a hurry, or if it seems to be a complicated problem, to call on the phone).
 

 
1) Bought mines directly from Emotiva, so I got full 5 year warranty right from the start. Nick helped me out with the sale.
 
2) To be clear, all my info was posted and given on both Emotiva forums, emails, and via phone. Went through all this extra work hoping that they'd at least acknowledge one of those medium!

 

[KeithEmo]

   
1) Bought mines directly from Emotiva, so I got full 5 year warranty right from the start. Nick helped me out with the sale.
 
2) To be clear, all my info was posted and given on both Emotiva forums, emails, and via phone. Went through all this extra work hoping that they'd at least acknowledge one of those medium!

 
My second point was just in response to referring to the forums as "a support board" - which they are not. I just wanted to make sure that people understand that, unless they also e-mail or phone an "official" support request, they shouldn't count on us reading or responding to every thread or post in the forums.
 
As I said, in your particular case we simply "dropped the ball". (I'm assuming that your case was"shelved" while we were trying to figure out the problem, and that you simply got lost in the shuffle.) The problem we're talking about is a really weird problem. The ASRCs we use in the DC-1 are normally very reliable and, when they do occasionally fail, it is in certain predictable ways; in this instance several chips in a single batch failed, in a totally unusual way, and the result was a failure mode that wouldn't normally be associated with that chip at all. This caused us to initially misdiagnose those failures and attribute them to other - far more likely - causes - which turned out to be wrong. (People tend to assume that, when someone posts a thread about some issue they're having, then other folks jump on and report similar problems, it will turn out to be the same problem - and the same solution - for all of them. Even though this turned out to be true in this situation, it is often not the case at all, so we're rather careful to avoid jumping to that conclusion until we're absolutely sure. Therefore, it took us a little while to figure out what was really going on, and I can't even say for sure that everyone in the support department was aware of the issue at all in the beginning, so a few of the early cases weren't handled as well as they should have been... for which I do apologize.)
 
We are only human...

 

 

[BigTerminator]

Hey Keith I have a question regarding the DC-1's standby mode.
 
When I turn it off via the remote or volume button, I notice that the Stealth still runs warm to the touch over the heat sink hours after I have turned it off. Is it still consuming a lot of power when it is in standby? And how can I tell if the Stealth DC-1 is running too hot? Is there a safety feature built in?  

 

[greenkiwi]

@BigTerminator Just for reference... I had my two DC-1s just on 24/7 and never had any heat issues.  Also, (for what it's worth) there wasn't enough of a current change when going from standby to on, for any of my auto-sensing power strips to trip.
 
I think that you have to flip the switch on the back if you are concerned with power draw.

 

[painted klown]

  @BigTerminator Just for reference... I had my two DC-1s just on 24/7 and never had any heat issues.

+1 to this. I leave mine on 24/7 with no issues. The DC-1 just runs pretty warm, however, this is normal.

 

[Sal1950]

  Hey Keith I have a question regarding the DC-1's standby mode.
 
When I turn it off via the remote or volume button, I notice that the Stealth still runs warm to the touch over the heat sink hours after I have turned it off. Is it still consuming a lot of power when it is in standby? And how can I tell if the Stealth DC-1 is running too hot? Is there a safety feature built in?  

I also had some concerns about the heat as have others. If you go here,
http://www.head-fi.org/t/644467/emotiva-stealth-dc-1-dac/525#post_11701955
You can read what Keith from Emotiva has to say on the issue,
 
also a little later,
http://www.head-fi.org/t/644467/emotiva-stealth-dc-1-dac/525#post_11720865
is a post by me discussing how I addressed it.
 
But even now I if I shut my computer down I will turn the DC-1 fully off. To avoid confusing the computers hardware detection turn the DC-1 off after the computer has shut down and back on again before booting the computer up.
 
Actually, scan that whole page, couple other good additions on the subject.