Are USB dropouts / disconnects normal?
May 28, 2015 at 12:09 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 18

nicholars

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Is it normal for an async USB dac to disconnect / USB dropout approx once every few hours?
 
I have tried a lot of things and it still does this... It will disconnect / reconnect a few times a day...
 
Is this normal with USB dacs? Or do I have a problem with my DAC or computer?
 
Thanks
 
May 28, 2015 at 12:24 AM Post #3 of 18
Can anyone list some possible causes? I have already spent too long trying to fix this and my next step will be returning the dac and trying another one.
 
Have tried :
 
replace usb cable
power settings
usb suspend / power settings
reinstall dac drivers
logging DPC latency and removing the prog with spike of 4000ms which was the intel USB 3 drivers... still didn't work
currently trying not using speedstep on CPU which does seem to be working but not sure yet.
 
Any other ideas?
 
Thanks
 
May 28, 2015 at 3:44 PM Post #5 of 18
Try a USB powered hub to power the DAC. Its a common issue with the Schiit Modi, thats why the Schiit Wyrd exists.
 
May 28, 2015 at 3:55 PM Post #6 of 18
  Try a USB powered hub to power the DAC. Its a common issue with the Schiit Modi, thats why the Schiit Wyrd exists.

 
Never had that problem with my Modi 2. Most people who report the benefits of the Wyrd talk about how it helps eliminate computer noise or just improves the sound in general, but I guess it could help with drop-out issues too.
 
May 28, 2015 at 10:14 PM Post #7 of 18
  Try a USB powered hub to power the DAC. Its a common issue with the Schiit Modi, thats why the Schiit Wyrd exists.

 
What would be the best cheap option? I don't really want to spend £100 on that, it is really annoying... about once every hour or sometimes 5 hours, sometimes more than once an hour... my dac will make the clicking noise as it disconnect and reconnect. I cannot find out why it is doing it and it is really irritating me! I think it is probably something to do with my PC but do you think the dac could be faulty?
 
May 28, 2015 at 10:16 PM Post #8 of 18
Try something like this:
 
http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4YU2B19392&cm_re=powered_usb_hub-_-0J2-0031-00001-_-Product
 
May 28, 2015 at 10:25 PM Post #9 of 18
  What would be the best cheap option? I don't really want to spend £100 on that, it is really annoying... about once every hour or sometimes 5 hours, sometimes more than once an hour... my dac will make the clicking noise as it disconnect and reconnect. I cannot find out why it is doing it and it is really irritating me! I think it is probably something to do with my PC but do you think the dac could be faulty?

 
If your DAC itself makes a clicking noise, it could be faulty, but not necessarily so. Contact the manufacturer and ask, before returning it.
 
May 28, 2015 at 10:29 PM Post #10 of 18
   
If your DAC itself makes a clicking noise, it could be faulty, but not necessarily so. Contact the manufacturer and ask, before returning it.

 
No the clicking noise is normal... it is the relay switch when it connects to something... But the point is that it is disconnecting for no reason approx once every 2 hours... I cannot find out why!!!!
 
May 30, 2015 at 4:14 AM Post #11 of 18
I have a similar problem with a new Burson Conductor SL, each time I send my Macbook Retina to sleep mode, the Burson will make the relay clicking sound and disconnect after about 20 seconds. When waking up the Macbook again, I have to replug the USB for connecting, otherwise the computer will not find the Burson. I tested this with also with a Macbook Air and OS 10.9.5 and 10.8.5 and with a powered USB hub, the problem still persists. Should I contact Burson, or is this normal that you need to replug the USB cable each time you make a pause?
 
May 30, 2015 at 11:40 AM Post #12 of 18
  I have a similar problem with a new Burson Conductor SL, each time I send my Macbook Retina to sleep mode, the Burson will make the relay clicking sound and disconnect after about 20 seconds. When waking up the Macbook again, I have to replug the USB for connecting, otherwise the computer will not find the Burson. I tested this with also with a Macbook Air and OS 10.9.5 and 10.8.5 and with a powered USB hub, the problem still persists. Should I contact Burson, or is this normal that you need to replug the USB cable each time you make a pause?

 
Putting your computer into sleep mode is tantamount to turning it off. Some gear will turn off when your computer does; other gear will not. But having to plug everything in again is a mystery...
 
May 31, 2015 at 7:54 PM Post #13 of 18
   
Putting your computer into sleep mode is tantamount to turning it off. Some gear will turn off when your computer does; other gear will not. But having to plug everything in again is a mystery...

 
Sleep is not virtually the same state as off. Sleep is a low power mode similar to hibernate. USB selective suspend is a power setting that can be enabled or disabled that is effected by this sleep state.
 
I could see the PC keeping the USB port off with selective suspend. Once something is removed and readded it is then recognizing something again and coming out of the sleep state.
 
As a Network Engineer I have also seen some crazy things with Hibernate mode. I would recommend removing the hibernate function and disabling sleep functions. If you really want a low powered state set the CPU processing power to like 5-10% and set the screen to turn off after 15 minutes.
 
Jun 20, 2015 at 7:45 AM Post #14 of 18
Ok, I disabled the sleep function, so my MacBook is running all the time now, which can't be the solution of course. I also wrote to Burson, and the guys told me that this sleep mode issue is probably related to how the OSX handles the power on wake up in the latest version of OSX. However, I've got the same problem with a MacBook Retina (Mavericks OS 10.9.5) and a MacBook Air (OS 10.8.5), which are not the latest versions of OSX. Interestingly though, the Burson Conductor SL communicates fine with an older MacBookPro2,2 from the year 2006 (OS 10.5.8). When I send this older MacBook to sleep, the Burson conductor will immediately switch off and wake up when I wake up the MacBook.
 
Jun 20, 2015 at 1:27 PM Post #15 of 18

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