[johnzz4]

I just sent him an email. Although the volume didn't get too loud there was a difference and I wouldn't want it to happen again so loud to cause some damage to my headphones or my hearing.

 

Looking forward to what you hear from Kingwa..

 

[rigo]

He replied asking of the volume display remained the same or increased. I let him know that it remained the same. Waiting for the next reply.

 

[rigo]

Yesterday using Tidal the music completely stops playing. I went into the sound settings on my Mac to see if the Output was correct and the Amanero is not visible as an option. I had to turn the unit off and back on again for it to work. A normal once in a while occurrence? I changed the connection to another USB port for now.

 

[Ivan303]

2. Avoid noise-induced jitter, the noise coming from the computer working hard, and polluting the usb supply.
.

IIRC the Amanero USB card used in current production Master 7, 11 does not use the computer's power supply.  I have an Uptone Audio REGEN on order and, according to reliable sources, it pretty much cleans up the USB input from even noisy Laptop computers. 

 

[Ivan303]

Yesterday using Tidal the music completely stops playing. I went into the sound settings on my Mac to see if the Output was correct and the Amanero is not visible as an option. I had to turn the unit off and back on again for it to work. A normal once in a while occurrence? I changed the connection to another USB port for now.

Happens to me all the time, have to reboot the TIDAL app.
 
My problem is worn out USB sockets in my mid-2011 MacBook Air.  Seems on typing on the laptop is required to interrupt the USB connection at the socket. 

 

[bimmer100]

I actually have one of those Uptone regen ambers for sale with a teradak X1/x2 that I plan to sell soon. Not sure if anyone may be interested in that. But am debating to get a laptop and keep it for that. My desktop doesn't have noise issues at all.

 

[Luckbad]

Yesterday using Tidal the music completely stops playing. I went into the sound settings on my Mac to see if the Output was correct and the Amanero is not visible as an option. I had to turn the unit off and back on again for it to work. A normal once in a while occurrence? I changed the connection to another USB port for now.

 
Not with the Master-11, but with another DAC I'd get that every now and then. It turned out I'd fried some of my USB ports on my motherboard because I was plugged into an ungrounded outlet at my place.
 
I've since replaced the motherboard and switched to a properly-grounded outlet and never have issues.

 

[rigo]

Not with the Master-11, but with another DAC I'd get that every now and then. It turned out I'd fried some of my USB ports on my motherboard because I was plugged into an ungrounded outlet at my place.

I've since replaced the motherboard and switched to a properly-grounded outlet and never have issues.

Is there some type of diagnostic test that I can run on my Mac that can identify issues with my USB ports? It's a 2012 Mac Mini model.

 

[FredA]

IIRC the Amanero USB card used in current production Master 7, 11 does not use the computer's power supply.  I have an Uptone Audio REGEN on order and, according to reliable sources, it pretty much cleans up the USB input from even noisy Laptop computers. 

That should help.

Even when the 5v is not used, there is also the fact that the usb signal can be noisy. The level of noise depends on how clean the usb supply is inside the computer. High frequency noise can perhaps also filter through to the spdif or i2s output. That should be handled by the regen. A jitterbug is also a good idea since it help transmitting the usb signal to the regen/wyrd and lower the noise level at source.

 

[Articnoise]

That should help.

Even when the 5v is not used, there is also the fact that the usb signal can be noisy. The level of noise depends on how clean the usb supply is inside the computer. High frequency noise can perhaps also filter through to the spdif or i2s output. That should be handled by the regen. A jitterbug is also a good idea since it help transmitting the usb signal to the regen/wyrd and lower the noise level at source.

 

I agree! Even when the 5v is not used the USB signal can be noisy. Especially if using a laptop as a source.

 

Nice resume of your upgrade btw. I’m not a big fan of upsample, not even with HQPlayer.

 

[bimmer100]

Is there some type of diagnostic test that I can run on my Mac that can identify issues with my USB ports? It's a 2012 Mac Mini model.

Have you tried unplugging you smps from your laptop and see if the condition improves. The smps is super noisy for laptops. Better to run off battery.

 

[rigo]

Have you tried unplugging you smps from your laptop and see if the condition improves. The smps is super noisy for laptops. Better to run off battery.

It's a Mac Mini desktop. I may bring home my laptop and test it.

 

[FredA]

   

I agree! Even when the 5v is not used the USB signal can be noisy. Especially if using a laptop as a source.

 

Nice resume of your upgrade btw. I’m not a big fan of upsample, not even with HQPlayer.

I am not a big fan of upsampling either. The first time I used it is when i realized the usb32 module used a single-clock. So I figured it performed better with the 48k-derived rates (12Mz master clock). As a matter of fact, this improved the bass response.
 
But then, finding out i could improve the upsampling quality in audirvana, i tried that feature and found it worked great. The point is i normally avoid doing upsampling with software since it tends to smooth out the sound too much. But again i believe audirvana does it so well that it is pretty much like playing a native 24-bit signal. And the dac does not seems to oversmooth that 24 bit signal. So it is much like upgrading all you recordings to 24 bits. In theory, proper upsampling is a matter of using good software and applying enough processing power. And in theory, it is supposed to work. And that is what I hear.

 

[aive]

 



I agree! Even when the 5v is not used the USB signal can be noisy. Especially if using a laptop as a source.



 



Nice resume of your upgrade btw. I’m not a big fan of upsample, not even with HQPlayer.

This is true. Although it may not use the 5V, the GND connection is still required and is considerably noisy. You can get a cheap galvanic isolator for the amanero board to mitigate this (diyinhk) but it requires a bit of DIY.

 

[Articnoise]

  I am not a big fan of upsampling either. The first time I used it is when i realized the usb32 module used a single-clock. So I figured it performed better with the 48k-derived rates (12Mz master clock). As a matter of fact, this improved the bass response.
 
But then, finding out i could improve the upsampling quality in audirvana, i tried that feature and found it worked great. The point is i normally avoid doing upsampling with software since it tends to smooth out the sound too much. But again i believe audirvana does it so well that it is pretty much like playing a native 24-bit signal. And the dac does not seems to oversmooth that 24 bit signal. So it is much like upgrading all you recordings to 24 bits. In theory, proper upsampling is a matter of using good software and applying enough processing power. And in theory, it is supposed to work. And that is what I hear.

 

Sorry I don’t understand why 48k should be better than for example 44.1 on the M7’s word clock. Well it doesn’t matter anyhow as long as you like it more it’s better for you and the same goes for me. I will absolutely not say that up sampling if done well and with good software will sound bad. It even have some aspects it does a bit better. But in the long run it lacks some sparkle and realism IME. Upsampling sounds like SACD - a bit too polite for my taste.