[otijhuis]

What impossibile? Measuring two points by multimeter and adjust values thru a micro rotary switch by a screwdriver (3x) may be hard for average Joe but not for a electronics repairman.

My distributor just followed Nicolae 's instructions.

My distributor apparently had no idea and they said they contacted Audiobyte as well. Unfortunately I have no way to check what was tried and what was said. But considering the fact the sound of your Vox was reduced quite a bit makes me feel they didn't even try. I wish I knew what to adjust and how. My father has been in electronics for quite a while so he might be able to do it.

Just switched back to SPDIF. Turns out the original source sample rate determines if it clicks or not, even if it ends up at the same upsampled sample rate. So within albums for instance, the switches never triggered. If I set Roon to upsample 44.1, 48 and 88.2 to 96kHz, then everything gets upsampled to 768K by the Hub and there are no relay sounds. Don't know if that affects the sound quality but with that configuration there are no clicks and no issues with the 0.2sec delay. Songs start playing right away.

Is there anything in particular you hear, or don't hear, with SPDIF? My feeling is that SPDIF sounds a tiny bit smoother, and maybe a little less airy but that may just be in my head . Hard to judge since it takes a little time to switch between them. It sounds great though. Have to give it some more time. My system sounds pretty laid back already so that could have something to do with me initially slightly preferring USB.

Before the Hub I had Roon set to upsample to 384K or DSD512. But those are probably the limits of the Singxer, not sure.

Edit:

Current configuration:

NUC with Roon Rock (Roon upsampling to 192kHz) -> Singxer SU-6 (USB input) -> Hub (SPDIF input and upsampling to 768kHz) -> Vox (i2s input)

I'll keep it this way at least until the firmware updates. Then I'll check again. Right now I have no clicks from the relay switches and no 0.2delay with Roon.

 

[SonnyMarrow]

Reading this thread after someone told me of possible issues, but it seems like it’s mostly related to the HUB and i2s? If my plan was to only use the DAC via USB and maybe AES, would I encounter any issues? I’m really interested in trying this DAC, don’t need the HUB at all.

 

[mantraone]

My distributor apparently had no idea and they said they contacted Audiobyte as well. Unfortunately I have no way to check what was tried and what was said. But considering the fact the sound of your Vox was reduced quite a bit makes me feel they didn't even try. I wish I knew what to adjust and how. My father has been in electronics for quite a while so he might be able to do it.

Just switched back to SPDIF. Turns out the original source sample rate determines if it clicks or not, even if it ends up at the same upsampled sample rate. So within albums for instance, the switches never triggered. If I set Roon to upsample 44.1, 48 and 88.2 to 96kHz, then everything gets upsampled to 768K by the Hub and there are no relay sounds. Don't know if that affects the sound quality but with that configuration there are no clicks and no issues with the 0.2sec delay. Songs start playing right away.

Is there anything in particular you hear, or don't hear, with SPDIF? My feeling is that SPDIF sounds a tiny bit smoother, and maybe a little less airy but that may just be in my head . Hard to judge since it takes a little time to switch between them. It sounds great though. Have to give it some more time. My system sounds pretty laid back already so that could have something to do with me initially slightly preferring USB.

Before the Hub I had Roon set to upsample to 384K or DSD512. But those are probably the limits of the Singxer, not sure.

Edit:

Current configuration:

NUC with Roon Rock (Roon upsampling to 192kHz) -> Singxer SU-6 (USB input) -> Hub (SPDIF input and upsampling to 768kHz) -> Vox (i2s input)

I'll keep it this way at least until the firmware updates. Then I'll check again. Right now I have no clicks from the relay switches and no 0.2delay with Roon.

But why not directly NUC with Roon Rock to HUB ethernet input =>I2s=> Vox (or Rockna Wavelight in my case)? For the roon ready equipment upsampling could works fine.

 

[otijhuis]

@SonnyMarrow Personally I find the iOS/Android apps horrible but I rarely have to use them luckily. Depending on the sources used you might hear the relay switches click a lot. It depends on your tolerance for those sounds if you regard that as an issue or not. The Vox seems to be a bit picky when it comes to USB cables, especially longer ones. With one I had a lot of crackling and that cable worked fine with my Chord Qutest. Those are the things I can think of. And yes, you don't need the Hub, but it does make everything sound even better

@mantraone I personally don't like to use the ethernet input and have much better cables for the other inputs anyway. Besides, my NUC is right next to my Hydra stack. Right now I'm just glad that I've found a workaround for things that annoyed me the most. Currently I have great sound, no relay clicks and no 0.2sec delays with Roon, and I don't want to keep fiddling with things just to get them to work the way I want. Once the new firmware updates are available for the Hub/Vox I'll see if I can simplify things.

 

[SonnyMarrow]

@SonnyMarrow Personally I find the iOS/Android apps horrible but I rarely have to use them luckily. Depending on the sources used you might hear the relay switches click a lot. It depends on your tolerance for those sounds if you regard that as an issue or not. The Vox seems to be a bit picky when it comes to USB cables, especially longer ones. With one I had a lot of crackling and that cable worked fine with my Chord Qutest. Those are the things I can think of. And yes, you don't need the Hub, but it does make everything sound even better

@mantraone I personally don't like to use the ethernet input and have much better cables for the other inputs anyway. Besides, my NUC is right next to my Hydra stack. Right now I'm just glad that I've found a workaround for things that annoyed me the most. Currently I have great sound, no relay clicks and no 0.2sec delays with Roon, and I don't want to keep fiddling with things just to get them to work the way I want. Once the new firmware updates are available for the Hub/Vox I'll see if I can simplify things.

Thanks for the response. Do the relays click when sample rate changes or something? That wouldn’t really bother me because 90% of what I listen to is 44.1k. I’m more concerned with the sound. I’ve been looking at the Bricasti M1 and COD D1, though the latter never goes on sale used. The Vox seems like a more price friendly high end option which is why I’m interested.

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

There is another that could be on you short list. It's sister Rockna Wavelight.

 

[otijhuis]

Thanks for the response. Do the relays click when sample rate changes or something? That wouldn’t really bother me because 90% of what I listen to is 44.1k. I’m more concerned with the sound. I’ve been looking at the Bricasti M1 and COD D1, though the latter never goes on sale used. The Vox seems like a more price friendly high end option which is why I’m interested.

Yes, it happens when the sample rate changes so in your case it won't happen much. I use Tidal/Qobuz myself so it tends to happen often without upsampling.

 

[Lono]

Hello Everyone,

Regarding noise when using USB on the Vox/Hub
I don't know if this will help, but I had major problems with noise from the fanless, PC I built.
I was hearing the CPU working, noise and pitch would change as the CPU load changed.
It was a grounding issue due to the PC having a laptop style PSU that isn't grounded.
I purchased an "iFi Audio iDefender+ 3.0 Ground Loop Eliminator" and it solved my problem.
Very happy with it!

As well as removing the ground connection from the sending device (PC), it also removes the 5V DC USB normally sends.
With some DACs, this can cause a problem because they use the 5V to recognise that a USB source is plugged in.
This is not a problem with the VOX though!
But, the iDefender allows you to plug in a "clean" 5V source via the USB-C port on the side of the unit for DACs that need it.
Allo do a "Shanti" Dual Linear PSU that's well suited to this.

Hope this helps,

Lono.

 

[SingleCell]

I'm new to posting in this form. Also sorry for being off topic. I've just ordered the Hydra stack (VOX, ZAP, HUB) from Audio Mirror. After reading these last posts I'm wondering if I made a mistake in ordering the stack? Seems like there are some issues with the system. I asked Vlad at Audio Mirror to test the I2S communication between the VOX and HUB before he ships. I plan on using the hub as an NAA for HQPlayer and using the VOX in direct DSD. I love using the DSD playback with the ASDM7ECv2 demodulator with the closed-form-16M filter in my current Chord Qutest DAC. Do you think the Hydra stack will be a significant upgrade? Thanks Mark

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Hello @SingleCell and welcome to Head-Fi!
Hey we have the same settings!

Issues/bugs are from the HUB. I tested briefly using HQPlayer 4.19. And here are my findings. Please take it as a grain of salt:
- I could play DSD64 and Flac 24-192 and lower w/ excellent results (maybe this is its max supported for now) .
- DSD128 playback have some crackling noise in the background.
- DSD256 and up stutters. And could not play DXD.
- Upsampling on HUB works both in DSD512 and PCM705.6/768 via I2S (prefering the later).

Am using JRiver as player right now thru SPDIF to HUB via Singxer SU-6 (thought I am replacing this and end up using it in the chain).

 

[SingleCell]

Thanks for your response @m-i-c-k-e-y. Nice to meet you. That's interesting we're using same HQPlayer settings, got to love that sound.

Based on your observations will simply install VOX in place of the Qutest running @ DSD256 and see if all works with HQPlayer setup. Would like to hear the differences between these DACs before putting the HUB in the mix. Also thanks for your HUB observations too, it lets me know what to expect.

My current setup: Phone (Roon) -wifi-> Innuos Zen Mini (Roon core) -enet-> DELL Precision i7 (HQPlayer embedded) -enet-> Raspberry Pi 4 (Network Audio Adaptor) -usb-> Chord Qutest.

Hoping HUB will simply replace the Raspberry Pi 4 and use I2S to VOX. If a Raspberry Pi can do the stream rendering without a hiccup it seems like the HUB should be able to as well.

 

[Miracle1980]

Anyone asked Nicolae about the status of the 0.2sec delay issue? I'm surprised it has not been fixed yet...
Do we know when the remote application for Apple/Android will support the HUB?

 

[otijhuis]

Anyone asked Nicolae about the status of the 0.2sec delay issue? I'm surprised it has not been fixed yet...
Do we know when the remote application for Apple/Android will support the HUB?

I'm afraid we'll just have to wait and see. Every date or time frame I have ever gotten from them has been way off the mark. Even when I got an exact date for the initial iOS app it was off by over a month.

 

[elf21400]

I also received my Hydra HUB yesterday.
But I would like to ask if anyone has successfully powered the HUB with a DC power supply other than Zap?
I don't have VOX/ZAP, but I bought a HUB as a DDC based on my good experience with Hydra-Z in the past.

I confirmed inside, the DC power supply is connected to the cable of the motherboard.
It seems that only two of the pins are functional? (as following photo)
Maybe it's the positive pin and the negative pin, but I don't know the correct answer.

Does anyone know this pinout?

Before I got the HUB, I got the reply from Audiobyte that the required power specification of the HUB is 5V, 2A.
But they didn't answer me about pinout.

If I could know the pinout, I would like to order other DC cable to enable my HUB to power on for the first time.
Before this, I could not turn on my HUB so far.
Because there is no power transformer in the HUB's box...

 

[Miracle1980]

I also received my Hydra HUB yesterday.
But I would like to ask if anyone has successfully powered the HUB with a DC power supply other than Zap?
I don't have VOX/ZAP, but I bought a HUB as a DDC based on my good experience with Hydra-z in the past.

I confirmed inside, the DC power supply is connected to the cable of the motherboard.
It seems that only two of the pins are functional? (as following photo)
Maybe it's the positive pin and the negative pin, but I don't know the correct answer.

Does anyone know this pinout?

Before I got the HUB, I got the reply from Audiobyte that the required power specification of the HUB is 5V, 2A.

If I could know the pinout, I would like to order other DC cable to enable my HUB to power on for the first time.
Before this, I could not turn on my HUB.
Because there is no power transformer in the HUB's box.

Hello, yes I am powering my HUB with a Silent Angel Forester F1 Linear PSU.
But I asked Nicolae to prepare a cable for the purpose (one end with the proprietary plug from the HUB and the other end with a standard 5.5x2.1 plug).
Everything is working fine... but I have to plug/unplug the cable from the PSU to switch on/off the HUB.
Nicolae should implement remote control once the android/apple application will support the HUB.

I think you should ask for the name of the plug (HUB side) and the pins order...so we can also prepare better "audiophile" cable for it.
I have asked in the past... but never got a reply.
Or simply ask Nicolae to prepare a cable for you, with a compatible plug for your PSU .

Let me know how it goes.