groucho69
Headphoneus Supremus
Thank you for the update. So glad that you are all OK!
Why does the N3 start to create cracking/popping noise when on usb dac after a while and then disconnects and then says usb unrecognized device until I restart the computer ? Is it a power issue ? I've tried all usb dacs mode including slowest/safest and I've tried with 2 computers straight from USB motherboard, same thing. Any ideas ?
Is there any work around for using the n3 as a DAC without popping noises? I was looking forward to using to using it at uni this year. I'm wondering if using an actual usb c to usb c cable on my laptop would make a difference?
I too just hooked up mine to see what the fuss is about. On my main box, I got not a single pop. On a slow laptop, I got the faint occasional pop as gLer did. It seems that a lot of the popping must be related to computer performance, probably an issue with the buffer not being able to be filled by the computer on a timely basis. I had a Teac US-800 a while ago that did the same thing when the computer was under load - it would go out of sync and get a popping/ticking sound almost like a scratched CD back in the day without a soft mute circuit.
My main box is a Dual Octacore Xeon running at 3.4GHz (2x E5-2560 v2) with 128GB of RAM and Win 10...it obviously had no problems decoding high bitrate files and never popped once. No matter what the load, it played smoothly, just as the audio playing simultaneously from my Motu (on Firewire) does.
The laptop was a Sandy Bridge i5-2410M (single mobile dual core) with 8GB running both Win 7 and 10 and got the occasional pop, especially when I would load the processor with something like a Visual Studio compile. I also experienced a few pops when I'd first change into a new track when the track was high bitrate, such as 24/192 or DSD. I also noticed that on the laptop, if I had the N3 connected to the same usb root hub that was being used by another device, it was more affected. I had the same issues with the Teac US-800 that I would occasionally carry for portable tracking and playback. This laptop has 3 external USB ports - two of them share a root hub and the third only has one physical port connected to it's own (different) root hub. On the shared ports, both the US-800 and N3 would pop if I had an external usb disk connected to the other port and started copying (disk copying is much higher bandwidth than audio). When I'd move the US-800 or N3 to the single/unshared port, I got less popping, albeit still getting some.
The cable has nothing to do with the popping - it's a wire feeding a digital signal. So it'll either connect, not connect, or randomnly disconnect if the wire was bad.
Ok, so let's start a mini poll. I invite all users here to connect their N3 to their computers, and play a selection of files over headphones and listen for pops/cracks/issues. Then come back here and simply report back. I'll start: iMac 27" 2011 - Sierra OS - no pops. Mac mini 2013 - Sierra OS - no pops.
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Doh, I posted right at the same time as Andy, I hadn't even seen his posting - the "In other news" isn't meant to point to his posting! It was meant to point to my previous OC test posting!
Andy, looks like your work is cut out for you! I hope those injured get well soon and glad to see that spirits are high!
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not bit perfect... but almost... this was the answer for Andy when the users were asking for the truth haha
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cay...oax-out-for-150.833932/page-108#post-13463244
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Thank you for the update. So glad that you are all OK!
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Cayin have admitted on this thread that there is an issue with popping noises when using the N3 as a USB DAC so it's hardly a wild accusation, it's an established fact that has been confirmed by the manufacturer.
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No, I wasn't referring to that. I believe when this topic came up a while ago, you said you were aware of the issue but were unable to resolve it.If you are referring to my previous statement about mild pop sound during changed of music format (especially from PCM to DSD and vice versa) caused by AK4490, I believe we are dealing with a very different issue here because the pop sound don't just happen at the beginning of a song. Lets handle the issues independently. I don't recall I have make any statement that USB DAC of N3 so far.
No, I wasn't referring to that. I believe when this topic came up a while ago, you said you were aware of the issue but were unable to resolve it.
EDIT: I looked back and it was your colleague who made the post, stating that it was a chip limitation and something you were therefore unable to resolve with the current model. Have you changed your mind now then?
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cay...oax-out-for-150.833932/page-225#post-13645416
To be completely straight with you, I'm not interested in this issue one way or the other as I have no plans to use my N3 as a USB DAC. I only commented on it because other posters claimed there was no such problem and accused chellity of making 'wild accusations'. I thought this was most unfair because I knew that you (or your team) had already acknowledged the problem. Apparently you want to encourage this kind of customer though, (the kind that insults others) so I'll leave you to it.
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You can do whatever you want Mr Kong. I was merely pointing out that patronising other customers is not really helping them but I have no interest in discussing that matter or the N3 with you any further, as I already told you.Now that explained the confusion. My assistant has quoted the wrong answer in the FAQ when she response to that post, I apology on her behalf for causing confusion to you and to everyone reading this thread. The USB DAC poping noise is not a DAC chipset limitation from what we understand right now. The DAC pop noise will only appear at the beginning of a song and is more noticeable when it involve algorithm change (e.g, from {PCM to DSD or vice versa). The USB-DAC poping noise appears all through the song and remain the same level with or without change of audio algorithm.
On the other hand, I have no idea how you come to the conclusion that I want to encourage a customer insulting other customer. Are you referring to my thankful statement to docholliday? I quoted one post from docholliday and I thank him for what he did on that post. Are you saying that if i want to thank or endorse someone, I need to go through each and every post, making sure they are 100% valid and "praisable" before I can thank him for his contribution?
Sorry, can I offer my version of the story?
I explained Cayin's take on the digital out issue AS SOON AS I read the questions on the forum. I didn't hide the detail and then pushed to tell the truth as your have described.
Sorry being noob here , how do we set up as DAC mode ? By using USB connection to the computer the player is then set as dac, then we connect the head phone using Bluetooth or 3.5mm to the player and choose music from the computer to play ?Sadly I also have the pop sound in DAC mode, as I use the N3 mainly in DAC mode. The pop sound can be heard at the beginning of each song but mostly it is random.
- N3 firmware is 2.1
- USB TypeC to USB TypeC cable from Anker (Cayin cable it is not working properly meaning Win 10 doesn't recognize the N3)
- Windows 10 Home x64 1703
- PC hardware information: Asus ROG GL502VT gaming laptop (i7-6700HQ, Intel® HM170 Chipset, 8 GB DDR4 2133MHz, 128GB SATA3 SSD + 1TB 7200RPM SATA HDD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M 3GB GDDR5 VRAM)
- Headphones: Audio-Technica WS1100iS Solid Bass
First, you set the player on DAC mode, install the Cayin driver on the computer (http://en.cayin.cn/download/show?id=13481), connect N3 to the computer (I recommend another cable than the original), play music from your computer using any media player software. I personally use the Foobar2000 with some good additional components like Real Bass Exciter v1.0.12.Sorry being noob here , how do we set up as DAC mode ? By using USB connection to the computer the player is then set as dac, then we connect the head phone using Bluetooth or 3.5mm to the player and choose music from the computer to play ?
Thanks !!!! So the sound is coming from the computer but not from the headphone or earpiece plug to the N3?First, you set the player on DAC mode, install the Cayin driver on the computer (http://en.cayin.cn/download/show?id=13481), connect N3 to the computer (I recommend another cable than the original), play music from your computer using any media player software. I personally use the Foobar2000 with some good additional components like Real Bass Exciter v1.0.12.
You can increase the volume from both the N3 and the computer, or just set the N3 to the max and play with the computer volume.
It is also important to set the Digital Filter on your N3:
- Super Slow is best for classical, bluegrass, rock, acoustic (physical instruments)
- sharp or short delay sharp is best for pop, electronica, dance
- ignore the other filters left besides the ones above and just play with these settings and see how you like it. I have learned these from this forum so I am sharing this knowledge further on.
There is more to talk about N3 settings but if you manage to handle these ones first you should be fine for now. Enjoy !!!