[Kevin_Halverson]

  I've received one today and don't experience any pops and clicks. Sound quality is excellent and the size is perfect.

The lack of any "...pops and clicks..." indicates that your host (computer, tablet, smartphone, etc) is running well.  These sorts of issues are always host side problems and what is actually happening is either a buffer under or over run condition.  With proper setup and configuration, nearly any compliant host can be made to behave properly with an asynchronous device (which is certainly on the more challenging side).  Keep in mind that an isochronous task (such as streaming audio) is much more demanding than a bulk one (like sending data to a printer, reading or writing a HDD, reading a mouse or keyboard input) as there is only one chance to get the data sent to the device correctly and on time.  If the host can't keep up, then under or over runs (the former being more common) will occur and if it happens often enough, it will be audible.  
 
In all HRT Streamer models, we have a routine in firmware that monitors the inbound USB data packets.  If five or more in a row are corrupt (wrong number of bytes for the current sample rate and bit depth) the Streamer will temporarily mute the output and flash the mute LED to warn the user that their host isn't keeping up and should be 'tuned up' to better handle the task.  If you notice that the mute LED is occasional flashing (even if you don't notice the event audibly) you should be looking to improve the host's performance.  
 
The 'fixes' for different host's are different so I would always encourage anyone to contact our support department (support@hirestech.com) as we have considerable resources at our disposal along with the experience (100k+ units) to assist.
 
Kevin Halverson
CTO
High Resolution Technologies, LLC 

 

[grommo]

So I bought myself a MS the other day and have been using it plenty.
 
I have an issue however... Its overheating! It gets too warm and shuts itself off, upon which I have to reconnect the USB cable in order to restart it. I have updated it to rev 1.2 (or whatever the latest version was) (And no, not the NAS version.)
 
Anyone else have the overheating problem?
 
EDIT: Obviously its only my conclusion that the shut downs are due to overheating. It might be something else as well. But it was (very) warm when i disconnected it AND the incident(s) occur after using it for 3+ hours.

 

[Kevin_Halverson]

If the temperature is actually elevated, the headphone amplifier will shutdown.  In this condition, the line output would still be active as this is a separate path.  With in specification voltage on the bus, it would not be likely that the amplifier could overheat, so if this is an actual over temperature induced shutdown of the headphone amplifier, it would be wise to check the host's USB supply for an over voltage condition.  One thing that would be helpful is to know the state of the indicator LEDs on the microStreamer.
 
Kevin Halverson
CTO
High Resolution Technologies, LLC 

 

[Robgo]

Mine gets a little warm when I have it connected to my phone but I haven't had it shut off on me yet. I've listened with it over 3 hours and it hasn't shut off (knock on wood).
 
I was having an issue with popping sounds using USB Audio Player pro. But discovered it was an issue with buffer size. I changed the buffer size and haven't had the problem. Have to close down USB Audio Player and restart it for the buffer settings to change (would have been nice if USB Audio player mentioned that as I messed around about 1 hour changing settings and thinking my MS was defective).
 
 
 
I also seem to have an issue with the headphone socket. Sometimes when I plug it in I don't get a full contact (volume is low and distorted) and I have to put a bit of pressure on the jack to get full contact. Hasn't been a major issue yet but I'm hoping it doesn't get worse.

 

[grommo]

  If the temperature is actually elevated, the headphone amplifier will shutdown.  In this condition, the line output would still be active as this is a separate path.  With in specification voltage on the bus, it would not be likely that the amplifier could overheat, so if this is an actual over temperature induced shutdown of the headphone amplifier, it would be wise to check the host's USB supply for an over voltage condition.  One thing that would be helpful is to know the state of the indicator LEDs on the microStreamer.
 
Kevin Halverson
CTO
High Resolution Technologies, LLC 

 
Much thanks for the reply!
 
The indicator LEDs shut off/turn off when this happens ("It goes black").
 
I will try using it with a USB port on another chip-set and see if its over-voltage. I've been connecting the MS to a D-Link "Dub-H4 4-port"-hub which has a "Fast charging" feature that feeds connected devices "up to 2.0A". Certainly sounds like a potential villain.
 
I'm using the amplifier/headphone output right now, but I will soon receive a dedicated amplifier and use the line-out with that instead.

 

[LajostheHun]

Using mine for a month or so. I also had some pops and clicks very randomly using Music Bee and direct sound.With Wasapi it's click and pop city so I don't use that. Reading this thread I did some search and came upon a site that deals with "audio tuning for Windows" this recommended that I use ASIO output driver not direct sound or Wasapi, so I downloaded ASIO4ALL which is a generic driver and use that now configured in the Music Bee player section. So far no pops or clicks. I have reduced the sample size to 256 from the default 512. Since I have a Core I7 quad processor this should be OK. We shall see.

 

[Robgo]

I'm having problems with my headphone input cutting out. It's not the end of the world but makes using the MS extremely fiddly and takes away from the experience of using the MS. Is there any way I can go about getting it replaced with a new unit?

 

[Gilly87]

How long ago did you buy it? Can you still exchange with the seller? If not, email HRT. They're very responsive.

I'm having problems with my headphone input cutting out. It's not the end of the world but makes using the MS extremely fiddly and takes away from the experience of using the MS. Is there any way I can go about getting it replaced with a new unit?

 

[Robgo]

Not long ago and it's been doing it since I've received it. If I twist it in a bit it doesn't do it but it's annoying to have to do that all the time. 

 

[Gilly87]

So exactly how long ago is "not long?"

 

[Robgo]

Two weeks. Figured out what was causing it though. The way my cable on my se535 is designed doesn't allow for the jack to go in 100%. The input on the MS is slightly recessed. It's a fiio cable. I'll test a different one when I get a chance.

 

[Stillhart]

  We strongly recommend buffers of no larger than 50 ms with any asynchronous device like the microStreamer.  Since the underlying concept behind an asynchronous interface is that the device (microStreamer in this case) is polled by the host (computer) at a predefined interval for the feedback value, any excessively large buffers is going to delay the host's response and this can result in either buffer over or under runs which will manifest as 'clicks, pops and other anomalies'.  Keeping the media player's buffer size reasonable in size keeps it (the media player/host combination) responsive to the feedback values sent from the device and avoids breaking the underlying concept of the protocol used.
 
In addition, there is a monitoring function that is present in this and all Streamer models that might interesting to some.  The Streamer looks for corrupt packets (none whole sample divisiable) and if it sees five or more consecutive, it will flash the mute LED to warn the user of the problem.  This monitor doesn't catch host generated buffer issues as the function verifies the size of the packet (checks for a whole number of samples) but can't know about the upstream behavior outside of the packet size.   
 
For this or any questions you might have, please email: support@hirestech.com, this email address is monitored nearly constantly and we are always happy to assist with the proper configuration of any HRT product.
 
Kevin Halverson
CTO
High Resolution Technologies, LLC

Thanks for this.  I was surprised to note that when I turned the buffer down to 50, the sound actually filled out a little more as well.
 
Now I just have to figure out how to set the buffer on Winamp.  Worked great in Fubar...

 

[Robgo]

Two weeks. Figured out what was causing it though. The way my cable on my se535 is designed doesn't allow for the jack to go in 100%. The input on the MS is slightly recessed. It's a fiio cable. I'll test a different one when I get a chance.

 
Just to reply to and correct my own problem.
 
It was a problem with the fiio cable. I went back to a stock shure cable and it works perfectly now. 

 

[davidianis]

Hello people,
 
i'm an old reader of this forum but a new member still learning about this interesting audiophile world,
now I'm in the search of a budget DAC and I am in between the microstreamer and the Geek Out, can somebody
give a recommendation, I know the Geek Out is the new Mike's favorite, and also more future proof (DSD...) but
I have read so many good reviews about the microstreamer that I don't know anymore which one to buy :S, I'll
appreciate some advice guys.

 

[davidianis]

  Hello people,
 
i'm an old reader of this forum but a new member still learning about this interesting audiophile world,
now I'm in the search of a budget DAC and I am in between the microstreamer and the Geek Out, can somebody
give a recommendation, I know the Geek Out is the new Mike's favorite, and also more future proof (DSD...) but
I have read so many good reviews about the microstreamer that I don't know anymore which one to buy :S, I'll
appreciate some advice guys.

Never mind, I bought the HRT, so far very happy with it, the only problem is that I feel they don't pair very well with my Music Fidelity MF100
it sounds overall a bit to bright, I read that the microstreamer pairs very well with the V-Moda M-100, I'll buy them as soon as I can.
 
By the way I am connecting the HRT to my mac with the ViaBlue KR-2 SILVER USB-CABLE MINI and maybe are my untrained ears
but i don't hear any real sonic improvement, but boy it sure looks beautiful!