[Law87]

 

you have to ask John, he doesn't recommend it. I have to order the opamp and have it send to him also, as far as price I don't know yet.

 

[fabifri]

hi,
 
i have a question regarding the battery runtime of the C5D.
for me there is no chance to come near to the claimed 6-8 hours.
I tried today with a fresh loaded battery and after 4 hours of constant listening (while train travelling), the green LEDs started to flash. I did not try to wait until the amp switches off, but really, i would not expect another 4 hours...
 
what's your typical battery runtime?
 
kind regards
Fabian

 

[Law87]

  hi,
 
i have a question regarding the battery runtime of the C5D.
for me there is no chance to come near to the claimed 6-8 hours.
I tried today with a fresh loaded battery and after 4 hours of constant listening (while train travelling), the green LEDs started to flash. I did not try to wait until the amp switches off, but really, i would not expect another 4 hours...
 
what's your typical battery runtime?
 
kind regards
Fabian

 
 
I get 7-8 but I send mine in and have John check it out, should come back shortly.

 

[ZSamuels28]

Anyone have an issue with their JDS C5D where it pauses during songs? Probably just this crappy computer unable to handle it haha. I'll try on my iPhone and see if it does the same thing.

 

[bflat]

  Anyone have an issue with their JDS C5D where it pauses during songs? Probably just this crappy computer unable to handle it haha. I'll try on my iPhone and see if it does the same thing.

Highly doubtful that it's your C5D. There are numerous things your PC or Mac can do to temporarily cut off data to your DAC. Some of the simple things are:
 
Bad cable - try different cable
Power management kicking in - disable power management
Conflict with background app - shutdown as many apps as you can
Noisy USB power - try to connect via powered usb hub if you have one. Or get a Wyrd decrapifier ffrom Schiit which is basically a powered hub with just on port.

 

[s0ckpupp3t]

  Anyone have an issue with their JDS C5D where it pauses during songs? Probably just this crappy computer unable to handle it haha. I'll try on my iPhone and see if it does the same thing.

Is the C5D actually making the song stop or are you saying that the sound periodically cuts out for a second or so while playing a song?  
 
If the later, I had that happen on my Windows laptop with the C5D but not my Macbook.  Turns out that it was caused by the C5D running in USB asynchronous mode.  I had JDS change the C5D software to go back to USB adaptive mode and it fixed the issue.

 

[ZSamuels28]

  Is the C5D actually making the song stop or are you saying that the sound periodically cuts out for a second or so while playing a song?  
 
If the later, I had that happen on my Windows laptop with the C5D but not my Macbook.  Turns out that it was caused by the C5D running in USB asynchronous mode.  I had JDS change the C5D software to go back to USB adaptive mode and it fixed the issue.

It is the later, for example say I'm listening to spotify, when I resize the window the music will continue but the sound will cut out. When I have the program open in front of me it seems like everything works fine. Does changing the software to USB adaptive mode affect the SQ at all?
 
Edit: I talked to John and he said that he sees this in about 1/100 people and it happens on random computers and they don't know why. He said that if they were to remake the C5D they would have it run in adaptive mode because it does not affect performance at all and it would eliminate that problem...
 
Also, what is the point of the line-in jack? Why would you ever want to bypass the DAC? Should I have John switch this port over to a line-out for the DAC so I can have the DAC go to a separate AMP if I want?
 
Thanks!

 

[bflat]

  It is the later, for example say I'm listening to spotify, when I resize the window the music will continue but the sound will cut out. When I have the program open in front of me it seems like everything works fine. Does changing the software to USB adaptive mode affect the SQ at all?
 
Edit: I talked to John and he said that he sees this in about 1/100 people and it happens on random computers and they don't know why. He said that if they were to remake the C5D they would have it run in adaptive mode because it does not affect performance at all and it would eliminate that problem...
 
Also, what is the point of the line-in jack? Why would you ever want to bypass the DAC? Should I have John switch this port over to a line-out for the DAC so I can have the DAC go to a separate AMP if I want?
 
Thanks!

Interesting. I wouldn't assume the adaptive mode solves everything in all cases. That would just temporarily lower the bit rate during those "glitches" instead of pausing sound altogether. It may or many not be perceivable depending on how high of a bit rate you are running and depth of the buffer frames. I still think it's worth your time to try to figure out what the root cause is on your PC since you are likely to run into this issue with other DACs. Hopefully Windows 10 will have better audio USB support like Mac.
 
On your line out question - again depending on what DAC you have in your PC and what bit rate you run, there may be little to no difference in sound quality with the C5D. However, the amp circuit in just about 99% of the time will be far superior on an external device than inside your PC. This is also where the sound gets "colored" so you will notice a major difference in sound quality and volume. This is why I opted for a C5 for my Macbook Pro and iPhone. To my ears with SE846 IEMs, I didn't hear the need for another DAC and saved a few bucks in the process. Of course if your internal DAC maxes out at 44K/16-bit and you want to eventually go with 96K 24-bit, then you have to use an external DAC.
 
Ironically, if you find your PC DAC to have the specs you need for your music, going to line in mode on your C5D will completely resolve your USB issue. Give it a try or even a blind test. If you do, just set your PC volume to 100% and control the headphone volume just through your C5D control in both DAC and Amp mode.

 

[ZSamuels28]

 
Interesting. I wouldn't assume the adaptive mode solves everything in all cases. That would just temporarily lower the bit rate during those "glitches" instead of pausing sound altogether. It may or many not be perceivable depending on how high of a bit rate you are running and depth of the buffer frames. I still think it's worth your time to try to figure out what the root cause is on your PC since you are likely to run into this issue with other DACs. Hopefully Windows 10 will have better audio USB support like Mac.
 
On your line out question - again depending on what DAC you have in your PC and what bit rate you run, there may be little to no difference in sound quality with the C5D. However, the amp circuit in just about 99% of the time will be far superior on an external device than inside your PC. This is also where the sound gets "colored" so you will notice a major difference in sound quality and volume. This is why I opted for a C5 for my Macbook Pro and iPhone. To my ears with SE846 IEMs, I didn't hear the need for another DAC and saved a few bucks in the process. Of course if your internal DAC maxes out at 44K/16-bit and you want to eventually go with 96K 24-bit, then you have to use an external DAC.
 
Ironically, if you find your PC DAC to have the specs you need for your music, going to line in mode on your C5D will completely resolve your USB issue. Give it a try or even a blind test. If you do, just set your PC volume to 100% and control the headphone volume just through your C5D control in both DAC and Amp mode.

So should I send the unit back to switch it over to adaptive mode or would it affect the sound at all? I would rather have the DAC component if I can with this computer but I guess worst case I can just use the analog line in on my C5D. I was a bit confused with the line-in/line-out thing...
 
The way it ships the line-in is an analog line in so I could go from my computer or speaker system to 3.5mm into the C5D and have the sound amped (no DAC because the connection is analog) and then have it come out the headphone jack
 
What would be the point of having 2 line-outs if I had the jack switched to line-out...

 

[bflat]

  So should I send the unit back to switch it over to adaptive mode or would it affect the sound at all? I would rather have the DAC component if I can with this computer but I guess worst case I can just use the analog line in on my C5D. I was a bit confused with the line-in/line-out thing...
 
The way it ships the line-in is an analog line in so I could go from my computer or speaker system to 3.5mm into the C5D and have the sound amped (no DAC because the connection is analog) and then have it come out the headphone jack
 
What would be the point of having 2 line-outs if I had the jack switched to line-out...

If all you are changing is the USB mode in the C5D and all else remains the same, there will be no change in SQ but you should get continuous sound instead of pauses. Even if that doesn't totally fix your problem, there is major and equal debates on better SQ between true asynchronous versus adaptive synchronous. Since there is no consensus, I think it's safe to assume there is practical difference in SQ. Just one more thing to consider - if you are hell bent on solving the root issue, then leaving your USB mode as is would be a heck of a lot easier to diagnose then trying to listen subtle bit rate changes during those glitches.
 
As for 2 line out, you may want to go ahead and make that change so you have some future expandability. For example, maybe you want a mini tube amp. You would connect your line out from C5D to line in on your tube amp. You don't want to use your headphone out in this case because that itself is powered by an internal amp so pretty much defeats the purpose of wanting to hear a different sound color of a different amp. However, this isn't always the case. JDS may have an exceptionally neutral and clear headphone amp so best to ask them. As long as you don't mind the cost, there is no downside to getting a true line out installed as long as you never see a scenario where you will use your C5D as just an amp.

 

[ZSamuels28]

 
If all you are changing is the USB mode in the C5D and all else remains the same, there will be no change in SQ but you should get continuous sound instead of pauses. Even if that doesn't totally fix your problem, there is major and equal debates on better SQ between true asynchronous versus adaptive synchronous. Since there is no consensus, I think it's safe to assume there is practical difference in SQ. Just one more thing to consider - if you are hell bent on solving the root issue, then leaving your USB mode as is would be a heck of a lot easier to diagnose then trying to listen subtle bit rate changes during those glitches.
 
As for 2 line out, you may want to go ahead and make that change so you have some future expandability. For example, maybe you want a mini tube amp. You would connect your line out from C5D to line in on your tube amp. You don't want to use your headphone out in this case because that itself is powered by an internal amp so pretty much defeats the purpose of wanting to hear a different sound color of a different amp. However, this isn't always the case. JDS may have an exceptionally neutral and clear headphone amp so best to ask them. As long as you don't mind the cost, there is no downside to getting a true line out installed as long as you never see a scenario where you will use your C5D as just an amp.

Like you said ironically, the line in would fix my asynchronous issue but then I wouldn't be using the DAC. Any ideas as to how to diagnose this issue? Would I notice a change in sound when the bit rate changes?

 

[bflat]

  Like you said ironically, the line in would fix my asynchronous issue but then I wouldn't be using the DAC. Any ideas as to how to diagnose this issue? Would I notice a change in sound when the bit rate changes?

For Spotify 320 kbps, I doubt you will hear any difference when the adaptive bit rate kicks in. For hi rez FLACs you may notice, but also depends on when it happens. I would not rely on ears to try to discern when these subtle glitches happen. As for trouble shooting, unfortunately I'm not too familiar with how you enable error logging in Windows. On Mac, I just open up console and post the error logs in Apple's forum and within a day or two somebody figures out exactly where the problem is. Maybe Microsoft has such a forum and logging? It's tough on PC since there is no such thing as "standard hardware configuration". Sorry that I can't give you conclusive answers but hopefully this is enough input for you to decide if it's worth your time to find a root cause. If you do figure it out, I'm sure JDS would be very interested to hear what it is and maybe they will even compensate you for it.

 

[ZSamuels28]

 
For Spotify 320 kbps, I doubt you will hear any difference when the adaptive bit rate kicks in. For hi rez FLACs you may notice, but also depends on when it happens. I would not rely on ears to try to discern when these subtle glitches happen. As for trouble shooting, unfortunately I'm not too familiar with how you enable error logging in Windows. On Mac, I just open up console and post the error logs in Apple's forum and within a day or two somebody figures out exactly where the problem is. Maybe Microsoft has such a forum and logging? It's tough on PC since there is no such thing as "standard hardware configuration". Sorry that I can't give you conclusive answers but hopefully this is enough input for you to decide if it's worth your time to find a root cause. If you do figure it out, I'm sure JDS would be very interested to hear what it is and maybe they will even compensate you for it.

I can try to find the root cause haha, what about the difference with my Mac or iPhone with adaptive? If they already work in aynch mode will there be any difference with bitrate? I'm torn over getting the line jack switched over to a line-out :/... John said he'd do free shipping

 

[bflat]

  I can try to find the root cause haha, what about the difference with my Mac or iPhone with adaptive? If they already work in aynch mode will there be any difference with bitrate? I'm torn over getting the line jack switched over to a line-out :/... John said he'd do free shipping

Wow, that's awesome service! Every time I think I've heard of a great service story from JDS, they surpass it! If JDS says no difference with adaptive, I would believe them. In fact they convinced me to just get the C5 so I know they give honest answers instead of trying to get more dollars. This may be flawed logic, so best to confirm with JDS - if your Mac and iPhone are fine now in async mode, then when you change the USB to adaptive, it should never need to adapt so you should get full bit rate 100% of the time.

 

[ZSamuels28]

 
Wow, that's awesome service! Every time I think I've heard of a great service story from JDS, they surpass it! If JDS says no difference with adaptive, I would believe them. In fact they convinced me to just get the C5 so I know they give honest answers instead of trying to get more dollars. This may be flawed logic, so best to confirm with JDS - if your Mac and iPhone are fine now in async mode, then when you change the USB to adaptive, it should never need to adapt so you should get full bit rate 100% of the time.

Yeah, John even said himself "asynchronous as a word just sounds better to audiophiles" and that "if he redid the C5D today he would ship it in adaptive mode so it wouldn't have this issue with 1% of people". So in your opinion I should send it back to get it in adaptive mode? Also, I'm torn about the line-out thing lol convince me it's worth it to have them change it.