[attenuated 3db]

Quote:

Sometimes, the sound will just cut out while listening for an extended period of time. The only way that I can solve it is by reconnecting the USB cable. Any ideas on  how to solve this?

I've had something like this happen to me, and have heard about it from other D1 owners.  What media player are you using?  With Foobar, I sometimes get an "unrecoverable playback error; the device is not ready" message for no apparent reason while I am in the process of extended listening.  I just restart playback with the software, sometimes going into the ouput section of the preferences to discover that Foobar suddenly doesn't know what the output device is.  Are you using the generic "Microsoft USB audio device" that auto-installs when you plug the unit in?  I don't really have any answers, but if you answer those questions, the next person who reads this thread might be able to offer some more specific advice.  And it was Spanky's excellent condensed FAQ and the enthusiasm of other Maverick owners on Head-Fi that got me to order my own D1 before I actually joined and made my first post here a scant three weeks ago.

 

[Shevlock]

I am using itunes but it doesn't matter what the program is- windows just can't output sound through the device. If I "test device" in the sound source window, it will say that it failed to play the sound.
 
I should also add that I often  hear crackling/other sound artifacts that are not in the actual audio files (ie generated by the device). I know that the FAQ said that the tubes need to be warmed up, but this persists in extended listening sessions.

 

[Ultrainferno]

 
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Quote:

Sometimes, the sound will just cut out while listening for an extended period of time. The only way that I can solve it is by reconnecting the USB cable. Any ideas on  how to solve this?

I've had something like this happen to me, and have heard about it from other D1 owners.  What media player are you using?  With Foobar, I sometimes get an "unrecoverable playback error; the device is not ready" message for no apparent reason while I am in the process of extended listening.  I just restart playback with the software, sometimes going into the ouput section of the preferences to discover that Foobar suddenly doesn't know what the output device is.  Are you using the generic "Microsoft USB audio device" that auto-installs when you plug the unit in?  I don't really have any answers, but if you answer those questions, the next person who reads this thread might be able to offer some more specific advice.  And it was Spanky's excellent condensed FAQ and the enthusiasm of other Maverick owners on Head-Fi that got me to order my own D1 before I actually joined and made my first post here a scant three weeks ago.

I can confirm I have the "unrecoverable playback error; the device is not ready" error as well with Foobar. I just reconnect the D1 and relaunch foobar. Fortunately it only happens rarely (and often with the same mp3s)

 

[Ultrainferno]

Quote:

I am using itunes but it doesn't matter what the program is- windows just can't output sound through the device. If I "test device" in the sound source window, it will say that it failed to play the sound.
 
I should also add that I often  hear crackling/other sound artifacts that are not in the actual audio files (ie generated by the device). I know that the FAQ said that the tubes need to be warmed up, but this persists in extended listening sessions.

Sometimes the D1 can make a clicking sound when the MP3 bitrate between songs changes, but during playback I've never heard any strange things

 

[Shevlock]

I should also add that windows volume control (even mute) does not affect this device at all. The only thing that will change the volume is if the software itself does it. I've used USB DAC's before and never run into this. Is there another driver that we could apply instead for better compatibility/reliability?

 
 

 

[ninjikiran]

are you sure your default device is set to the USB Sound device?  Are you sure your not using some kind of bypass like WASAPI?  Cause by all means it should work with windows digital volume control if its going through direct sound.

 

[Shevlock]

Yeah, it is  th edefault device. That's why I'm also confused as to why the windows volume control deosn't work. I don't know what WASAPI is, but the only adjustment I've made is using the sound playback device manager to set the USB DAC as the default audio device.

 

[ninjikiran]

Dont know whats going on but.... the D1 uses the same driver other dacs use which is the standard windows USB driver.  Unless it is a non Halite Async transport/dac.

 

[Ultrainferno]

I don't know too much about windows, but when my D1 is connected the Windows"Master volume" slider doesn't work, but the "Wave" slider does

 

[attenuated 3db]

Quote:

I should also add that I often  hear crackling/other sound artifacts that are not in the actual audio files (ie generated by the device). I know that the FAQ said that the tubes need to be warmed up, but this persists in extended listening sessions.

I have a problem that I would describe in the same general terms, but I am not sure which link of my audio playback chain to attribute it to, whether it's the D1 itself, or something I am inadvertently feeding it.  I live in a very high static electricity environment (I have a pair of Etymotic MC-5 IEMs, and when I leave them in my ears and disconnect them completely from any source, I get a lot of crackling noises in my ears that is just static discharge from the wire rubbing against my clothes), and I think that it (ambient static electricity) may play some role in my random "artifacts" problem.   So, in what Spanky has told me via PM is probably a case of overkill, I got a galvanic USB isolator to electronically "decouple" my D1 from my laptop's USB bus (occasionally, I hear a momentary drop-out when some other device is active elsewhere on the USB), and this device to avoid the D1's USB input and go into its co-ax S/PDIF input instead:
 
http://www.teradak.com/ProductsView.Asp?id=21
 
Of course, I don't advocate that you spend more of your money in an effort to remedy a problem that might not provide any results, but according to Spanky, the Teralink X2 provides an SQ (sound quality) improvement, as well as isolation from USB line noises (some people claim they can hear their hard drives, mouse movements, etc.)
 
And then there is the debate over the D1's device driver.  Until my Teralink X2 arrives (it is a plug-and-play intermediary device, so the DAC is no longer directly visible to Windows), I am using the somewhat controversial modified USB driver that Spanky and ninjikiran made when the D1 was first introduced, but seems to have fallen from favor.   You can find mention of it in the first post Spanky made in this condensed FAQ.  I don't understand it well enough to explain it, but it has worked for me so far, although not many other D1 owners still seem to use it, but it might be worth a trial as you try to localize the cause of your trouble.   
 
I don't really know much compared to the other posters on this thread, but I know that the Maverick Audio "community" on Head-Fi is one of the most helpful groups of people I have seen in any on-line forum, which was a major influence in me deciding to join their ranks.  And of course, you can always send an e-mail to Ryan Ping at Maverick Audio describing your problem in as much detail as possible, and he will get back to you very quickly with possible causes and suggested remedies.  Good luck!

 

[Shevlock]

I contacted the company about the issues I've been having. They offered to take a look at if it I sent it back to them. They refused to pay for return shipping, which I find pretty disappointing, given that everyone raved about their customer service. It's more difficult because its shipping to China, which I can't imagine to be cheap when I'm paying out of pocket for something that was not my fault. Anyone have any suggestions? This is also my only DAC and only amp, so not having a replacement hurts also.

 

[ninjikiran]

Yea basically, in simple terms I learned the receiver chip only supported 16/48 meaning the driver was nigh useless.  Second it caused the device to click sample rates every time a new some was played which could of damaged the device over time.
 
I honestly didn't know much about the various components of a dac, which led me to beleiving a simple driver would fix my problems.  At the same time I just used an existing driver from a similar device and made a small INF file change to make it detect the maverick.
 
Thus the standard windows driver is both proper and optimal.
 
I never really endorsed the driver past wanting to test it... but no one really responded to my test and Spanky decided to make it available in the FAQ before I made my analysis which I got back to him later on.
Quote:

Quote:

I should also add that I often  hear crackling/other sound artifacts that are not in the actual audio files (ie generated by the device). I know that the FAQ said that the tubes need to be warmed up, but this persists in extended listening sessions.

I have a problem that I would describe in the same general terms, but I am not sure which link of my audio playback chain to attribute it to, whether it's the D1 itself, or something I am inadvertently feeding it.  I live in a very high static electricity environment (I have a pair of Etymotic MC-5 IEMs, and when I leave them in my ears and disconnect them completely from any source, I get a lot of crackling noises in my ears that is just static discharge from the wire rubbing against my clothes), and I think that it (ambient static electricity) may play some role in my random "artifacts" problem.   So, in what Spanky has told me via PM is probably a case of overkill, I got a galvanic USB isolator to electronically "decouple" my D1 from my laptop's USB bus (occasionally, I hear a momentary drop-out when some other device is active elsewhere on the USB), and this device to avoid the D1's USB input and go into its co-ax S/PDIF input instead:
 

http://www.teradak.com/ProductsView.Asp?id=21
 
Of course, I don't advocate that you spend more of your money in an effort to remedy a problem that might not provide any results, but according to Spanky, the Teralink X2 provides an SQ (sound quality) improvement, as well as isolation from USB line noises (some people claim they can hear their hard drives, mouse movements, etc.)
 
And then there is the debate over the D1's device driver.  Until my Teralink X2 arrives (it is a plug-and-play intermediary device, so the DAC is no longer directly visible to Windows), I am using the somewhat controversial modified USB driver that Spanky and ninjikiran made when the D1 was first introduced, but seems to have fallen from favor.   You can find mention of it in the first post Spanky made in this condensed FAQ.  I don't understand it well enough to explain it, but it has worked for me so far, although not many other D1 owners still seem to use it, but it might be worth a trial as you try to localize the cause of your trouble.   
 
I don't really know much compared to the other posters on this thread, but I know that the Maverick Audio "community" on Head-Fi is one of the most helpful groups of people I have seen in any on-line forum, which was a major influence in me deciding to join their ranks.  And of course, you can always send an e-mail to Ryan Ping at Maverick Audio describing your problem in as much detail as possible, and he will get back to you very quickly with possible causes and suggested remedies.  Good luck!

 

[attenuated 3db]

Quote:

Yea basically, in simple terms I learned the receiver chip only supported 16/48 meaning the driver was nigh useless.  Second it caused the device to click sample rates every time a new some was played which could of damaged the device over time.
 
I honestly didn't know much about the various components of a dac, which led me to beleiving a simple driver would fix my problems.  At the same time I just used an existing driver from a similar device and made a small INF file change to make it detect the maverick.
 
Thus the standard windows driver is both proper and optimal.

 
Sorry if I was spreading bad information, but I think the D1 owner we have all been trying to help is using the standard Windows driver; I will make no further mention of the modified driver that Spanky apparently went public with sooner than you would have liked.  However, as soon as I read the phrase  "...it caused the device to click sample rates every time a new some (song?) was played which could of damaged the device over time..." I immediately uninstalled it and tried to go to the standard Windows driver myself.  I am too tired to explain (or understand) all of my subsequent failures, but I ended up having to go back to the modified driver.  Hurry, Teralink X2!  I think I may have caused myself some problems by installing some variation of ASIO4ALL that Nuforce recommended for my uDAC-2 before I got the Maverick D1.   I have been out of the Windows world too long.  But I am going to give up and call it a night, even with the modified driver you don't recommend remaining in use.  Hopefully I won't damage my D1 before the Teralink arrives.
 
I wish we could do more to help our fellow D1 owner's problems.  I know that USPS shipping for a D1 box back to Shanghai runs about $45, and if you have no fall-back DAC (at least I do), that's a tough situation.  I know from my own experience that so much of getting good help from people involves simply being able to describe your problem(s) accurately, and if there are multiple variables in the equation, some of them hidden or unknown to you, it makes the task difficult.   Turning equipment off, including brain...

 

[Mysteek]

Sorry to derail the current topic at hand, but how would you compare the D1 and the uDac-2?
 
Quote:

Quote:

Yea basically, in simple terms I learned the receiver chip only supported 16/48 meaning the driver was nigh useless.  Second it caused the device to click sample rates every time a new some was played which could of damaged the device over time.
 
I honestly didn't know much about the various components of a dac, which led me to beleiving a simple driver would fix my problems.  At the same time I just used an existing driver from a similar device and made a small INF file change to make it detect the maverick.
 
Thus the standard windows driver is both proper and optimal.

 
Sorry if I was spreading bad information, but I think the D1 owner we have all been trying to help is using the standard Windows driver; I will make no further mention of the modified driver that Spanky apparently went public with sooner than you would have liked.  However, as soon as I read the phrase  "...it caused the device to click sample rates every time a new some (song?) was played which could of damaged the device over time..." I immediately uninstalled it and tried to go to the standard Windows driver myself.  I am too tired to explain (or understand) all of my subsequent failures, but I ended up having to go back to the modified driver.  Hurry, Teralink X2!  I think I may have caused myself some problems by installing some variation of ASIO4ALL that Nuforce recommended for my uDAC-2 before I got the Maverick D1.   I have been out of the Windows world too long.  But I am going to give up and call it a night, even with the modified driver you don't recommend remaining in use.  Hopefully I won't damage my D1 before the Teralink arrives.
 
I wish we could do more to help our fellow D1 owner's problems.  I know that USPS shipping for a D1 box back to Shanghai runs about $45, and if you have no fall-back DAC (at least I do), that's a tough situation.  I know from my own experience that so much of getting good help from people involves simply being able to describe your problem(s) accurately, and if there are multiple variables in the equation, some of them hidden or unknown to you, it makes the task difficult.   Turning equipment off, including brain...

 

[attenuated 3db]

Good question.  I spend more time talking about the Maverick unit on Head-Fi, but the Nuforce unit was my first DAC, and has its advantages over the Maverick.   The most obvious is portability; I have three notebook/netbook computers, and I never use their internal sound cards any more, regardless of where I take them.  The uDAC-2 slips into my Asus netbook bag easily, and instantly makes that tiny device a music powerhouse.  As small as it is, I'd have to say the Nuforce has better build quality than the Maverick, but then it is tiny because it is only USB powered and doesn't have an AC-based power supply.
 
Sonically, the uDAC-2 is has a very precise, well-defined sound when it comes to musical detail, and I love it with my ATH-M50S or Etymotic MC-5s.  But when I first got my Sennheiser 650s (the Maverick D1 was in shipment), I could tell the Nuforce just didn't have the "ooomph" to drive a higher impedence phone, which I attribute to power supply limitations.  But the ESS Sabre DAC in the Nuforce is more modern than the Cirrus Logic DAC in the Maverick; the difference is all of the associated circuitry in a full-sized, wall-powered unit and something that runs off USB 5 volts.  If you get a uDAC-2 for whatever reason, don't make the mistake I made and buy the $99 headphone-jack only unit.  I didn't think I'd need any extra flexibility as I began this hobby, but I wish I had spent the extra $30 to get the unit with RCA and optical outputs, as well as an allegedly better volume potentiometer (although I don't notice any channel imbalance with mine at lower levels), which was a complaint about the original uDAC, whose pot it shares.
 
I'm impressed with the high quality of the whole range of Nuforce products, but enjoy the ability to tinker with the innards of the Maverick products, and be part of a community closely linked to a small manufacturer who has a lot of give and take with his customers.  
 
Quote:

Sorry to derail the current topic at hand, but how would you compare the D1 and the uDac-2?