[Unforsaken Jake]

I am on FW ver. 1.03

Purchased in December. I was told that v1.03 was the latest firmware by Monoprice support but some people claimed to have gotten v1.04 units so I dunno what's going on with that.

Yeah I have v1.04 installed on mine which I'm starting to think is not a positive after all. Downloading the software from the driver page and uploading it to the XMOS file is pretty much what I have concluded secures the software together as a whole. Since there are no driver installation links or information on the new v1.04, there's ulimetely no way XMOS knows the current firmware. On my Amp it says FW ver. 1.04 and in XMOS it says v1.1. Honestly doesn't make sense though cause v1.1 hasn't been around for quite some time. What are your thoughts on all this lol

 

[angelus55]

anyone have there sound cut out and not work at all untill they shut the unit off and turn it back on? i have it connected to my pc via usb, should i try another connetion type method maybe?

i am on windows 11 if it matters

 

[Unforsaken Jake]

anyone have there sound cut out and not work at all untill they shut the unit off and turn it back on? i have it connected to my pc via usb, should i try another connetion type method maybe?

i am on windows 11 if it matters

What version are on (1.03, 1.04, etc)? And, did you download the software via Monoprice's website or did you leave it as it came from the factory? In addition, do you have the XMOS drivers or Microsoft drivers? Last and final question lol, do you use the power cord given by Monoprice or a different one?

 

[angelus55]

What version are on (1.03, 1.04, etc)? And, did you download the software via Monoprice's website or did you leave it as it came from the factory? In addition, do you have the XMOS drivers or Microsoft drivers? Last and final question lol, do you use the power cord given by Monoprice or a different one?

thanks, i have fw 1.03 which came with the unit and i use the xmos drivers that were on monoprices page for the unit and i use the power cord that came with the unit

and my issue seems to happen randomly

 

[Unforsaken Jake]

thanks, i have fw 1.03 which came with the unit and i use the xmos drivers that were on monoprices page for the unit and i use the power cord that came with the unit

and my issue seems to happen randomly

Just to answer your question from before, no your Windows version won’t affect it. I’m not saying that Windows audio isn’t causing problems, but I’ll address that further down. Below I’m going to list off even more questions just so I can get a better understanding of your situation

When your sound cuts out does your unit’s display blink or flash? As in the display slightly dims it’s brightness then returns back to normal. If the answer is yes, this is an possible indication of 2 things. (1) Windows is adversely effecting your thx system or the streaming service you use is (could be both). (2) Or more than likely the Amplifier isn’t being fed enough power from your outlet, power strip, etc.

Another culprit that could be causing your sound to stop and what has happened to others in the past is something surprising simple, yet annoying. Windows by default will fluctuate the amount of power being fed to your motherboards USB ports. Ultimately, this can make your devices behave and perform “questionably”. And of course everyone loves this feature because of its ability to save you money on your electric bill! Probably around $0.05 cents…per year!! Jokes aside, I’d try and change that and take power savings off. If you need help with that, I can explain how to do it. But answer those questions from above first and then I’ll get back to you.

- Jake

 

[angelus55]

Just to answer your question from before, no your Windows version won’t affect it. I’m not saying that Windows audio isn’t causing problems, but I’ll address that further down. Below I’m going to list off even more questions just so I can get a better understanding of your situation

When your sound cuts out does your unit’s display blink or flash? As in the display slightly dims it’s brightness then returns back to normal. If the answer is yes, this is an possible indication of 2 things. (1) Windows is adversely effecting your thx system or the streaming service you use is (could be both). (2) Or more than likely the Amplifier isn’t being fed enough power from your outlet, power strip, etc.

Another culprit that could be causing your sound to stop and what has happened to others in the past is something surprising simple, yet annoying. Windows by default will fluctuate the amount of power being fed to your motherboards USB ports. Ultimately, this can make your devices behave and perform “questionably”. And of course everyone loves this feature because of its ability to save you money on your electric bill! Probably around $0.05 cents…per year!! Jokes aside, I’d try and change that and take power savings off. If you need help with that, I can explain how to do it. But answer those questions from above first and then I’ll get back to you.

- Jake

Thanks! i never noticed it flashing or blinking when it happens, i have tried a power strip and directly plugged in the wall outlet and both have that happen

as for the usb power i checked and all my usb have the option to turn off to save power enabled but my overall windows power plan is set to high performance, so that might be the issue

i switched to rca instead of usb for now to see if the problem stops ill post back if the problem happens again or if you have any other questions

thank you for helping!

 

[Unforsaken Jake]

Thanks! i never noticed it flashing or blinking when it happens, i have tried a power strip and directly plugged in the wall outlet and both have that happen

as for the usb power i checked and all my usb have the option to turn off to save power enabled but my overall windows power plan is set to high performance, so that might be the issue

i switched to rca instead of usb for now to see if the problem stops ill post back if the problem happens again or if you have any other questions

thank you for helping!

I'm on ultra performance and it hasn't effected me. I'm thinking it might be one of these: your XMOS drivers may have been corrupt, windows sound settings could be misconfigured, or your streaming service isn't communicating with your hardware/software properly. I had major problems with my Audio Services and this is what fixed it for me https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...e/b06c4897-c141-4afe-97ef-8e8889ad8b6c?auth=1 Might want to check these same service properties yourself just in case. If noooone of these are the culprit, I would try deleting your XMOS drivers and use Microsoft's USB Audio 2.0 instead. Just out of curiosity, what streaming service do you use?

 

[angelus55]

I'm on ultra performance and it hasn't effected me. I'm thinking it might be one of these: your XMOS drivers may have been corrupt, windows sound settings could be misconfigured, or your streaming service isn't communicating with your hardware/software properly. I had major problems with my Audio Services and this is what fixed it for me https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...e/b06c4897-c141-4afe-97ef-8e8889ad8b6c?auth=1 Might want to check these same service properties yourself just in case. If noooone of these are the culprit, I would try deleting your XMOS drivers and use Microsoft's USB Audio 2.0 instead. Just out of curiosity, what streaming service do you use?

thanks! i am using spotify on my pc

 

[angelus55]

can i connect active speakers via the xlr line out on this unit and use all the features still and use it as a volume control?

 

[HIGHDOWN]

anyone have there sound cut out and not work at all untill they shut the unit off and turn it back on? i have it connected to my pc via usb, should i try another connetion type method maybe?

i am on windows 11 if it matters

Yes!!! Me! I thought I was the only one.

I was on W11 too. Happened both on native W11 USB drivers and the XMOS one. I have switched to MacOS ever since and just noticed now that it has never happened again along with some other quirks such as intermittent pauses in the audio once in a while until I reboot my PC. I'm on v1.03.

 

[spacelion2077]

Did Monolith stopped making this dac/amp? I noticed that its been out of stock for awhile now.

 

[the1andonly]

Yes!!! Me! I thought I was the only one.

I was on W11 too. Happened both on native W11 USB drivers and the XMOS one. I have switched to MacOS ever since and just noticed now that it has never happened again along with some other quirks such as intermittent pauses in the audio once in a while until I reboot my PC. I'm on v1.03.

IIRC when I first got it and tried it I couldn't get it to work, then realized it needed to be connected BEFORE turning on, then it worked every time. I would assume if it gets disconnected even a second that would essentially kick in and it would act as if it was connected after turning on, have no idea if my unit was busted and this was a while ago so take that with a grain of salt.

Did Monolith stopped making this dac/amp? I noticed that its been out of stock for awhile now.

Take that with a grain of salt, when they released the M1570 after they intentionally and really no reason other than greed changed the pinout on the 4 pin XLR they said they would launch a balanced cable either with it or soon after I believe... IIRC it took them over a year, Monoprice a company built on selling cables and still a major part of their business took a year to get rewired 4pin XLR cables after they gimped their product for anti-consumer reasons.... That said I believe this unit uses the AKM DAC so I am not even sure how it continued to sell after the fire but they say they are working on another one/upgrading it, so in real terms even if they gave an estimate or you thought X would be a reasonable amount of time unless there is no info I can safely say I have no idea when or what they will release or if it will actually be better or worse but it is Monoprice so it will probably range from Ok to great deal and from low end to mid range performance.

 

[Baten]

Did Monolith stopped making this dac/amp? I noticed that its been out of stock for awhile now.

AKM chips have dried up after factory fire..

 

[jac0006]

Anyone know what driver to download in order for the monolith to be recognized by windows? I'm on Windows 10 and my machine fails to see it no matter what usb port I plug the dac into. Was working just fine on my macbook pro but not getting anything on my windows machine. Thanks in advance!

 

[Steely Dan]

Anyone know what driver to download in order for the monolith to be recognized by windows? I'm on Windows 10 and my machine fails to see it no matter what usb port I plug the dac into. Was working just fine on my macbook pro but not getting anything on my windows machine. Thanks in advance!

The XMOS driver used to be on the product page on the Monoprice website along with the manual pdf, even after it was discontinued, but it seems like they have now removed the page. Luckily I still have the original zip file for the driver which contains the installation executable. I know some people would be wary of that kind of file from a total stranger, but hopefully me being a member here for over 10 years is some reassurance. I installed the driver before even connecting mine, so I'd recommend disconnecting or at least turning it off during the install, and rebooting your PC, but afterwards it should be good to go the next time it's powered on. Technically even without this driver it should work in exclusive mode with Wasapi or a generic Asio driver, but when Asio is selected in in Audirvana the name of the proper downloaded driver is displayed and the full DSD capability is supported. I've included screenshots of that as well to show the different device display names with both wasapi and the official driver. Hope this resolves your issue.