[Neo-ST]

Just tried with another, thicker (and by the looks, higher quality) USB cable.
This time, interruptions occurred only 3-4 times, but they're still present nevertheless.

 

[Tuco1965]

I have a dropout issue if I use ethernet instead of wifi on my laptop.  Windows 8.1.  I have not found any solution other than just using wifi while playing music.  Just thought I would mention it because it can be hard to find the problem sometimes.

 

[goozy]

  Just tried with another, thicker (and by the looks, higher quality) USB cable.
This time, interruptions occurred only 3-4 times, but they're still present nevertheless.

Download USBlyzer and see whats going with the USB buses in your comp. See if you can plug into one thats not being used.

 

[fenderf4i]

This should do the trick! The output from the Bifrost is split to each amp, and the output from each amp goes to a Fiio HS-2 switching box. I will fire it up this evening when I'm back home, and see what happens!!

 

[Neo-ST]

  Download USBlyzer and see whats going with the USB buses in your comp. See if you can plug into one thats not being used.

 
I've been playing BF4 for the last 1 hour and so far no problems.
 
I switched from Etron USB 3.0 port to Intel USB 2.0 port. Probably the culprit was ****ty Etron controller.
I also tried USBlyzer and it didn't show any errors.

 

[Traum]

^^ I think that's your problem right there -- using a USB3 port. A lot of people have run into issues when connecting their DAC to USB3 ports, but the problem goes away when you use a regular USB2 port.

 

[Spiral Out]

^^ I think that's your problem right there -- using a USB3 port. A lot of people have run into issues when connecting their DAC to USB3 ports, but the problem goes away when you use a regular USB2 port.

Yes, that would be the problem. USB 3.0 ports on some computers work fine with dacs, others not so much.

 

[madwolfa]

  Yes, that would be the problem. USB 3.0 ports on some computers work fine with dacs, others not so much.

 
The problem is that most USB 3.0 ports on older mobos are realized through the 3rd party chips with their own drivers and quirks.
I'd never plug in any kind of sensitive, realtime processing equipment like DAC into that. CF card reader maybe (for the bandwidth alone).

 

[StanD]

This should do the trick! The output from the Bifrost is split to each amp, and the output from each amp goes to a Fiio HS-2 switching box. I will fire it up this evening when I'm back home, and see what happens!!

 

So who's gonna blind fold you and be flipping the switch? 

 

[fenderf4i]

  So who's gonna blind fold you and be flipping the switch? 

 
 
I didn't need anyone to do that.
 
The Fiio box works amazingly well. If you flip the switch quickly between amps, there is no audible break in the music. It's an instantaneous change between them.
 
The results have me rethinking everything.

 

[CJs06]

I didn't need anyone to do that.

The Fiio box works amazingly well. If you flip the switch quickly between amps, there is no audible break in the music. It's an instantaneous change between them.

The results have me rethinking everything.

Oh wow thats cool, how does it affect the signal chain in this case. I'm curious.

 

[fenderf4i]

I can't see it affecting anything at all. It's a very simple design, it literally just switches between the four inputs. You can use it in reverse as well, to switch between up to four different headphones between one amplifier.

 

[hodgjy]

  I can't see it affecting anything at all. It's a very simple design, it literally just switches between the four inputs. You can use it in reverse as well, to switch between up to four different headphones between one amplifier.

Be careful with multi switches.  Sometimes, they can introduce just minor deterioration.  Other times, they allow devices to "see" each other, which also has undesired effects. 

 

[Rem0o]

 
The results have me rethinking everything.

 
So?

 

[fenderf4i]

They sounded identical.

I'm trying to figure out what to think about that. Before switching between them like I did, I really thought the Vali was warmer and not as bright. Switching between them immediately, I couldn't tell any difference whatsoever.