Toslink crackling, USB vs toslink, & motherboard interference?

[duskmustache]

I need some advice on my toslink cable that is crackling whenever I play music through it and even at idle it will crackle occasionally.
Here's my current setup

MSI z97m gaming motherboard toslink port->smsl Sanskrit-> schiit lyr 2-> lcd 2's

Is this a problem with my dac? I do know it is lacking and I wish to upgrade my dac but is this crackling from motherboard interference? My Sanskrit works fine on USB.

Also, if I were to purchase a pci soundcard such as a sound blaster z and do this route

Sound blaster z toslink-> smsl Sanskrit-> schiit lyr 2-> lcd 2's

Would this remedy the crackling that I presume is from motherboard interference?

 

[Ancipital]

Motherboard RFI won't cause cracking over TOSlink- RFI is more or less analogue domain in this context. It's more likely to be something like buffer underruns or maybe some extreme jitter.
 
You need to work out where in the chain the noise starts in order to diagnose it. If you can, borrow a little portable DAC/amp and headphones and hook them up to the port, and listen. If there's still crackling, you're probably looking at buffer underruns, and you need to un-cack your computer (background stuff in windows is always a classic). A good co-indicator in this case is if the cracking changes/intensifies when you run something intensive on the computer (try a lot of heavy CPU-intensive work and/or some I/O intensive stuff)
 
If it's not the computer, swap out one item at a time as you travel down the chain, until you find the component causing it.
 
You need to be systematic, don't just guess and swap stuff around. Diagnostics are about reducing the problem domain 

 

 

[duskmustache]

Alright I'll try that as soon as I get home. I don't particularly have another dac amp that can plug into my toslink but I'll find a way to systematically find the source of the noise. Thanks!

 

[PurpleAngel]

I need some advice on my toslink cable that is crackling whenever I play music through it and even at idle it will crackle occasionally.
Here's my current setup
MSI z97m gaming motherboard toslink port->smsl Sanskrit-> schiit lyr 2-> lcd 2's
Is this a problem with my dac? I do know it is lacking and I wish to upgrade my dac but is this crackling from motherboard interference? My Sanskrit works fine on USB.
Also, if I were to purchase a pci sound card such as a sound blaster z and do this route
Sound blaster z toslink-> smsl Sanskrit-> schiit lyr 2-> lcd 2's
Would this remedy the crackling that I presume is from motherboard interference?

 
Using a digital output (optical/coaxial/USB) from the computer should remove any noise (crackling), that might be generated from the computer.
 
My gut says the issue with the noise is caused from the SMSL Sanskirt.
Try removing the SMSL and plug the Ly2  straight into the motherboard's Front Speaker/Headphone jack.
Set the on-board audio to 2-channel Speaker output, and turn the computer's volume controls to 75% or higher (make sure the volume on the Lyr 2 is set way low or turned off first).
Then turn up or turn on the Lyr 2 to a comfortable volume level, see if you still get the crackle.

 

[duskmustache]

Hmm I see where youre coming from as smsl Chinese and I've heard of instances in which if you have your rca cables next to the power cable you could hear a slight hum. It was mostly an impulse buy since I saw a zreview on it on YouTube and it was comparable to a modi but it matched nice with my retired FiiO e09k but now I've since moved on the greater things. Thanks for your input!

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hmm I see where youre coming from as smsl Chinese and I've heard of instances in which if you have your rca cables next to the power cable you could hear a slight hum. It was mostly an impulse buy since I saw a zreview on it on YouTube and it was comparable to a modi but it matched nice with my retired FiiO e09k but now I've since moved on the greater things. Thanks for your input!

 
I've bought about 5 SMSL DACs over the years, there are not the greatest when it comes to reliability.

 

[duskmustache]

Hmm so do you recommend pairing my a schiit lyr 2 with a other schiit product such as a modi 2 uber so that they may get along? Should I save up for a bitfrost or do you think a modi 2 uber is sufficient?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hmm so do you recommend pairing my a schiit lyr 2 with a other schiit product such as a modi 2 uber so that they may get along? Should I save up for a bitfrost or do you think a modi 2 uber is sufficient?

 
I have not gotten to the point of wanting to spend that much ($400-$600) for just a DAC (Bifrost).
Guess you might as well get the Modi, you can always upgrade in the future

 

[duskmustache]

Ah I see, thanks for your input!

 

[duskmustache]

Well it looks like it was just the smsl dac causing the crackling :/
Chinese components...
It's all good because I picked up a schiit modi 2 multibit because I was looking to upgrade my dac anyways and I was browsing around the schiit website and I saw that they had a modi 2 multibit and pounced on it. It sounds miles ahead of what my Sanskrit was capable of.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Well it looks like it was just the smsl dac causing the crackling :/
Chinese components...
It's all good because I picked up a schiit modi 2 multibit because I was looking to upgrade my dac anyways and I was browsing around the schiit website and I saw that they had a modi 2 multibit and pounced on it. It sounds miles ahead of what my Sanskrit was capable of.