[ztxabc]

Coaxial output from network player to coaxial input on dac.

 

[hypersonic]

So if I had a coaxial (from network player) to xlr (dac) cable is that likely to benefit the sound?

No. 
I think it's completely pointless to do that. 

 

[gonzfi]

Okay I'll knock that idea on the head. Just thought that if I fed the v850 with a balanced signal from my network player I might see an improvement. Not that one is needed because the v850/v281 are sublime. When would the xlr input be used I wonder? I take it some sources have a single xlr output?

 

[ztxabc]

The DAC V850 features 4 digital inputs: balanced AES/EBU via XLR, coaxial SPDIF via RCA, optical via Tos-Link, and Asynchronous USB. You can use V850's balanced AES/EBU via XLR only if your network player has balanced AES/EBU output. There is a picture of V850's back panel at page 1 of this thread.

The V850 DAC is far better than most network player's bulid in DAC, so you can see a great improvement.

 

[hypersonic]

A small tip:
Just did a small experiment by cutting the Vcc pin (5V power wire) of a USB cable. the V850 does NOT work without USB power.
 
Or should I say the Xmos USB module is only powered by the 5V bus. This is a bit disappointing.
Although I am not claiming a dirty USB power will negatively impact the performance, I just don't like the USB module to be on even when the DAC itself is off. I think it could be the culprit of the connection glitch people are experiencing. 
 
As it is a self powered DAC, it should not be depending on the USB power. 

 

 

[fdg]

Yes, the USB input (receiver) is powered by the computer (transmitter) externally - like all USB connections.
USB will not work when there is no current flowing !
To come across this issue the USB circuitry is totally isolated inside V800, V850, RS 06 as the recovered data is sent "into" the device thru a transformer to have a 100% galvanic isolation.
Furthermore our resampling feature helps to remove any jitter.

There are external USB "isolators" in the market.
Also here the current from the source is used but burnt by a shunt or a similar device - because there will be no USB data without current from the source !
Afterwards this current is replaced by another one from an external source like a wall-plug adaptor because the receiver needs a current flow to operate properly.
The sense of these items is that the producers claim that the replaced current is somehow cleaner which might be true or not.

Concerning not only our devices but all those with a galvanic isolated USB receiver the above USB isolators are of doubtful use for my opinion.

 

[hypersonic]

  Yes, the USB input (receiver) is powered by the computer (transmitter) externally - like all USB connections.
USB will not work when there is no current flowing !
To come across this issue the USB circuitry is totally isolated inside V800, V850, RS 06 as the recovered data is sent "into" the device thru a transformer to have a 100% galvanic isolation.
Furthermore our resampling feature helps to remove any jitter.

There are external USB "isolators" in the market.
Also here the current from the source is used but burnt by a shunt or a similar device - because there will be no USB data without current from the source !
Afterwards this current is replaced by another one from an external source like a wall-plug adaptor because the receiver needs a current flow to operate properly.
The sense of these items is that the producers claim that the replaced current is somehow cleaner which might be true or not.

Concerning not only our devices but all those with a galvanic isolated USB receiver the above USB isolators are of doubtful use for my opinion.

Just now, it took me 4 unplug and plug in attempts, for my computer to recognize the DAC.
This is the issue I (and quite a few fellow owners) am facing. Please don't get me wrong, I am not making a complaint about this DAC. 
I am just looking for a fix to this known problem, not trying to improve the sound quality. The sound is fine.
I guessed it could be related to the USB module being USB-powered, which totally could be wrong. 
Many other DACs don't need the power pin (pin 1) for the USB to work, including the Cambridge audio dacmagic I personally own and tested. 
 
With my very limited electronics knowledge, I am not sure if it is a design choice you made to achieve galvanic isolation. 
But having to unplug and replug the USB cable multiple times is not a desired behavior, right?
Really hope there will be some investigation done on the reason behind this issue.  

 

[13713]

What OS are you using?

 

[socks mk2]

[redacted]

 

[13713]

I was going to similarly ask if the users experiencing this problem are Laptop or Desktop users.

I've still not experienced this problem on my Win 7 x64 desktop.

I am personally using a 2014 MBP with the latest updates and have only once had an issue with connectivity. That's why I was curious as the what OS the person is using. Only issue I have come across using this DAC was with Windows 10 on a tablet. Once the tablet was reset it was fine.

 

[hypersonic]

I am personally using a 2014 MBP with the latest updates and have only once had an issue with connectivity. That's why I was curious as the what OS the person is using. Only issue I have come across using this DAC was with Windows 10 on a tablet. Once the tablet was reset it was fine

win 7 and win 10
It happens very frequently though. Almost once in every two reboots. 

 

[socks mk2]

[redacted]

 

[hypersonic]

 

I am using a laptop, and all it's USB ports are under Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 1.0 (Mircosoft)
The "USB Input Device" under VIO USB 2.0 AUDIO IF does have the "allow computer to turn off" enabled.
Although I don't understand what an input device has anything to do with a DAC,
I will see disabling it would make a difference
Thanks for the tip! should've checked there earlier!

 

[hypersonic]

 

  I am using a laptop, and all it's USB ports are under Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 1.0 (Mircosoft)
The "USB Input Device" under VIO USB 2.0 AUDIO IF does have the "allow computer to turn off" enabled.
Although I don't understand what an input device has anything to do with a DAC,
I will see disabling it would make a difference
Thanks for the tip! should've checked there earlier!

Update:
Tried that, it's still happening. 
I even found another laptop which has a native USB 2.0 port,
still took me 5 attempts to connect the DAC.

 

[socks mk2]

[redacted]