2. digital
  3. 188280-130

What is going on here? Streamer or DAC?

I’ve got an old (2016) streamer DAC that is beginning to show some instability. I do not believe it is my signal strength—240+ mps, no problems streaming video, occurs wired or WiFi. Opinions? Here are the symptoms:

1. Maybe one track in four, starts with a skip or stutter.  If I restart the track, it starts fine. 
2. Maybe one every few weeks/months, gets stuck repeating one note sort of like a damaged record. When this happens, no control via remote or the unit itself. Have to unplug to get it to stop. Sometimes it self corrects when plugging back in, sometimes have to hard reset.

3. Maybe once every few weeks, will locate tracks on Qobuz but will not load and play them.  Works fine from NAS or internet radio. When this happens, sometimes can correct by re-acquiring WiFi, sometimes needs a hard reset. This might be associated with momentary power outages. 
 

4. maybe once in three-six months, just shuts down and restarts while playing. 
 

Comments?

 

tomaswv
carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
2,023 posts
 

I had similar problems when I was on wifi.  I always make getting off of wifi one of my strongest recommendations.

Jerry

soix
9,944 posts
 

I read a tip from Qobuz that there’s some kinda buffer or something that can be cleared out that can help fix some performance issues so might be worth exploring.  Personally I’d use this as an excuse to upgrade to a better separate streamer and DAC as things have improved significantly over the past 8 years, but that’s me.  Hope this helps, and best of luck.

erik_squires
16,545 posts
 

Use a free phone/laptop app, usually called Wifi analyzer or something like that to check that your Wifi broadcast is on an isolated channel and has strong reception. Often times routers bunch up on the first channel, which later gets congested with more neighbors.  This can definitely lead to drop-outs, but haven't heard of this causing entire streamers to hang up.

Based on what you are describing it sounds like you have some sort of power supply issue. If you have a wall wart, replace it. If your house is in heavy heat mode it may be so dry you are having static issues and increasing the humidity may help, especially if the issues happen after you touch it.  While a good conditioner like a Furman with LiFT and SMP can protect you from surges, it's possible this issue is an aging power supply.

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