Arcam irDAC clicking issues

[peterpiper]

I am listening to the bulk of music now via the pc into a irdac , whilst the sound is good, there are often clicks, as though there is a fraction of a second break, its not every listen time , but once it starts its quite regular, the same click happens when I skip tracks, but when it happens mid way through a piece of music it sounds like when you get a brief click like with fm radio,

could this be the pc , I am using the usb 1 setting on the dac, should I be using the 2 setting , but the sound goes off when I do this, should I be using specific usb 2 drivers? the issue was far less a problem with my old dacmagic, i thought this was supposed to be a super douper usb dac which locks onto the signal better seem not

 

[ID.]

No, you're thinking of asynchronous USB to eliminate jitter. It has nothing to do with how well it locks onto the signal.

 

[ChrisIRL]

You need to download a driver and set to position 2 if your files are above a certain quality. I can't remember off hand, I think it's good up to 16/44 out of the box. The manual or arcams website should cover it.

 

[peterpiper]

thanks I will give that a try, a shame this happens the dac sounds lovely with spotify premium

 

[paulkebab]

theres a USB I or II switch, if you're using 96khz files you dont need a driver and should be on 'I'. 192khz files need a Windows driver and should be set to 'II' and yes it's a great DAC.

 

[Andrewjvt]

Are you using?
I ask because jriver has a setting to prevent the clicking noise. Cant remember exactly but its easy to find

 

[peterpiper]

I am using spotify premium on windows 7 , the sampling rate is 44.1khz , thats all i know, the same thing happened again last night, fine for a while, then occasional splutters, spoils things, it should not happen with a so called top dac, i now wait for it to happen at some point, the dac works ok via cd, its just a pc issue , yet my old dac is fine with the pc, maybe the arcam dac is not for purpose,

seems the pc and the arcam dont get on, maybe i will contact arcam and test out their customer service,

 

[The Mad One]

I reakon it could be your broadband speed slowing things down as i have the same issues when everyone in the house is usuing the broadband at the same time my spotify and tidal stop/start splutter.

im quite lucky that with virgin media i can change my broadband from 2ghz (the norm) to 5ghz no one in the house knows the password hense im the only one using and have absolutley no problems unless theres a problem with the virgin broadband there end.

Hope this helps

 

[peterpiper]

not sure about the speed, the old dac seems ok, its not a stop start issue, but 'brief audible glitches, , i may go back to using my old ca dac, as this arcam is not fit for purpose to use with my pc how can it be 'hifi' if you waiting for the glitches, I have a lighter wallet , and arcam has taken my money, for what is a useless brick imo

 

[Andrewjvt]

not sure about the speed, the old dac seems ok, its not a stop start issue, but 'brief audible glitches, ,  i may go back to using my old ca dac,  as this arcam is not fit for purpose to use with my pc   how can it be 'hifi' if you waiting for the glitches,  I have a lighter wallet , and  arcam has taken my money, for what is a useless  brick imo  

If i stand corrected the setting i was referring to is the bitrate setting.
Why dont you download jriver as its a free trial for a month a check the settings. I think you may be able to sort the issue and dont think the dac is at fault

Its very easy to set up and a very good software

 

[chebby]

I reakon it could be your broadband speed slowing things down as i have the same issues when everyone in the house is usuing the broadband at the same time my spotify and tidal stop/start splutter.

im quite lucky that with virgin media ....

I am with Virgin Media too and we only have the basic 50Mbps (L) cable connection, but it's plenty even when three of us are using it at the same time. It was ok even when we only had 20Mbps.

I've never had any issues with Spotify or Apple Music (or BBC iPlayer Radio etc.) dropping out when other people are using the internet. Not in the last (almost) 5 years since I started streaming with AirPlay.

 

[MajorFubar]

If you contact them and start complaining it's not fit for purpose and a useless brick they'll probably close their ears. If yours is the one PC out of a million that their DAC doesn't work with it's very unfortunate, but it doesn't make it unfit for purpose. Equally you may just genuinely have a duff DAC. Have you tried it on a different computer or tablet? Or even with a different USB cable? Basic 'process of elimination' rules still apply with digital equipment and digital transmission, just as they always did.

 

[peterpiper]

If you contact them and start complaining it's not fit for purpose and a useless brick they'll probably close their ears. If yours is the one PC out of a million that their DAC doesn't work with it's very unfortunate, but it doesn't make it unfit for purpose. Equally you may just genuinely have a duff DAC. Have you tried it on a different computer or tablet? Or even with a different USB cable? Basic 'process of elimination' rules still apply with digital equipment and digital transmission, just as they always did.

I am going to try different usb slots but not optimistic,

even if its my pc and other dacs works ok and yet this one does not then as far as I am concerned its not fit for purpose , if they dont like what they here and fob me off then thats very poor custumer service as its still under guarantee,

i would not have thought arcam would dismiss a guaranteed unit of theirs if there are intertmittant distortion issues, this is how they learn and improve, even if i claim its not fit for purpose, which it isnt, they need the feedback

closing their ears on a guaraneed unit will be a bad move on their part , belive me

 

[peterpiper]

I have just gone into device manager and noticed the usb information is saying the arcam dac is sharing with otherdevices. says intel ich10 family universal usb host controller and a list of devices when you click on the line, after moving it to a port on the rear and rebooting its showing on another line , whats more when i now switch tracks on spotify the pop sound is not there, i am thinking this may have fixed the issue, goingto have a good long listening session , its usually half an hour before the glitches start, hope this is sorted then and I dont have to bother arcam, as its sounds rather good when its working as it should *feeling optimistic**yes3*