crackle and pop with expensive kit

[admin_exported]

Hello!

(well, expensive for me anyway)

I'm using an HRT Music Streamer II, a Pro-Ject Head Box II and Grado SR 80i headphones. If I plug the headphones directly into my cheap and nasty PCI soundcard I get a clean sound. However, using the above USB DAC and the amplifier, I get very frequent crackles and pops. I'm running a PC with Windows 7 and have the WASAPI set to exclusive mode (both relevant checkboxes checked).

Could anybody please tell me what the problem could be? Do you think the headphone amp or the DAC is defective?

Any suggestions gratefully received!

Many thanks!

 

[BenLaw]

I initially had a problem with my ProJect HeadBox II and B&W P5 which I'd actually forgotten about until your post. I believe it was crackling also - not in a position to check right now. Playing with the connector into the HeadBox removed this entirely ie moving it out a few milimetres. Very odd (and if anyone can explain why I'd be interested) but this removed all problems and I think had no loss in SQ. Hope you manage to sort it.

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for your reply!

I've tried playing around with the position of the headphone jack within the Head Box's socket, but can only stop the crackle when the sound is reduced to mono playing through the left ear. It is a vicious crackle otherwise, and really quite unacceptable. I've written to Pro-Ject explaining the problem and asking them if I can return the amplifier so they can check it. Let's see what they say.

All the best!

 

[BenLaw]

Ah, sorry I couldn't be of more help. Update us on what Pro-Ject say when they get back to you and good luck with solving your problem. I know how frustrating it is to have problems when you've spent a significant sum....

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you. These things are a great way to test one's nerves

Anyhow, I was wrong. It's not the Pro-Ject that's the problem. I remembered that my partner had an old all-in-one system, so I dusted it off and plugged the RCA interconnects from the HRT Music Streamer II into its AUX sockets. I got the very same crackle.

So it's either a problem with the HRT DAC or my computer (either hardware or software). Mmmm .... any ideas?

 

[Anonymous]

shunyata:So it's either a problem with the HRT DAC or my computer (either hardware or software). Mmmm .... any ideas?

It doesn't seem to be the HRT DAC either, as I've just tried it on a friends Windows XP machine and there's no crackle whatsoever. So it must be my Windows 7 machine. Oh well, at least it's not a problem with all the new kit I've just bought.

Still leaves me with it though. Any ideas gratefully received, and I'll post here if I ever find out what it is.

 

[Anonymous]

shunyata:Still leaves me with it though. Any ideas gratefully received, and I'll post here if I ever find out what it is.

Just got a response from High Resolution Technologies CTO:

"The symptom and information you have supplied points to a poorly performing USB
subsystem on the Win 7 machine. You can assist this machines capabilities by
off loading USB tasks. One that is easy to remove is the HS to FS translation
task from the host's (computer's) root hub. This is accomplished by adding a
self (not bus) powered USB 2.0 Hub between the host (computer) and the device
(Streamer). Do make certain that the only device attached to the hub is the
Streamer regardless of the number of down stream ports it might have."

Let's see if this is the answer. I'll get back.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok I just received my HRT Music Streamer II today and had the same symptoms as you; occasional crackling. This is mainly because your USB ports are not properly grounded or might be faulty. I tried plugging it into different ports until I found one that didn't crackle. If that doesn't help, you will have to buy a self powered USB hub. I have a USB Nuforce Udac2 as well but that doesn't seem to crackle. It might be that the HRT demands a lot more power from the hub and picks up any signal interference within the circuit board. I plan on buying one myself since laptop USB ports are generally not grounded properly and these faults are picked up when using high quality parts such as the HRT.

To test if your setup is still crackling or not play this sound a couple times, its a 30hz sine wave. It might crackle when you press the play button but shouldn't after that.

http://users.skynet.be/fa046054/home/P22/track48.mp3

My setup is

Sager NP8690 -> HRT Music Streamer II -> KICAS Caliente Amp -> LA2000

Hope that helps

 

[Anonymous]

brasewel:To test if your setup is still crackling or not play this sound a couple times, its a 30hz sine wave. It might crackle when you press the play button but shouldn't after that.
Hope that helps

Just taken delivery of a self-powered USB hub (a Belkin one) and this seems to have resolved the problem. Playing your file I can hear no crackle whatsoever. I can hear a little bit of noise when adjusting the volume of the Pro-Ject amp at very high levels of volume, but I don't really consider that an issue.

So, problem solved. Many thanks for your help! My music files now sound fantastic