Problems with Denon DN-P720ae streamer

[admin_exported]

Are there others who have problems with playback via the USB port, as described below?

I have just purchased a Denon DN-P720AE music streamer. Basically a fantastic product but I have problems with USB input, which I use to play music stored on a Verbatim 1TB hard drive. After a short time - anywhere from 15 seconds to several tracks - music stops and the machine runs through "Initialising" -> "Connecting" -> "Checking Info" -> "Waiting reply" and then starts again, just to go through the process again after a short time.

The music I play via USB is ripped CDs 16bit/48Khz (WAV) and 24bit/96kHz (FLAC) taken from HDTracks.

I have tried different hard drives and USB keys, but with the same dismal result. The machine is updated with the latest firmware (02/17/2012).

I do not find any help on the Denon website (Denon.Com, Denon.Co.Uk, Denon.jp).

Are there others who have similar problems with this particular product or other Denon products?

Sincerely
Michael Eriksen

 

[John Duncan]

(fixed formatting)

 

[John Duncan]

Out of interest, have you tried streaming to it via a UPnP server?

 

[Anonymous]

No I havn't. I have streamed using Airplay from my pc and my iphone and that works like a treat.

Br

MIchael Eriksen

 

[Anonymous]

I've had the 720AE for about a month now - and have not experienced the issue you describe. Have you contacted Denon customer service (Ireland)?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Marafunman

Thanks for that info. That is good to know - so there is hope.

I havn't contacted Denon Support as yet. I wanted to collect a broader picture of the problem to give them something to work with as oppose to just calling saying "I have a problem"

An observation last night is that music (WAV, 16bit/44kHz) played through an iPhone connected directly to the USB port does not seem to cause problems.

The display during play back on the Denon machine is very different depending on whether it is an iPhone or a hard drive/USB-memory stick that is connected to the USB port. With the iPhone (coupled using cable) the display is fixed (shows "Remote iPhone, use remote controle"), while when connecting the hard drive it shows Artist, title, numbering and time elapsed from the start of the song. You know this of course having one yourself , but other readers probably don't.

When changing music number on the connected hard drive, it takes some time (approx. 10 seconds) from the music started to play before the title and time display properly. Especially time elapsed "runs fast" from 00.00 to approx. 00:15 to catch up and then count forward at a normal pace. Do you see the same?

I do not know what this leads to. Right now it is just observations. But could be something with a busy processor or the like. By the way - are you playing WAV and FLAC files or is it MP3 files you listen to via the USB? My line of reflection is the amount of data to be handled is quite different.

Additional info: Both my stick and hard drive are formatted as FAT32, and it is supported according to use instructions (probably also hard to imagine a product that can not handle FAT16 or FAT32).

My USB sources that fails are
- Verbatim Hard 1TByte
- A 4GB Kingston DataTraveler 100G2
- A USB of which I do not know the brand (a company item), but which has never given me problems.

So currently the only USB source I could get to work with the Denon is my iPhone 4S coupled directly to the USB port with cable. Not quite what I expected...

Best regards

Michael Eriksen

 

[AnotherJoe]

Does your verbatim HD takes it power from the USB port or an external power adapter? Some drives require more power and need a y-usb connector that fits into 2 usb ports to supply enough power.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi AnotherJoe

My verbatim has external power supply. I should have written that.

Br

Michael Eriksen

 

[Anonymous]

The problem is found.

It turned out to be my wireless printer Canon MP640, which was the source of the problem.

I had an idea that the problem could be due to the Denon machine was overloaded and that the source could be too much traffic on the wireless network. I turned off all PCs, iPhones and the TV, but there was still activity on the wireless network - approx. 1Mbit/s. With the application "Wireshark", I found that it was my printer that created idle traffic. I had actually forgotten about the printer, which is not used that often. When it was turned off, the traffic disappeard, the wireless indicator on the router came to rest, and the problem with Denon vanished. Both the harddisk and the two USB-Sticks now work.

Now the Denon is much more responsive to key presses. When changing the track the "time elapsed" counter is accurate after 5 seconds compared to 15 seconds before.

So too much traffic on the air interface stresses the machine so it may have difficulty processing other input (keystrokes, USB port, Airplay etc.)

I still have problems with Airplay from my iPhone 4S, but it is probably not the Denon, but a bug on the iPhone, which causes wireless routers to crash/restart. It is a well-known problem on Apples support forum.

Airplay from iTunes (version 10.5.3.3 for Windows) streamed from my laptop works fine.

Thanks to all who have submitted advice and comments.

Cheers

Michael Eriksen

Copenhagen, Denmark