USB DACs crash Internet

[harry501501]

Hi, so this will be the 5th forum I've tried so hopefully someone can fix my issue. I've recently upgraded from W8.1 TO W10. all updates done all drivers up to date. On 8.1 I never had any problem with the USB DACs I used. I have Sabaj DA3, FIIO M6 and Cambridge Audio DX2. All worked. So in to W10.

 

Installing them was easy, recognised straight away, drivers up to date. When I go to YT, Netflix, Prime or any other site to stream videos the DAC works, audio comes thru fine. But if I was to try stream ahead by choosing another time in the video the internet crashes. If I click on another video entirely the internet crashes. Both WIFi and Ethernet the same.

 

HDMI to my Tv which is my monitor is fine. Audio from the laptop is fine.

 

Please help me... I use DACs to get the best possible sound from my earphones, headphones... it's my favourite hobby and I'm and active member of Head Fi and review budget earphones.

 

i like the security of Windows 10, but if i can't fix this I'll need to go back to 8.1 sadly.

 

Any help is MUCH appreciated.

[kirashi]

59 minutes ago, harry501501 said:

Hi, so this will be the 5th forum I've tried so hopefully someone can fix my issue. I've recently upgraded from W8.1 TO W10. all updates done all drivers up to date. On 8.1 I never had any problem with the USB DACs I used. I have Sabaj DA3, FIIO M6 and Cambridge Audio DX2. All worked. So in to W10.

• Installing them was easy, recognised straight away, drivers up to date. When I go to YT, Netflix, Prime or any other site to stream videos the DAC works, audio comes thru fine. But if I was to try stream ahead by choosing another time in the video the internet crashes. If I click on another video entirely the internet crashes. Both WIFi and Ethernet the same.
• HDMI to my Tv which is my monitor is fine. Audio from the laptop is fine.
• Please help me... I use DACs to get the best possible sound from my earphones, headphones... it's my favourite hobby and I'm and active member of Head Fi and review budget earphones.
• i like the security of Windows 10, but if i can't fix this I'll need to go back to 8.1 sadly.

Any help is MUCH appreciated.

While I won't be of much help because I don't use DACs on consumer grade systems, it would be great help if you listed your complete system specs. If it's a custom built, list all your part model numbers, or head on over to PCPartPicker and build your PC there, then link us to it. If it's a prebuilt system, stating the manufacturer & model should be enough for us to look it up online.

 

Another thing to note is that there's no way to properly upscale compressed audio not already in a high fidelity format & bitrate from sources like Spotify, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, or iTunes. One cannot simply "make up" bits that are not there, much like how you can't magically "ZOOM, ENHANCE, CROP, ZOOM, MAGNIFY, SHARPEN, ZOOM, we got 'em, boys" images, unlike movies would have you believe.

[Spuriae]

Internet crashes? As in you lose all internet connection or the video refuses to buffer/play?

[harry501501]

Hi there, thank you so much for replying. it's an Acer E1-571 i5 2.6hz. 

 

Using DACs have a massive effect on earphones, headphones in bringing out the best possible sound performance they are capable of. It's not to upscale the source material (we share the same views there).

 

Yes, the internet just loses all connection all of a sudden, nothing to do with buffering. i don't understand as you get sound fine for a small amount of time, video plays smoothly. I troubleshoot and get it back on easily enough and then streaming again the exact same thing happens.

 

At first I thought it was just the ethernet connection and then same happened with wifi. 

[Spuriae]

2 hours ago, harry501501 said:

Hi there, thank you so much for replying. it's an Acer E1-571 i5 2.6hz. 

 

Using DACs have a massive effect on earphones, headphones in bringing out the best possible sound performance they are capable of. It's not to upscale the source material (we share the same views there).

 

Yes, the internet just loses all connection all of a sudden, nothing to do with buffering. i don't understand as you get sound fine for a small amount of time, video plays smoothly. I troubleshoot and get it back on easily enough and then streaming again the exact same thing happens.

 

At first I thought it was just the ethernet connection and then same happened with wifi. 

Darn. Was hoping this would be a simple fix with windows audio exclusive mode killing certain programs, but that's not the case if the internet is dropping out entirely.

 

That it was working before means it's probably not a power issue. I wonder if the computer is misrecognizing the USB device as a network connection, trying to connect to that, and failing? Don't know how to deal with that other than reinstalling drivers and hoping for the best.

 

One last shot in the dark: all of your DACs use XMOS; perhaps something went terribly wrong with your XMOS drivers during the update. Try reinstalling those or try a DAC using a different USB chip to see if that's the problem?

 

Sorry I can't be of more help here.

 

 

[rice guru]

6 hours ago, Nimrodor said:

Darn. Was hoping this would be a simple fix with windows audio exclusive mode killing certain programs, but that's not the case if the internet is dropping out entirely.

 

That it was working before means it's probably not a power issue. I wonder if the computer is misrecognizing the USB device as a network connection, trying to connect to that, and failing? Don't know how to deal with that other than reinstalling drivers and hoping for the best.

 

One last shot in the dark: all of your DACs use XMOS; perhaps something went terribly wrong with your XMOS drivers during the update. Try reinstalling those or try a DAC using a different USB chip to see if that's the problem?

 

Sorry I can't be of more help here.

 

You can also try plugging those dacs and go to device manager and completely uninstall it through device manager that way your PC will forget all drivers give you PC a good restart and plug then in again.

[harry501501]

Thank you to you both. i will try both suggestions and hope for the best

[TechyBen]

Could it be noise on/from the components?

 

Also, I've found Windows 10 USB drivers to be useless on some systems. Like, zero bandwidth for USB memory stick/HDD transfer speeds.

[harry501501]

i just added music to my desktop as i hadn't had time to do so after upgrading to W10. Playing music files on desktop is totally fine. But when I go to internet and play a video it shuts off straight away.

 

 

EDIT : Just there I had a longer session on YT than usual and played multiple videos fine. As soon though as i got to Netflix boom it goes off after loading first video. I kind of wondered if it had anything to do with certain video formats but the fact it seems to happen even after playing songs from my desktop might rule that out.

 

Bit of a pain as I'll need to keep using the Samsung TV 3.5mm output to a good amp while watching videos (for now).

[harry501501]

Was hoping to have found a fix to this but sadly still the same. Keeps cutting out and then troubleshoots by resetting network adapter. tried using all the old Acer ones for both the WAN and Realtek audio

[HanZie82]

I know its not recommended but what if you try using the DAC trough a power USB hub?

[harry501501]

1 hour ago, HanZie82 said:

I know its not recommended but what if you try using the DAC trough a power USB hub?

Something like this you mean

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KFDFT4D/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07KFDFT4D&pd_rd_w=trfgn&pf_rd_p=e2bfafb5-111e-4906-b089-5d691a51d45f&pd_rd_wg=Tz6vS&pf_rd_r=CDZMPTVAZ8SBZSYVJD32&pd_rd_r=09813166-9573-11e9-9be9-2d3ec930068e