Direct Stream cycles on and off continuously after the first two hours of use

Audio Components DACs
1

Brand new DS (not kit). Had it working on a test bench for a couple of hours.

During the first half hour it would occasionally cycle on and off as I was playing around with it.

It settled down for the last hour so I installed it in my system. Then it just cycled about every 4 seconds. The display goes blank and I hear a click. The it starts over again. Took it out of the system and back on the bench. Same thing. Tried at least 10 power reboots, still bad.

Suggestions?

2

check your fuses?

3

Reload of new firmware to initialize the DS?

4
st50maint said Brand new DS (not kit). Had it working on a test bench for a couple of hours.

During the first half hour it would occasionally cycle on and off as I was playing around with it.

It settled down for the last hour so I installed it in my system. Then it just cycled about every 4 seconds. The display goes blank and I here a click. The it starts over again. Took it out of the system and back on the bench. Same thing. Tried at least 10 power reboots, still bad.

Suggestions?


Is the input voltage way low?

5
gordon said check your fuses?
No, I did not check the fuses. It seemed unlikely to be the problem.

Here is more details of what happens.

The unit goes through the initialization process in 63 seconds.
When it is finished the display comes up normal.
2.5 seconds later the display goes dark along with the front panel “power” button.
2.5 seconds after that, the display and power button light up.
2.5 seconds later they go dark again.
This will go on every 2.5 seconds indefinitely.
At every transition there is the sound of a relay click.

I can check the fuses if you still feel it is possibly the problem.

6
Ted Smith said
Is the input voltage way low?
120.6 volts measured on a Fluke 87 meter.
7

Here is another possible clue.
When first powered, occasionally the display will have a screen asking me to touch the 4 corners of the display in sequence. When I do this, nothing happens and I have to re power to get it to initialize.

8
st50maint said Here is another possible clue. When first powered, occasionally the display will have a screen asking me to touch the 4 corners of the display in sequence. When I do this, nothing happens and I have to re power to get it to initialize.
Dennis can probably tell us what causes that. I know empirically that I have to do that now and then after I update the software and that I typically have to go around the 4 points more than once. Still it might be a hint to the PS Audio folk.
9

When that happens the screen corner data cannot be read from the eeprom on the display board. This could be caused by a display board issue, or a power supply problem. Which could also be causing your issue.

10

st50maint, by any chance is there a SD card in the slot? If so could you take it out? If not, would it be worth installing one with the current FW to see if it would reinstall? Kind of along the lines of Frode’s thinking.

Although it sounds like a HW problem. But you never know.

11
tony22 said st50maint, by any chance is there a SD card in the slot? If so could you take it out? If not, would it be worth installing one with the current FW to see if it would reinstall? Kind of along the lines of Frode's thinking.

Although it sounds like a HW problem. But you never know.


Tony,
There was not a card in the slot.
I put the 3 files of the 54 version on a card (I hope that is correct).
The unit seemed to take it even though it was already on 54.
On the info page every thing is the same except the Rev number.
It was on rev 0004, now it is rev 0001.

But, it still cycles on and off.

12

probably a good idea to open it up and check that a connection has not come loose.

Then I would also check that both fuses have continuity.

Otherwise it might be a “send it home” issue.

13

There seem to be many posts missing from this thread.

Such as:

  1. My listing of the DC voltages measured at the test points.

  2. Ted’s response saying that the good measurements meant it was not strapped for 220 volts.

  3. A picture of the correct strapping for 120 volts AC operation.

Any thoughts on what happened to them?

14

I removed them. We don’t want people inside the unit messing with it. It was a mistake to have posted them in the first place, sorry.

15

I just installed the DS Kit and it booted fine, but it does not see the Bridge and the firmware is the old Perfect Wave. I uploaded the Bridge firmware to 2.15a before installing and the Ethernet on the Bridge does not light up. Any suggestions?

16
Amati2 said I just installed the DS Kit and it booted fine, but it does not see the Bridge and the firmware is the old Perfect Wave. I uploaded the Bridge firmware to 2.15a before installing and the Ethernet on the Bridge does not light up. Any suggestions?
You will need to upgrade the to the DS firmware. http://www.psaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/5407-final-version.zip

unzip and load the contents to an sd card and reboot by the switch on the back.

17

“Direct Stream cycles on and off continuously”

Unit arrived in Boulder earlier today (June 10) for repair.

18

Could someone tell me what the issue ended up being in this case?

Because I bit the bullet and brought home a Directstream today and had exactly the same problem: cycling on and off every few seconds, the screen asking me to touch the 4 numbers after turning it on and off. I left it off for a few hours and when I started it back up it seemed to be working OK, but after about 20 minutes started cycling again. I’ve pushed the top left button a few times, and if seems to be working again.

But still, I’d like to know what is going on in case it starts misbehaving again.

Thanks.

19
Minimalist said Could someone tell me what the issue ended up being in this case?
PS Audio replaced the display module if I recall correctly.
20

Thanks. That’s unfortunate, though, since it keeps doing it every 20 minutes or so. Playing with the standby/operate button seems to help, but only temporarily.