I get them using a PST connected via i2s to the mk 2. I can play DOP DSD recordings on my PWT and not get any ticks. They are noticeable a low volume levels of a recording.
My system - PST to MKII to Stellar Gold Pre, I have the Stellar Gold DAC that I do not get the clicks/ticks, I was going to trade in the SGD for the MKII, so I have them both here, the PST sits on top of the MKII, I havenât had any time to listen to any more SACDâs for a couple of days I will try tonight. In my other post PSA responded and is aware of the issue. So I it will be resolved soon
The ticking issue can take a while to show up. I did not have it for a long time and than it suddenly appeared.
Do you have your DAC and PST separated? I bought a .75M HDMI so I donât have a lot of room to separate them.
Have you tried anything to alleviate it?
I guess you are waiting for a fix also?
My DAC and transport sit on shelfves alonside each other with a 1 meter cable between them. I tried lifting the grounds and setting them on. I powered off the PST waited a while and restarted it for a few minutes no ticking than it came back. I can play DOP files I recorded onto DVDâs on my PWT without any ticking issue.
I have my PST and Mk2 stacked with my AirLens on top of them. They are each connected to the Mk2 with a 0.5 M WireWorld HDMI cable. I have both I2S inputs lifted as will as the USB input. I have the Mk2 output lifted. So far no ticks. I hope somebody figures this out quickly.
im playing Matrix DDC-> DS MK2 via roon (dsd native)
i had once or twice situation with soft clicks (i heard it from right channel). Very soft clicks maybe 2-3 per second when played DSD files
To get rid of it i had to play some 44.1 FLAC and then the clicks stopped and when i played DSD again no clicks there anymore.
I would assume reboot of MK2 would also remove the clicks but did not tried that as it fixed just by changing source material to non-DSD
This click thing gets stranger and stranger.
@tedsmith I think I just discovered something. I have got another anomaly (not ticking, but more like static noise , and confirmed from both L+R speakers) and currently I can reliably reproduce it by playing DSD256 and it seems to always start this anomaly after 39 seconds from start (with DSD64 itâs about 2m:37s of play). Similarly as ticking noise I am able to get rid of it by playing 16@44 (or any other PCM) . Then again, when play DSD file it starts OK and after the time mentioned above I get this static. I will try to reboot the MK2 to see if it changes.
Streaming using Roon (native DSD) and using Matrix DDC via I2S to MK2.
Here is sample recording (recorded on mobile , close to tweeter) when the anomaly is active : https://localhost.sk/dropzone/Another_anomaly.m4a
Zoom in on the recorded audio waveform:
Thank you, could you PM me?
Just short update - my issue was solved by DAC power-cycle. I made couple of changes yesterday in my digital chain which might probably disturbed the DAC.Iâm not able to reproduce it anymore
I have experienced the same distortion issue. What are your DAC input and output ground settings and have you changed them?
I did not changed ground settings.
Here is what I am using:
Input Grounds:
. I2S-1 Lifted
. I2S-2 Lifted
. USB - Lifted
. Coax - Lifted
. XLR1 - Lifted
. XLR2 - Lifted
Outputs:
. Ground Lift - Lifted
. Shell Lift - Grounded
All of my inputs are set to grounded although I am only using the I2S-1 input. For my outputs I have the grounded lift - grounded and shell lift - lifted. When I lifted the I2S input or changed the ground lift to lifted the distortion increased. The shell lift set to lifted improves the sound quality in my system. I determined that setting before the distortion appeared. I get the distortion on both PCM and DSD. This distortion appeared after about 100 hours on my DAC.
I disconnected the DAC from my transport and powered both units off and left it that way overnight to fully drain the capacitors. This was suggested by PS Audio. Doing that had no impact on the distortion so the next day I changed all of the lifted settings back to grounded with the exception of the shell lift and did the same power off procedure. After another overnight, I powered up the system and the distortion was gone. I will continue to monitor to see if it returns.
BTW, the first time I experienced the distortion I power cycled both components and it had no impact on the distortion.
I have the DAC connected to a preamp via XLR connection.
Thank you for sharing the details from your case - itâs bit different to what I had, although I understand you had same/similar noise pattern as I have shared which is interesting.
In my case I was changing streamers (UpBoard, RPi4/5) night before I noticed the noise. Although I did not unplug Matrix DDC from DAC, I had Matrix powered down (both LPS and USB).
My theory is that in my setup the noise anomaly was triggered by the changes and stayed like that until DAC reboot (i chatted before with Ted and tried few things to better isolate the issue, he have an idea what to check in software but it will take time).
Iâm thinking that in general it really could be something to do with ground lifts, considering they are also kind of âconnectionsâ and when special conditions occur at someones house (maybe some bigger ground potential difference, or specific ground noise pattern) it could maybe disturb the DAC.
Iâm using only I2S-2 input on my DAC, other inputs are shorted or just covered with dust caps.
The ground and shell lifts settings I shared from my setup have best sound here (cleanest and most dynamic).
Also I spent some time in the past on getting the ground potentials to be as even as possible, by having all devices with galvanic connections in audio chain powered by single PowerPlant (making whole audio chain isolated island from outside world) and having live phase on the âcorrectâ place for each device power input.
For what it is worth, these are exactly the same ground settings that I have been using all along and I have no ticking.
Neither I do not have ticking / noise normally - during the 9 months with my MK2 this is only 2nd time I got it (first time it was regular soft ticks, this time it was static noise I shared above). Here the fix is easy, just to power cycle the DAC (normally I keep the DAC powered on 24x7).
Before I sent the unit back, I was instructed by PS Audio and tried lifted on both input and output (I use single ended to pre-amp), different HDMI cable to DMP, power cycles, demagnetization (P20) and had no effect on ticking sound playing back SACD (DSD64). BTW I stack DMP on top of MK2. Now the unit is under testing at PS Audio.
Ok I
shut down the MKII for a couple of days, first disc Time Out, no ticking so far 4th song, sounds amazing.
Makes wonder this is 25 year old Sony SACD are any released more recently and are they better?
Look at the date 1999 25 years old, wow.
Spoke too soon on Kathys Waltz I hear the faint ticking in the beginning, its almost like static electricity, then it went away. So frustrating.
Get the ticks at the end of song also.
I do have a lot going on, trying to compare PST and DACS to my SACD player.