DSD Sr. with Bridge II popping with all digital music formats, Please Help!

Audio Components DACs
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My system is producing a popping sound DURING songs (not the DSD between songs thing). It produces pops for all digital music formats (including streaming) that I play through the Bridge II RJ45.

I purchased my DSD Sr. on December 3 of 2018. It is on Snowmass (Bootloader 1.13, Firmware 3.05, Bridge 3.6.17, FPGA 0.139, USB 00.33, Rev 0305). I am working under the assumption that they are all current but I am not sure.

My DSD Sr. runs directly into my Red Dragon’s - Leviathan Mono blocks via XLR, and out to my Monitor Audio Gold 300’s.

Facts:

  • Popping is occurring with MP3, FLAC, and DSD files, or even Tidal Streaming (through Roon) but only music going through the Bridge II’s RJ45 (network) connection
  • It is mostly popping during songs (and not in the silence between tracks)
  • The popping sounds like the sound you get when playing an LP that has dirt or static
  • The popping is the same volume and frequency each time it pops (at a level volume)
  • The popping gets louder if I turn up the volume of playback and gets softer if I turn the volume down
  • When I plug the USB on my laptop (running JRiver Media Center 25) into the USB on the DSD Sr. all the same files (Mp3, FLAC, DSD) run without popping. That is the DSD Sr. is sending the converted files through my sound system setup (speakers, cables, amps, etc.)
  • I’ve have tried several Network Cables including Cat5, Cat6, and Cat7

Assumptions (based on the facts above):

  • My firmware (etc.) on the DSD Sr. is up to date (see above)
  • There are no grounding problems (because it works with a laptop plugged into the USB of the DSD Sr.)
  • No other cable or piece of hardware is causing the issue (the issue is narrowed down to Bridge II)

Any more troubleshooting you would suggest? Any Ideas on what is wrong?

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When did it start?

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When I got the device (New out of the box it was on Redcloud) I didn’t play it much at all before I updated everything (back in December). I believe I updated the bridge as well as updated it to Snowmass.

I have heard the popping ever since then, but I don’t know if it was present before I updated it.

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I think you need to send it (Bridge) back and get a replacement and see if that fixes it. If not you may need to get the DAC checked too.

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I think you need to call them on Monday first and see if they can troubleshoot it.

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I will certainly call on Monday or Tuesday when I ge the first chance.

Are there any other recommendations for testing the Bridge further? The only thing that I have plugged into it is Roon. While I think I have done a considerable amount of troubleshooting, I don’t to find out that they PS audio thinks it is the Roon.

Thoughts?

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Is there a way to use MConnect on another PC and play it through the network - ensuring that is uses the Bridge?

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Download mControl HD and test the Bridge with it using Tidal and your other files and see if the noises continue. If not then the issues is Roon and not the DS or the Bridge.

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I have two DS Dacs with bridges. Both connected to Roon. Neither of them make a popping sound or any other unwanted sound on playback. I would check to make sure that the settings in Roon are on their defaults and you have all DSP settings switched off. I suggested this to another person who was having similar issues in another thread and I have screenshotted my default settings there in case you need them:

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I must be missing something because I didn’t realize that I could connect to my DSD Sr. as a UPnP device. It’s connected to my network (I can ping it). I will try to search and see how to set the Dac up that way.

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I guess another way to solve this would be to use JRiver to connect to my DSD Sr. but again I didn’t realize that it would work like that.

I thought Roon was magic :wink: and just new how to connect to the DSD. How do I connect something else to it from the network (MConnect, JRiver, etc.)

This would go a long way on understanding the source of the popping.

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Just download Conversdigital’s mControl HD from the Apple App Store and it should find the Bridge II as it is the manufacturer’s own software. Login into Tidal and you should be good to go.

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Thanks everyone for their helpful advice. I discovered that I wasn’t seeing the DSD Sr. as a DLNA device because my phone was not on the same network. That is fixed now and I was able to get MConnect running and connected to the DSD Sr. I am happy to anouncy that it is playing without the annoying pops. So it is Roon. Now I can play my music with the purity that was intended by the format.

Thank you!

For my next bit I will try to get JRiver running from my main computer so that it can play DSD’s to my DSD Sr. Then if possible, set up Roon so that it sounds AT LEAST as good as MConnect.

Any recommendations for JRiver settings for DSD Sr. Or Roon Settings for DSD Sr.?

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Actually, the DSDac is optimized for use with Roon, not Mconnect.

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Okay. Maybe I will try putting the Roon Core on another machine and give that a test.

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I did. Just clarifying. There must be something else going on.