Invisible Bridges

Audio Components DACs
41

Josh,

What you’re going through is incredibly frustrating. While it’s true that B1 can be finicky, I’m sure you can get much more reliable, if not perfect, performance from it.

For me, the single most important step was setting static IP addresses for all my audio equipment. From the tone of your message it sounds like you are pretty comfortable with computers, but if you need it there are instructions posted somewhere on the PSA site, and people here will help if needed. After that, making sure that you network in general is strong and reliable is important. I got more reliable connections after I replaced the cheap switch from the office supply store with an Apple Airport Express.

You do need to move on from eLyric, which has not been supported in some time. Some folks like JRiver, but I find it too complex for my needs. I and many others have good results with MinimServer (donationware, so you can try it for free). The control point is also an issue. I have a first-generation iPad and a super-cheap Android tablet that I bought a few months ago. I prefer the larger screen of the iPad but cannot get the current version of mconnect (best, but not perfect, control point) because to do that requires a newer version of iOS. On the Android, the updated version of mconnect is more noticeably more reliable, and I also have the option of using BubbleUPnP which may be the best control point around (no iOS version). On a Windows machine you can use foobar2000, which is free and reliable but does take some effort to set up, particularly for UPnP use and for DSD playback. Is your music stored on a computer or on a NAS?

Hang in there. B2 sounds fantastic (I am a beta tester), does gapless, and so far seems much less finicky than B1 in general. But as I said, it is certainly possible to get B1 working adequately.

42

Josh, I too had problems with my bridge for the first year or so but since changing my router to an Apple Express its gone, I rarely have disconnects now. I also use a static address but iirc this did not completely solve it. So I’m assuming my router was the culprit although my old one was suppose to be good and wasn’t cheap.

43

I will try and locate my old Apple Express as it sounds like this may be more reliable. I had been using a net gear router for a few years, which was ‘relatively stable’, the current one (which is newer by the way) is less so. I will also look at getting it off the net and make a dedicated LAN again as when I have done that previously, I had much less issues.

Thanks guys for the replies on what I acknowledge is an old subject…

44

An interesting adjunct - I am finding that each time I launch EMM on my old iPad, I have to go to the DAC address and edit it’s ‘friendly name’. This then turns a greyed out PSAudio Dac into a selectable option as a Device, otherwise, no dice…

I will look at the other options - I do like Elyric though and was disappointed to discover it is no longer supported - it remains a fantastic program.