My SGCD drops out also like ever few seconds if the sample frequency on my iMac is set to 384 kHz. Everything is fine at 192 kHz, which is more than enough for Stereo.
It may be my 5 m Audio grade cable or the SGCD, but it does not bother me.
If your TV has a sample frequency setting, 192 kHz solved my case, I believe it is even lower for Toslink max. 96 Hz I believe.
Did you ever manage to solve this? I have a Samsung Q80T going into the Gain Cell DAC with the S300 amp. I have set the output of the TV to optical PCM and turned off all of the sound altering settings. Having exactly the same problem. Sound cuts out for a split-second every few seconds. It is a cheap toslink cable! Wanted to check if there was a solution found before forking out for an expensive one.
My Samsung TV to Strata had this same problem.
I’ve got it resolved down to a couple of drops when I switch channels but is 99.9% clean.
Hope this helps.
Cheers! - I’ll try your suggestion. My mate is sending me his expensive cable to try. It’s only 2m (~6ft) and I will re-arrange the room so there is no kinking at all. I will give you an update when it arrives!
I have my friends new Toslink cable - it’s ‘straight as an arrow’, or at least as straight as I can make it from the TV to the SGCD. Still the same issue, audio drops out for a millisecond every few seconds. I have been searching other forums online and it seems to be an issue with newer TV’s (at least Samsung + LG) sending optical out to external DAC’s using the ESS chips. Apparently other DAC chips work, but the ESS chip needs to be set to ‘wide’ (whatever that means) to be able to process the sound. Are there any settings like that on the SGCD that I would be able to access. I think a couple of the DAC manufacturers (Cambridge audio for instance) have been able to produce a firmware update that sorts most of the problems out.
Interestingly, I’m getting the same (or similar) drop-outs with my SGCD’s DAC, but only when I feed it content from my iTunes library. Streaming service content plays fine. It’s odd behavior, but it doesn’t trouble me much because those files (and the process of getting them to the Node) are limited to 16/44, and when I use the Node’s DAC to play them, they work fine. Most of that library is from ripping my own discs, so if I want higher-performance playback of that music, I’ll just play the discs themselves on my transport.
Yea, that is odd! I have just tried out a really cheap box that splits the HDMI signal and outputs coax or Toslink ( it sits between the source - in this case blu ray player and the TV). This plays perfectly into the SGCD, even with the cheap, long Toslink cable. No hint of a drop out or anything. I am guessing I am going to have to get a cheap DAC, have the TV optical out going into that, then into one of the Analogue inputs of the SGCD. It’s annoying as I was hoping to use the SGCD’s DAC. Unless anyone has any other suggestions?