Distortion on USB output to AQ Dragonfly Cobalt

Answered

Danny

• March 13, 2023 14:38
• Edited

Hi,

When I connect my Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt to USB from my Node (N130) I get some random distorion (scratch sound) When I pause the song and then resume the distorion is gone until it happens again. This doesn't happend on direct analog out.

Playing music via Tidal connected to BluOS.

Tried both wifi and network cable = same result.
Tried MQA and non MQA = same result
Tried rebooting my router = same result
Tried resetting my Node = same result
Tried using a USB extension cable between Node and Dragonfly = same result
Tried different cables = same result

Very frustrating because it sounds better (when there's no distorion)

Any ideas? Suggestions?

Would something like a Topping HS01 USB Isolator help?

 

Also HDMI eArc to TV seems to dropout randomly (no sound until pause/resume) I ordered new HDMI 2.1 cable to see if this fixes this issue (will arrive tomorrow)

0

• 

  Phil 3100

  • March 13, 2023 11:46

  I have given up trying to play via USB out through a Dragonfly DAC on my system. I get a sound like glass being scratched and distortion either at the start of each new track or a few seconds into the track. I found I can prevent that by disabling audio clock trim in the BlueOS settings, but when I do that I get a constant background ticking noise every second or so instead.
  
  To my ears, the sound from the onboard DAC in the Node has improved greatly in the couple of months I have owned it. I found the bass a bit bloated and the reproduction of cymbals etc. quite poor on my system at first, but both have improved greatly with use to the extent that I no longer feel as great an urge to try and use the Dragonfly as I did originally.

  It would be great if the USB out worked properly though.

  0
• 

  Danny

  • March 13, 2023 14:40
  • Edited

  That is exactly what I meant, the scratch sound!
  
  I'm running the latest firmware and the 'audio clock trim' option disappears when connecting the Dragonfly
  (if i'm not mistaken)

  My Node isn't new, it's just the first time I tried to connect an external DAC.
  To me the Dragonfly sounds a bit more dynamic in my setup.

  Hope this gets fixed someway!

   

  0
• 

  Phil 3100

  • March 13, 2023 16:13

  Hi Danny, yes the clock trim setting isn't available with the output set to external DAC, but I found that enabling or disabling it under the default output settings made a difference as to whether I got the scratched glass noise or a constant ticking over the audio when I went back to the external output for the Dragonfly.

  0

Please sign in to leave a comment.