1 Topic by Paul Barnett (edited by Paul Barnett 2019-09-14 12:02:19)

  • Registered: 2019-09-10
  • Posts: 10

Topic: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

Hi.

Should this work?

I have an Allo digione signature connected  by coax to my adi-2 dac. I can connect at all speeds up to 96khz, but not at 192khz (status screen shows nothing (no lock, no sync) for the sp-c line.)

This is true for either 192khz music files, or when forcing the player software (picoreplayer) to upsample to 192khz

the same source (with same psu and cable) connects fine to a different dac (beresford caiman seg)

and the same player connects fine into the rme via usb. (the allo does not have an optical out)

I've just updated the rme to latest firmware, but no change.

so:  a) this won't work, or b) I'm doing something wrong, or c) my dac is defective, or d) something else


later:

I've tried serveral digital coax cables - no change

I've tried an old pi2/hifiberry digi+ - spdif optical works fine with this at 192khz. spdif coax shows flashing error messages , a mixture of
"non audio signal at spdif coax input" and "Emphasis detected at spdif coax input" - but no lock/sync

2 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2019-09-14 12:02:52)

  • ramses
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Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

Which cable do you use ?
What length ?
Did you check already whether you have a cable issue by trying other and also shorter cables ?

Two more points to your list:
- Your cable might be too long and/or have quality issues
- Your Rasberry add on board might be defective

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

3 Reply by Paul Barnett (edited by Paul Barnett 2019-09-14 12:11:21)

  • Registered: 2019-09-10
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Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

Thanks for the suggestions:

Several cables - including these two:

Chord C-Digital Coaxial Cable (1 metre)
Fisual 0.75m Pro Install Series Digital Coaxial Cable

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 … &psc=1

(1M and 0.75M)

the same pi and digione and cable(s) work fine into a different dac

(and in fact I have two allo boards on two different Pi3s - a digione and a digione signature - both behave the same)

(and see my additional info in post #!)

  • ramses
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Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

> I've tried an old pi2/hifiberry digi+ - spdif optical works fine with this at 192khz. spdif coax
> shows flashing error messages , a mixture of

Then its clear, that it is neither a cable nor a ADI-2 DAC problem.

Then its somewhere in the area of Allo digione signature.
Maybe the player does something wrong, maybe the Allo itself has an issue.

I would 1st try a different player if such an option exists.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

5 Reply by Paul Barnett (edited by Paul Barnett 2019-09-14 12:27:44)

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Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

I've tried 3 different players (digi+, digione, and digione signature) on 3 different Pis - non work, but do work into a different dac (caiman seg)

Agree it does not look like a cable problem, But I dont see how to rule out an RME dac problem yet..

  • ramses
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Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

Sounds as if nothing is really defective, but that some of your player have an issue with ADI-2 DAC
or ADI-2 DAC has issue with the players ... depending on which side the issue is.

Sorry, no further idea.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

7 Reply by Paul Barnett (edited by Paul Barnett 2019-09-14 12:37:32)

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Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

> Sorry, no further idea.

Me too.

I'll wait to see if RME have further ideas here,  and phone the UK distributor on Monday for their suggestions.

It would be good if someone else could post here either 'I have that same setup here and have no problems' or '.. and I have the same problem as you'

8 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2019-09-14 12:39:28)

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Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

> It would be good if someone else could post here either 'I have that same setup here and have no problems' or
> '.. and I have the same problem as you'

Fully agree.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13
  • Registered: 2019-09-14
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Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

ramses wrote:

> It would be good if someone else could post here either 'I have that same setup here and have no problems' or
> '.. and I have the same problem as you'

Fully agree.

I have almost same setup - standard DigiOne, not Signature. I've just tried to play 192kHz file by the COAX and it woks without any problems.

https://imgur.com/a/OsReXeA


Best regards,
Maciej

  • Registered: 2019-09-10
  • Posts: 10

Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

Thanks, that is promising, it looks like a problem with my dac

And I just got this email direct from rme:

>Subject: ADI-2 DAC Coax input
>
>Hello,
>
>please contact the local distributor in your country. The ADI-2 DAC needs to
>be checked. In case it is a bit too insensitive on its coax input this can
>be easily fixed by their tecnicians.
>
>Regards

So that's my plan....

  • Registered: 2019-09-10
  • Posts: 10

Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

Just in case anyone is interested.....

The dac went back to Sythax (uk distributor) who were able to reproduce the problem, and have sent it back to RME to be fixed.

  • Registered: 2019-02-09
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Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

Paul Barnett wrote:

Just in case anyone is interested.....

The dac went back to Sythax (uk distributor) who were able to reproduce the problem, and have sent it back to RME to be fixed.

I have exactly the same symptoms with a non Signature DigiOne. Put it down to a bad cable and went optical not thinking too much about it. I will be interested to learn if RME fix the issue which indicates my DAC is faulty also.

  • Registered: 2019-02-01
  • Posts: 171

Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

That sound like a cable issue, sp/dif is very hit and miss for anything over 88.2khz, the only thing that worked every time for me was glass fiber toslink from lifatec. I also had good luck with Blue Jeans Cables Coaxial Belden 1694A, it didn't work for everything but 4 out of 5 times it was ok.

  • Registered: 2019-09-10
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Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

Synthax confirmed the fault, and sent it to RME in Germany to be checked and fixed

It came back from RME with 'no fault found'

Synthax then said they got it to work with an rca to rca composite video cable

They sent it back to me, but I still don't have it working.

wakajazz - you said you went optical - presumably not with the digione - my (non sig) digione does not have an optical out, just
coax - and my digione wont play into the rme either - BUT I got a bnc-to-rca cable, and then it worked!!! (bnc output volts is twice rca output), so you might try that.

Unfortunately, the same cable does not work with the signature.

  • Registered: 2019-02-09
  • Posts: 7

Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

Interesting...

Yes, I used the optical out on a HiFiberry HAT.

You mentioned BNC working for you and the voltage. I am wondering if Allo is not meeting S/PDIF specifications. I am no expert however looking at the S/PDIF report graphs located at https://allo.com/sparky/digione.html it 'looks' like the output voltage on the RCA connector does not meet the 0.5-0.6v peak to peak output voltage spec?

Again, I am a complete layman and probably misinterpreting what I am seeing.

16 Reply by Paul Barnett (edited by Paul Barnett 2019-10-09 10:53:56)

  • Registered: 2019-09-10
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Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

rme and synthax both emailed me to say that they would like to do more tests, so it's on it's way back to rme.....

17 Reply by Paul Barnett (edited by Paul Barnett 2019-10-25 11:50:39)

  • Registered: 2019-09-10
  • Posts: 10

Re: adi-2 dac: no lock/sync over spdif/rca at 192khz

It's back. RME adjusted it, and it's now working ok.

Note that it still dosn't work with my cheap no-name rca spdif cables, but that's ok. And it did not work out of
the box, It seemed to need a few minutes 'warming up' before it reliably locked to the signal.

But the bnc->rca cable always works reliably, even cold.

And the Allo digione seems to work better with the cheap cables than the Allo signature does.

So the bottom line is - If you want to run an allo signature into an rme dac, be prepared to experiment with
cables. Even if nothing else works, a bnc->rca cable should work. and if not, you'll need to get rme to adjust the dac.

All done, and I'm now happy.