I give up with the HD DAC boards.

DIY Products&Projects
1

Hi all,
I have now used 4 different HD DAC boards and have just swapped back to an older spec board.
Sure the HD board sounds good but the audio glitches and break up are dreadful. This board needs some serious rework by Arylic.
On Amazon it skips and jumps all the time.
With optical in and the extension board it mutes for a second every few seconds making it impossible to watch TV.
It is better after it has been powered for a while but overall this is a bad product.
I would really like feedback from Frank or others.
When will it be fixed?
M

2

Hi Martin, I use a new DAC board since a few weeks and have no issue. I am not 100% sure, but I remember reading something about the cables. The cable supplied with the DAC board might not be the same as the cable supplied with the streamer. I have only used the cable which came with the DAC board and did not have audio glitches, dropouts, etc. I rather have a noise problem with the Wifi antenna which can make trouble when too close to other cables, metal, etc. Maybe you play a little bit with the antenna and get it out of the way …

Regards
Bidjan

3

Hi Bidjan and many thanks for the feedback.

I remember this issue you mention. However, I use an external DAC connected with an optical cable so there can’t be any electrical interference issues here.
I have changed to a Pro board with the optical extension board to the same DAC and have no glitches at all. So I am very sure it is the HD board and not my DAC or any wiring issues.
The issue you remember gave a fizzing sound I think.
This issue is a glitch where the audio simply skips.
To me I suspect it is some cache issue with the audio circuitry on the Linkplay module used here.
Thanks again.
M

4

Hi all,

Frank has now confirmed that there is indeed an issue with the Linkplay module and expects an update around mid May.

M

5

Ah, I see … and I mixed things up. The board I use is not the HD DAC. I am (only) using the DAC Expansion board.

6

Hi,
I hope they can fix the problem with the HD board soon. Otherwise it is a 250$ piece of electronic waste.

Norbert

7

Hi all,
In order to check my thoughts that there could be a heat related issue I bonded a metal bodied resistor to the top of the Linkplay module. It adds a very gentle 0.8w of heat when powered with the 5V supply.
The glitching seems to be a bit less but I am not at all sure that this is the root of the problem now.
S/W or F/W fix needed I think.
M

8

Hi Frank,
By my estimations the new F/W that plays without glitches should be entering final testing soon if it is going to be ready for release mid May.
Can you confirm where you are now with this up and coming new release.
At the moment, I have two HD boards that do not work.

Martin.