Hookup tips

[Doc B.]

I'm starting this thread so we can post any particular tricks we have found to hooking the DAC into a system. Please just post actual findings, not conjecture. And please ask questions in another thread. I want to keep this thread as clean and straightforward as possible.

[Doc B.]

The best sequence I have found for hooking our Mac Mini based setup together is the following:

Very first thing, make sure the DAC is switched to USB. If it isn't and you switch it to USB after you have connected it to the Mac's USB output, for some reason the Mac might make it so it can't read 48/96/192/384. If you see it stuck on 44.1/88.2/176/352 you will need to unplug the USB, power down the DAC and reboot the Mini. Then reconnect the DAC as described below:

I boot the Mac mini first. Then I connect the RCAs to the DAC. Next I power the DAC up. Lastly I connect the USB cable to the DAC and look in Audio/Midi settings to see that it has been found by the Mac.

Then I launch Amarra. Sometimes it crashes and gives the option to retry. It always works on the retry.

[2wo]

With my Linux based server. It has been plug and play.

I powered up the DAC, set to USB and plugged in the USB cable and it was recognized right away.

It even calls it out by name, I have plugged in any number of DACs and have never seen this.

"ALSA device list

 0 [Intel          ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
                      HDA Intel at 0xfea78000 irq 43
 1 [BHDACV1        ]: USB-Audio - XMOS Bottlehead DAC BHDACV1
                      XMOS  XMOS Bottlehead DAC BHDACV1 at usb-0000:00:1d.7-3, high speed"

If this is not the sort of info you are looking feel free to delete...John

[Doc B.]

Yes, it will show up as XMOS Bottlehead DAC BHDACV1 on the Mac as well. And thanks John, this is exactly the kind of thing I am hoping users will post.

[debk]

I finally got it working on Windows.  It sounds like it is much simpler to set up on a mac.   I finally got it working on an older Win 7 machine.  I had not luck with Windows 8.1 on two diffrent machines and I even tried windows 10 preview with no luck. 

I have it running with JRiver as the media center software. 
 I'm not sure what the diffrence is.  This windows stuff is a pain, it is much simpler to set up a turntable or build an amp!

Oh, and when I finally got it working properly it does sound orders of magnitude better than any other DAC I have had!

Thanks
Debra

Questions moved to new thread.

[tsingle999]

For my mac mini i just had to redo the options, speaker icon,  click on the bh dac after i rebooted to get it to work.

[caffeinator]

I bent my pick on my windows box (W7 Pro 64 bit); even though the machine recognized the DAC and I got the drivers installed fine, I couldn't seem to find a way to get sound of it.  I didn't give it a huge amount of time, though, since I have a Mac Mini to use as a music server.

The Mac was literally plug and play.  I think I had to change an option to select the right output, but apart from that, no muss, no fuss.  I installed Amarra and it, too, was plug and play.

[glynnw]

I added new GR Research  dual 12" open bqffle subs to my system about when the DAC arrived.  I spent a couple of fruitless days trying to get rid of some low level hum and finally realized it was a result of the new DAC entering the system.  My system is hooked up to my video system by an HDMI cable and disconnecting this eliminated the hum.  But I want to use my TV to monitor the system occasionally, so I found an Iso - Max in a drawer,  put it in the cable feed to the video system and problem solved.

[Paul Joppa]

A frequent cause of hum in a video setup is the cable ground, which is different from the power ground ("safety ground") used in the audio equipment. An isolation transformer such as you used is the standard solution.