Strange Issue - Dac audio dropping out- Advice

djc45

Hi,
I have a bit of a strange issue which I’m hoping someone might be able to give me advice on, as I am at a loss to work out the reason for it.

I have an Onkyo TXNR626 in the main room we use for movies, but also sometimes for music. I have a Dacmagic 100 connected to the receiver via the CD phono inputs, and mainly use the Dac connected by usb to an Essential PH1 phone which I use as a music player, as it does hardware mqa decoding, to play back hi-res audio. Sometimes using purchased and downloaded FLAC files or streaming Tidal master tracks.

The equipment plays back well, giving me full 192kHz at the DAC end with appropriate tracks. However, the issue is, and I know this sounds strange, that when I play audio with the Samsung Q90 tv off I get audio dropouts every 20-30 secs or so, regardless if I’m streaming or playing local Flac files. As soon as I turn the tv on, and obviously turn the amp input back to cd,  the sound is flawless. I do use arc hdmi from the tv, but the tv is not connected to the CD input, that is only the DAC.

i don’t know whether the Onkyo is ’looking’ for a tv and is switching or something, although I can’t see why. The only other item connected to the DAC is a dvd/cd player via Toslink, but obviously that is connected to a different input on the DAC.

i appreciate any advice anyone can give, as it is annoying having to leave a display on when  listening to music, but not near as annoying as the audio dropouts.
Thanks
Duncan

dannnielll

What would the situation be if the TV were totally disconnected..ie no HDMI connection. Would the DAC then dropout?.

RBZ5416

The USB input of the DAC seems to be limited to 96KHz according to the specs, but not sure that's relevant. Have you tried changing the ground switch on the DAC in case it's an odd earthing issue, but then the phone won't be earthed anyway. Odd.

djc45

Thanks guys.
It has a 192 light on the front which lights when playing 192 tracks. It does needs to be enabled into the correct usb mode for 192 to work , which it has been.
I’ll try disconnecting the tv return hdmi from the amp and see if that does anything.