Strange issue with my ERC-2...Any thoughts?

[Deleted]

A funny thing happened on my way to sonic bliss last night... I was settling into a few hours of music when I had a strange occurrence  with my ERC-2, I just ejected "Kamakiriad"  and was about a third of the way through "Rumors"  I think on the song "Never going back again" when the music just started to fade away in a static filled death throw into nothingness!  Just crackles and static.  Lindsey Buckingham sounded like he was being forced into a 8 track, track change in the middle of the song.  My immediate thought was one of my amps just pushed up a Daisy...But after my initial primordial scream of panic (and some trial and error) I realized that both channels faded out simultaneously and since I have two mono channels that couldn't be it so I checked the CD Player and found I could not fast fwd, rwd, play anything so I switched off the back panel power switch and let it sit for a couple minutes it booted back up with seemingly no hint of the issues.  I still have warranty should I box it up and send it or just figure it as an anomaly and continue on enjoying it?

[novisnick]

Id continue to enjoy the ERC-2, love mine!                 And if a recurrence happens again id give it a little more thought.
You can always call Emotiva about your concerns.
That said, before the experation of the warranty I would have it serviced.

[hemster]

Sounds a bit like a thermal shutdown. Was the player hot to the touch after this happened? Was it in use for many hours. Not saying it can't be used for many hours at a time but the symptom sounds live it overheated and the thermal protection circuit kicked in.

Nick is right, if it happens again, contact Emotiva Support. 

[klinemj]

I would call Emotiva to see if they have heard of this before. It may be just an odd thing that happened, or Emotiva may know this signals a larger impending doom. Worth a phone call to ask...

Mark

[teaman]

I just had an issue with one of my ERC-2's. About the third track in the disc sounded like it was grinding to a halt in the player. After ejecting the disc and trying to feed it back in the player had a hard time. After a little manipulation it inserted and began playing. Once again about the third track in the disc started to skip this time. I had a hard time ejecting the disc this time but it finally came out. I called and talked to Emotiva describing what was happening and they told me to pack it up and send it in. They found that the spindly motor was misaligned and replaced it. When I got it back the cds played okay but there was still noise in the mechanism....so I sent it back to Emotiva again (they covered shipping which was nice) and they found the spindle motor table was also cracked. After getting it back the second time it is up and running and sounds quieter and more enjoyable than ever. This may, or may not be what your player is starting to experience. The only thing it cost me was initial shipping back and my cd won't play right any more so I had to replace it. Fair enough!

[Deleted]

Thanks fellas!  I will call Emotiva Monday as to avert any possible pending greater issues...As for the overheating idea I have no idea if it was warm but I will say is was on its 5th CD in a row...I certainly would hope that it doesn't have "limits" on listening increments that would NOT be good. 

[LCSeminole]

My ERC-1 and ERC-2(when I had one)tended to get quite warm if they didn't have enough ventilation room above. I now have at least 2in of room above and have long listening sessions(several hours at a time)without incident.

[klinemj]

I have not had my ERC-2 for a long time, but I do recall it getting pretty warm also and I also left air circulation room. I always put the ERC-2 and XSP-1 such that there was an additional inch of circulation space (used the rubber and felt furniture slides they sell at Home Depot/Lowes).

Let us know what you hear from Emotiva.

I had a laser fail in a Denon, but it didn't do what you describe. It just failed to read CD's/DVD's. It would work sometimes perfectly, then not work at all and get stuck in an infinite loading loop. It got pretty bad, so I ordered a new laser on line and replaced it myself.

I don't know if there are other symptoms of impending laser failures or not.

Mark

[Deleted]

At the moment I have my Oppo atop the ERC-2 When I get home I will swap them and see if that helps!

[garbulky]

How is the cd player connected? Does it output analog or digital? If it's digital it seems like jitter mix up I think the Sherbpurne is maybe the more likely culrpit. Did it happen at the moment like the ac kicked in or the lights dimmed just slightly?

[Deleted]

Hmmm...Can't remember if there was a change in power i.e. A/C coming on but I have a Monster Power conditioner.  I use Balanced XLR's from the ERC-2 to the XLR Balanced CD specific input of the 7030 then XLR's out to my amps.  I would agree that the 7030 could be the problem if I were using it's DACs instead of the ERC-2's but it is an analogue out. 

[stiehl11]

Jan 2, 2016 11:18:43 GMT -5 garbulky said:

How is the cd player connected? Does it output analog or digital? If it's digital it seems like jitter mix up I think the Sherbpurne is maybe the more likely culrpit. Did it happen at the moment like the ac kicked in or the lights dimmed just slightly?

Being that the ERC-2 wouldn't respond to front panel commands and the problem was fixed by powering down the unit I sincerely doubt that it was with the Sherbourn processor.

[stiehl11]

If this was a transport issue you'd have drops or skips like what teaman had. My thought is that the symptom you experienced with the output would be either with the digital to analog conversion or the analog output (if being used). Add to it the lack of response from the front panel and I would likely agree with hemster that the system was powering down (thermal or not, I can't say). I believe that the front panel, DAC, and analog sections all run from different paths from the main power supply to prevent noise. It sounds like an issue with these three sub-systems getting full power and either shutting down or partially operating. It is possible that maybe the transport motor is starting to go bad and, as it continues to spin it starts drawing more power causing the other systems not to get full power. For that matter you could have a bad transformer as well. Of course, this is all just speculation. Let us know what Emotiva has to say when you call them on Monday.

[garbulky]

This is true Stiehl and also that he is using analog out. So the Sherbourn has nothing to do with it. I'm assuming it was a random glitch.

[Deleted]

Ok after a phone call to Emotiva about my issue with the ERC-2...It looks/sounds like it could have been a misalignment in the slot/tray that caused a disc error that set off a series of unfortunate events (Lemony Snicket Style) and that caused one of the power supplies to shut down thusly explaining the slow static filled trailing off of the signal (as the last bit of power was "used up"). Good news is still have plenty of warranty left as well so all is good. Thanks to all of you that contributed here!!