XDA-2, gen 1: only getting 48mHz shown

[geturdone]

Hi Guys,

I downloaded a Rebecca Pigeon track called Spanish Harlem from HDTracks.  It was advertised as 96/24.  After reading all the similar problems people are having and trying all of the fixes (except trying another USB cable, which I bought new), I still have 48mHz in the display window.  I've shut down and restarted both the DAC and my macbook air, pulled the cable and plugged it back in, tried the 2nd USB port on my Mac but still only get 48.  

I am new to digital audio, please help!

[garbulky]

You have to adjust the macbook settings. it is not getting bit perfect audio. It is being resampled to 48khz. I think it's under MIDI. Also there are plugins depending on your player that allow it to give you true bit perfect audio.
Also there have been issues when you unplug and replug the xda-2. So restart your mac and then recconnect the xda-2.

[cincymat]

Oct 5, 2015 11:32:40 GMT -5 geturdone said:

Hi Guys,

I downloaded a Rebecca Pigeon track called Spanish Harlem from HDTracks.  It was advertised as 96/24.  After reading all the similar problems people are having and trying all of the fixes (except trying another USB cable, which I bought new), I still have 48mHz in the display window.  I've shut down and restarted both the DAC and my macbook air, pulled the cable and plugged it back in, tried the 2nd USB port on my Mac but still only get 48.  

I am new to digital audio, please help!



I'm having the same issues. MIDI only sees the XDA-2 as a 44 or 48 device. Any more ideas than the DAC is known to be wonky? 

thanks,


cincymat

[garbulky]

Sounds like the XDA-2 is in USB one mode. The MAC has to install the USB 2 driver. Sometimes when there is a mess up it reverts to USB 1. Restart your mac and connect the XDA-2 to it when it is fully restarted and booted up and try again.

[cincymat]

The front panel on the XDA-2 Gen 2 says USB2.0

Tried rebooting the MAC and plugging in the USB cable after it was fully booted with the XDA-2 ON and USB selected. Still only 44.1 and 48. Is there any way to reset the XDA-2?

cincymat

[The History Kid]

I don't think any PC's natively pass a variable bitrate. I think they need to be adjusted in their appropriate sound settings. That's at least true on Windows. I have two settings for two outs to two units. One passes at 192 kHz (music), the other at 96 kHz (movies).

[cincymat]

On a MAC in the MIDI settings the DAC will show all the supported bit rates if the MAC and the DAC are working properly. My DC-1 works with my laptop everytime. I bought the XDA-2 for a new system I'm setting up in another room. right now my best guess is the USB cable length. I'll try a shorter one tomorrow.

Thanks,

cncymat

[garbulky]

What I said is the fix whether the XDA-2 says it or not. The Mac has it in USB 1 mode. Follow the post and see if you have any luck.
FYI to reset the XDA-2 pull the plug from the wall and reinsert.

[cincymat]

Oct 5, 2015 19:34:27 GMT -5 garbulky said:

What I said is the fix whether the XDA-2 says it or not. The Mac has it in USB 1 mode. Follow the post and see if you have any luck.
FYI to reset the XDA-2 pull the plug from the wall and reinsert.

Thanks, I've tried that several times but I'll try a few more. 

Cincymat

[geturdone]

I changed the output to 192 in the MIDI menu on my mac air and that seems to have done it, I get 192mHz in the display window without having to reset, reboot, or otherwise turn anything off and on again.

Thanks for the help!

[cincymat]

Here's what actually worked:

Rebooted the MAC
Reset the XDA-2 by unplugging it with it on.
Plugged the USB into the MAC
Turned on the XDA-2
Started the MIDI setup utility
Clicked on the USB symbol that was named Speaker and set it for sound output
Then all the output rates the XDA-2 supports were shown.

I use Audirvana 2 as my hi-res player and it switches rates on the fly. The XDA-2 now displays the proper rate.

Hope this helps,

Cincymat

[KeithL]

A little clarification - mostly for other folks reading this thread.

By default, both Windows and Apple computers re-sample everything they play to the default sample rate that you have them set to.
(You set this in the MIDI Panel on Apple computers and in Control Panel under Manage Sound Devices in Windows.)

In order to avoid this, you need to use a program that supports bit-perfect playback.
(In Windows, you need any player that supports WASAPI mode; on the Apple you need something that supports "bit-perfect playback".)

USB 1.0, USB 1.1, USB 2.0, and USB 3.0 describe hardware standards - which have to do with transfer speed.
UAC1 (USB Audio Class 1) and UAC2 (USB Audio Class 2) are something entirely different.

The XDA-2, the DC-1, and the USB Stream input on the XMC-1 are always UAC2.
Apple computers support both UAC1 and UAC2 without additional drivers - which is why you don't need drivers for them.
Windows supports UAC1 with its internal drivers, but not UAC2 - which is why you need our drivers for Windows with the DC-1, XDA-2, and XMC-1 USB input.

If you're using software that supports bit-perfect playback (like Audirvana, or Foobar2000 with the WASAPI plugin), and you're still only getting 44k or 48k, then the most likely cause is some sort of communication issue with the DAC. If the USB cable is too long, or poor quality, or your computer fails to negotiate properly with the DAC on startup, it may "think" that the DAC only supports up to 44k or 48k, and so not offer to let you use the higher sample rates.

Incidentally, the "USB 1.1" setting on the DC-1 tells the DC-1 to run in USB 1.1 hardware mode, which is a communication speed setting, and is offered for compatibility with some really old USB equipment. I haven't seen anything that would need this in years, so you should NEVER pick this setting - all recent computers support either USB 2.0 or USB 3.0. However, if you were to select USB 1.1 hardware mode, because of the speed limitation it imposes, it might prevent you from using some of the higher sample rates. While it is possible that USB 1.1 mode MIGHT (or might not) let you use a slightly longer cable - but only at low bit rates - I wold NOT recommend using it (and you still need drivers in Windows even if you do use it).

[cincymat]

Keith,

What does Emotiva recommend for the type/style USB cable and maximum length? I just grabbed one from my assorted surplus cable box. I don't remember what I'm using with my DC-1 but it works perfectly with my MAC Mini. My MacBook Pro is being used with the XDA-2 Gen 2 and I recall having issues with the MacBook and the DC-1 too.

BTW, Emotiva needs network player, DAC combo, with a tuner built in. That would be sweet.

Thanks,

cincymat

[garbulky]

Glad you got it working. Don't worry about the USB cable as long as its giving you the sound properly.

BTW Keith, the USB 1.1 is actually very important for specific applications.
The DC-1 is a pro DAC so I imagine with its size it sees all kinds of mobile use. THe fact that you need to download and install a driver to have it work on USB is a big setback for somebody like me who uses it to teach (and so does my wife) and plugs it in to multiple devices.
When the emergency laptop use is called for, the last thing somebody wants to do is download a driver in the middle of a class. Not everybdoy has the time or patience to plan for these things in advance. So the USB 1.1 allows for a plug and play experience which was greatly appreciated on more than a few ocassions.

Also as has been noted the USB 2 drivers appear to be very finicky about stuff like goign to sleep, sudden unplugs etc etc. And whatever reason the blame falls on, it can't be denied that the USB 1 drivers suffer from none of these problems. And this is a big deal when reliability is important. When my wife plugs the DC-1 in she needs it to work.

[bene]

FWW I think this is an issue with the way Macs implement the USB handshake. It is actually somewhat improved in OS 10.11 and I am fairly sure that this is a problem that Apple is still working on.