[gswilder]

Hi, just got a new Cayin IDAC-6 and the Cayin IHA-6 amplifier.

Problem is the start of songs get cut off (about 1 sec). This happens when I click play for the first song. You hear a relay type click on the Cayin DAC. Some silence, then the song start playing, missing about 1 second.

Also happens when the bit rate changes from one song to the next. Click, moment of silence, and then song start, missing that 1 second.

Songs that play back to back, with same bit rate, do NOT have this problem.

I've had this problem with other DAC's in the past.

I then used my Chord 2QUTE DAC and the Cayin amplifier, and it works fine. No 1 second loss of sound at startup or bit rate change.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Here is my setup.

Macbook Pro, running latest OS
Itunes, Audirvana +, and Roon (problem is the same using all 3 software players)
USB connection to the DAC(s)

Greg
Thanks in advance

 

[gswilder]

Another question, how do I contact Cayin for customer service in English. I go to the english website, but when I select customer service, it brings up a form in "chinese".

Thanks again in advance
Greg

 

[technobear]

This is usually the fault of the computer sending the USB port into a low power or OFF state whenever music stops playing. It then takes around a half second for the DAC to wake up when the USB signal is reapplied.

Users of foobar2000 can install foo_dsp_pregap to add a small amount of near-silence to the start of playback. Other player software may or may not have a similar feature.

You can try playing with USB power settings, disabling power saving features, etc.

 

[xenithon]

Songs that play back to back, with same bit rate, do NOT have this problem.

That points to a specific problem relating to bit rate changes and how DACs handle it. Whenever the bit rate changes, there are 3 ways a DAC can handle it:
- it does nothing, in which case you often hear a "pop" in one or both channels. Other songs played at the same bit rate have no popping sound at the beginning (such as your back to back example above)
- it includes a "mute" relay which cuts off a few milliseconds at the beginning so the listening does not hear that pop. This seems to what what your DAC is doing it
- it includes both "mute" and "delay" circuitry so that the pop is not heard but the song plays fine from the beginning with just a momentary silence before playback

It is generally nothing to worry about, and usually not something you can change. Sometimes manufacturers can introduce a firmware change but it often needs a hardware change.