Mac Dac again , HELP !!!!!!!!!

[Audio Al]

:doh:

Not used my DAC 3 for some months as i prefer vinyl

Pluged it in and no sound output ?

I have Amazon Prime music playing through my internal mac speakers , When I click on the sound icon top right I get the drop dow option of " Internal of TDA 1543 AC 3 V 1.4 , click on that and no sound out of my hifi :scratch:

I have the usb lead going out of a usb port ( Tried it from all 4 ports ) into the DAC then out of the dac RCA's into the AUX of my pre amp , Pre amp switched to AUX and no sound :scratch: , No frequency light showing on the DAC

its like no signal is coming out of my MAC , do I need to do something else within my mac config to get the bloody thing working :doh:

HELP :brainfart:
:lol:

This is why I love vinyl

[Landloper]

Have you given the DAC 3 time to charge up its batteries? When mine gets low it just cuts out into silence.

[Primalsea]

Didn’t someone else here have problems with their Mac and DAC, similar issue you describe. Can’t remember the poster or the thread, but it wasn’t long ago. I think thry sorted it.

[Audio Al]

Didn’t someone else here have problems with their Mac and DAC, similar issue you describe. Can’t remember the poster or the thread, but it wasn’t long ago. I think thry sorted it.

It was me :doh:

[Primalsea]

In that case I think you are just cursed when it comes to Macs and DACs

[Audio Al]

In that case I think you are just cursed when it comes to Macs and DACs

You may be correct , The first one I had was faulty :( spent days banging my head agains the wall :eek:

[Roy S]

spent days banging my head agains the wall :eek:

Is the wall ok? :D

[Audio Al]

Is the wall ok? :D

It is now I re plasterd it :)

[mikeyb]

His heeds fooked tho [emoji23]

[wee tee cee]

Is it the starting point dac or something else.

I have one of the older ones that had been sitting for ages-replaced the rechargeable battery with a new one and it was right a rain.

The only other thing could be the mac is not set to output via usb.....does it have an optical you could try( a lot of macs have an optical in the headphone socket)

[Audio Al]

I have this one
http://audio.starting-point-systems.com

24 hours on charge and not working :doh:

[Rob Tube]

I use Audirvana on my macbook, this app has his own dac recognition and can play 24 bits files, I never have issues streaming to my dac, I also have a cheap hand held dac that I use for my headphones that is also recognized by the software.

[Breezy]

I also had some terrible problems recently.

I use a late 2012 Mac Mini with Audirvana feeding a Heed DAC via USB. The sound output just stopped without warning. Everything 'looked' OK, just no sound! It was driving me absolutely bonkers.

So, to cut to the chase, I wiped the Mac clean - erased the HDD - and reinstalled the OS, which in my case was El Capitan. Result, is that now everything works perfectly and normality is restored.

I suggest that the OP tries the wipe clean option. As a lifelong MS Windows user, I was pleasantly surprised at how painless it all was. Might be some future for 'the fruits PC' after all! :)

[Lerxst]

It is obviously not connecting to the Mac if there are no lights on the DAC. Tried a different cable? I'm sorry, don't know Macs, but may be the program settings?

USB ports are pretty stable. Is this your only DAC? Or are you swapping it out for another one?

[Stratmangler]

When I click on the sound icon top right I get the drop dow option of " Internal of TDA 1543 AC 3 V 1.4 , click on that and no sound out of my hifi :scratch:



What options do you get when you haven't got the DAC connected?

[Breezy]

If a complete HDD wipe and OS install seems a bit too nuclear then have another look at settings. Go to System Preferences and select Sound, then make sure that your DAC is selected and not the internal speakers. Then go and find Audio Midi, which is in Utilities I think, and make sure that, again, your DAC is selected there and is set as default. Often I found that although the sound prefs are OK the Audio Midi mighty not be. In all those areas make sure that the volume is turned to max and mute is not selected.
You can also try a PRAM reset -you restart and hold down some keyboard buttons which I can't recall right now (it's on Google), and a reset of SCM, which you do by unplugging the power for some minutes.
After that you need to identify if your components are working properly. First thing to try is another source, so maybe try another computer. Remember if you can only get hold of a PC you'll probably need DAC drivers. Oh, and the usual thing of trying a different USB cable.
The thing that really did my nut with my issue was that everything seemed to work and 'looked' like it was working but there was no sound. It took the reinstall to sort it out.

Good luck...... and yes, this is precisely why vinyl is better :)

[Audio Al]

What options do you get when you haven't got the DAC connected?

When I unplug the DAC the dac option dissaperes so it must be seeing the mac , plug the usb lead back in and the Dac appears again in the sound options , but no sound

[Audio Al]

It is obviously not connecting to the Mac if there are no lights on the DAC. Tried a different cable? I'm sorry, don't know Macs, but may be the program settings?

USB ports are pretty stable. Is this your only DAC? Or are you swapping it out for another one?

If I unplug the Dac by pulling out the usb lead then push it back in againg all the lights flash for about 1 second

[Stratmangler]

How do you select USB input on the DAC?

[Audio Al]

I use Audirvana on my macbook, this app has his own dac recognition and can play 24 bits files, I never have issues streaming to my dac, I also have a cheap hand held dac that I use for my headphones that is also recognized by the software.

Is this a free app ?

[Audio Al]

How do you select USB input on the DAC?


It has a button on the front that cycles through USB / coaxial / optical

[Stratmangler]

OK, so your DAC has the power light on.
Have you tried cycling round the inputs?

[Audio Al]

OK, so your DAC has the power light on.
Have you tried cycling round the inputs?

Yes done that :(

[Landloper]

Al, you might try a restart on your Mac, or running the file permissions repairs and/or verify disc in the Disc Utility app located in your Utilities folder.

[Stratmangler]

Do you get any sound if you connect a CDP to either of the other two inputs?

[hifilover]

As someone has already said; when you go into System Preferences and then Sound; what does the output say?

For example; this is how mine looks with an optical connection to my active speakers:

https://s6.postimg.org/jpvni1w8x/Screen_Shot_2018-01-08_at_21.28.28.png (https://postimg.org/image/xjk073ou5/)

So screenshot yours and show us what it's stating

[wee tee cee]

Any joy yet AL?

[Audio Al]

Any joy yet AL?


No , I'm now looking for my 5lb club hammer :eek:

[Lerxst]

This should be their support address: support@starting-point-systems.com

Lovers of analogue can also write to them (or send a fax!)
http://starting-point-systems.com/images/nplocation.gif

[Edward]

Perhaps one of the regulars here who has a mac and a dac can remote desktop to your system (via say Teamviewer) to see if something amiss on your mac? I find usually it is something simple/obvious but needs fresh eyes to see. I would offer but I'm a windoze user.

I assume the DAC does work with a different input? Such as from a CD player?

I find a club hammer only offers partial respite. :cool:

[sq225917]

Time for a refund.

[Audio Al]

Time for a refund.

Cant do that as it was purchased from a forum member used , I had it working at one point , but cant now :scratch:

[Rob Tube]

I will have a look at home, I have an app that creates a bootable copy off the operating system, if you have an 8 gig memory stick you can boot the mac with a memory stick and re-install your OS that is quicker than talking it over for hours. This way you can re-install your OS, best is to wipe the disk. do you have the music on a separate HDD?

[Rob Tube]

I remembered the name it is DiskMaker X you can download that then you download the os from the apple store, start tha app and it will create a bootable usb stick, you start the mac with the alt button, install os x and then try to connect to the dac again.

[Stratmangler]

Do you get any sound if you connect a CDP to either of the other two inputs?

You didn't come back with an answer to this, Al.

[Bonky]

I have an iMac running a Beresford DAC into a Rega Brio amp. These are my settings: (I hope this works...the pics are on my desktop)

BW

Richard

Is the volume all the way to the right? (see Pic 1 at bottom)

[wee tee cee]

Al pop down to a supermarket and buy a replacement rechargeble battery for the dac----an energizer one was about a fiver.

pop the top off the dac and take the battery with you-a pp3 if memory serves.

put the lump hammer down and pick up a phillips screw driver and take the lid off and get the cheap wee chinese shitter battery out.

When you install the new battery and service resumes ye can smash fuck out the wee battery-it will be cathartic!

[Audio Al]

Thanks everyone , not now able to anything else until Thursday , Work :rolleyes:

[Audio Al]

I have just ordered 2 new rechargable battery's , The same make and model as the OE , from Hong Kong , not sure how long they will take to arrive :(

Gives me more time to find that hammer , Now where would I have put it :eyebrows:

[wee tee cee]

STEP AWAY FROM THE HAMMER!

hope this gets you up and running again....im a computer numpty but have a secret weapon in the shape of the Scottish mafia!

The troops up here tend to look out for each other-payment in food/cakes/coffee/tea/booze goes a long way.

Its worth it...a digital set up with a mac/pc/dac is bang for buck unbeatable.

Let us know how you get on..

[Audio Al]

Just ordered a Fisual 5m Pearl Mini-Toslink to Optical Cable just incase the new usb cable is faulty :rolleyes:

:D

[Audio Al]

Tosser link cable arrived fitted and now WORKING

:eek::stalks::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yesbruv::ye sbruv::yesbruv::thumbsup::more:

[Audio Al]

Never did find the lump hammer :D

[wee tee cee]

Glad you got it sorted Al

[Audio Al]

Glad you got it sorted Al

I still dont understand why it would not work with the new USB lead as it did work with it 1 month ago , My printer works from all the other usb outlets as does my camera up / download and my phone charger :scratch:

I do admit that using the optical lead improves the sound quality , but the file presentation still sucks and yes I have the Prime ultimate on trial so should be getting the better file / streaming rate ( If thats whet its called )

[Stratmangler]

I'm glad you've finally got there too, Al.
You were warned about lossy files not sounding great in your other DAC disaster thread.

[Audio Al]

I'm glad you've finally got there too, Al.
You were warned about lossy files not sounding great in your other DAC disaster thread.

Thanks Chris and everyone who helped :)