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Old 04-05-2019, 09:13 AM
torxx torxx is offline
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Default Crackle sounds when streaming from Tidal and Spotify

This is driving me crazy. I’m getting faint crackle sounds when streaming from Tidal and Spotify. Reminiscent of noises herd when listening to LP’s back in the day. It’s not constant and not always noticeable, however, there is something going on. More noticeable on some tracks than others, some not at all. Happens on all quality of music, MQA or not, older recordings and newer.

I have tried my best to eliminate the following as not being the culprit: Pre amp, Blusound node 2 (on loan), airport express used as streamer, ethernet wire, toslink cable.

Listing to same music on headphones from same iPhone I use to control Tidal and Spotify does not have the crackling noises.

It seems all this is left is the router, amp, and speakers. And of course, the wires behind the gear. I did jiggle some wires as the noise was being observed with no change in crackle noise.

Seems like router is most likely the culprit. I have a panoramic combo modem router from cox. I usually connect via ethernet from the router to the AE or Blue sound. I did set up the wireless connectivity on the bluesound to eliminate ethernet as the break in the chain.

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
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Old 04-05-2019, 09:46 AM
stollen stollen is offline
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Are you connecting the Bluesound to a separate DAC? I had a similar issue with Sonos when connecting to an external DAC only when the volume on the Sonos unit was not set to max (or fixed). When the volume on Sonos was set to variable and I had it turned down to less than max I would once in a while get some crackling between songs.

With a different DAC I don't get the same issue, but when I was having the issue switching to fixed volume or running the Sonos volume at max resolved the issue. Odd, but it worked.
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Old 04-05-2019, 02:59 PM
torxx torxx is offline
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I will test that setting on the bluesound later today to see it helps , however, the noise is present with airport express and bluesound. Airport express doesn't have any setting like that. I always max the volume on iPhone when using tidal or spotify.

I ruled out the amp as a culprit as analog and digital signals running from a CD player resulted in no crackling noise.

The only thing that changed when I first notice the issue was replacing the MC 2150 with a MC 452, no other changes were initially made and was using airport express. I first assumed the MC2150 wasn't reveling enough to stand out? Maybe it isn’t? It could have been an issue that has been present for who knows how long? Or the new amp draws so much more power that cable interference is an issue???
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Old 04-05-2019, 04:33 PM
torxx torxx is offline
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strange events going here. not long after last post, the parasound preamp lost a channel. So that's out. Luckily for me I have a new C2500 that arrived today. Will test out with new pre and keep my fingers crossed. Concerning is that I got the crackle sound with the parasound removed and blusound hook up as preamp.
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Old 04-05-2019, 04:58 PM
schneice schneice is offline
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Sorry to hear of your trouble. Are you using the bluesound as the DAC for both streaming and the CD?
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Old 04-05-2019, 08:22 PM
torxx torxx is offline
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Happy to report that the mysterious crackle sounds are gone. The parasound pre was the offender and is now out of the system to be pack up and sent to parasound for repair. Out of warranty by 4 months so we will see how well they stand behind their product.

I have been using the bluesound as a dac only for streaming. Have not run the cd player through the bluesound. I have been A/B listening using blusound as a dac and using the pre as a dac. With the $1,000 parasound pre it was a toss-up as far as I could tell, MQA or not.

The C2500 is in another class and is still breaking in. Much more control of the sound with the C2500. Expecting the margin to expand as the c2500 breaks in, however, it has sounded nice from the get go and getting better.

I would recommend using a decent preamp in the chain as opposed to trying to use the bluesaound as a pre if possible, I tried that as an experiment and in trouble shooting and is sounded fine, maybe a little harsh. As usual depends of your system and how much it will reveal. The blue sound is quite impressive with the dac being really good unless you have something better to compare it to at the flick of a switch. Even then it’s in the game. If at all budget conscious, get the bluesound as a dac streamer, you can always upgrade later.
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Old 04-05-2019, 11:46 PM
schneice schneice is offline
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Great news!
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