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  #1  
Old 09-07-2017, 11:07 AM
jakegt3 jakegt3 is offline
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Default JRiver Media Center with CD-9?

Is anyone here running the JRiver Media Center software (https://www.jriver.com/overview.html) to drive the DAC inputs to the CD-9? I just downloaded a demo version of the JRiver player and am running it from my high-end Dell XPS15 laptop. I'm trying to use it to play HD audio files via the USB input to the CD-9 DAC, but without much success. I probably have something misconfigured but I'm not sure what because I'm just learning the software.

I tried playing back some FLAC files but what I hear is badly distorted music, as though it's clipping. The front panel of the CD-9 does indicate it's locking onto the clock (176.4 kHz for some files and 96 kHz for others).

If you are running the JRiver software, what output settings are you using?
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Old 09-07-2017, 06:03 PM
Kal Rubinson Kal Rubinson is offline
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What input on the CD9 are you using? The USB input requires the installation of a driver.
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Old 09-07-2017, 08:21 PM
jakegt3 jakegt3 is offline
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I am using the USB input and I did the driver installation with the software I downloaded from ARC.
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Old 09-07-2017, 09:10 PM
Kal Rubinson Kal Rubinson is offline
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What does JRiver say? There's a button with 3 vertical bars (just to the right of the shuffle and repeat buttons) that will tell you what it is doing during playback.
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Old 09-08-2017, 07:38 PM
jakegt3 jakegt3 is offline
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I tried playing several different music files with different sampling rates in the FLAC format. In each case, the 3 vertical bars light up blue and if I click on the bars, I open up a window that tells me the input format and the output format for the file currently being played. Still, I get horribly distorted audio output.

I have the JRiver output set up for the DAC USB ASIO driver. If I open up the ARC DAC USB control panel, I can read playback data, including current sample rate and any error counter data. The reported sampling rate is correct for the file being played and there are zero errors reported.

Any more ideas?
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Old 09-08-2017, 08:37 PM
jakegt3 jakegt3 is offline
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A few more things:

The Win10 Sound Control Panel does show the ARC DAC driver installed and selected as the default driver for playback.

I also tried the DAC USB WDM (WASAPI) output option in JRiver instead of DAC USB ASIO but that produces the same distorted results.

The CD-9's Toslink input *does* work properly for playing back the same HD audio files when I use an external interface device that provides a Toslink output. This says that the CD-9's internal DAC hardware is working properly. The problem seems to be something about the USB interface or its software configuration.
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Old 09-27-2017, 04:18 PM
Lars-Ola Lars-Ola is offline
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Is your CD9 a newer unit with the updated USB board? I read on another forum that these units have a "2.0" sticker at the back.

Apparently the USB board is upgradable, but at a cost. Don't know if it would fix your issues though.
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Old 09-27-2017, 09:06 PM
jakegt3 jakegt3 is offline
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Apparently my unit is an older one because it does not have the Apple 2.0 sticker. I contacted Audio Research about my problems and they said they would send me new PAL low level I/O drivers for my CD-9. I hope that fixes the problem.

These days Audio Research tech support leaves a lot to be desired. They won't take inquiries by phone. You have to do it by e-mail and then it takes up to a full week for them to respond.
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Old 10-09-2017, 04:28 PM
jakegt3 jakegt3 is offline
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Here's an update on my progress...

I finally got the CD-9 USB interface working with the JRiver Media Center player. Audio Research ended up sending me a USB PAL driver that fixed the problem. Interestingly this driver is not the current one (v. 1.37.9) that is available on the Audio Research Web site but is an earlier version (v. 1.34.8).

It’s been a frustrating experience, partly because tech support from Audio Research has left a lot to be desired. They used to take phone calls where you could talk directly to a technical person. Now you have to communicate by e-mail and it takes forever for them to respond. In total, it took nearly 3 weeks from the time I first contacted them to when they eventually sent me the driver.

Now it’s on to some listening.
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