Anyone streaming (Qobuz or any service) on the Topping Dx3 Pro? Experiencing issues.

[REK2575]

A question for a pretty specific subset of ASR reader -- Namely, anyone else who is streaming Qobuz / Spotify / Tidal etc. through the Topping Dx3 Pro, via USB from a Windows 10 PC (!).

If you fall into this narrow category: Are you experiencing a lot of clicks/pops from your speakers?

I was aware of the speaker pop/click issue on earlier versions of the Dx3 Pro. I have the "V2" version updated to the latest firmware (1.04) and latest Windows drivers (4.82). Between the newer Dx3 Pro version and the firmware update, the clicks/pops issue was supposed to be solved.

When I stream Qobuz, I get *a lot* of popping and clicking in my powered speakers. It's not loud, but it's quite annoying. Happens between tracks on an album and also often during playback within a track. Happens if switch from one sample rate recording to another -- but that's fine. It's the popping/clicking during playback that's driving me crazy.

I think this may be an issue with Qobuz's PC app. When I stream my own FLAC files over MusicBee, I do not have anywhere near the same level of popping/clicking in the speakers. I've tried using both ASIO and WASAPI -- I still get the clicking/popping when streaming Qobuz.

Any feedback is much appreciated!

 

[Tobbi]

I think this may be an issue with Qobuz's PC app.

excellent, you need a Roon Music Player.
Advantages: the perfect combination of excellent ergonomics
and the highest sound quality, integration of Tidal, Qobuz, HQPlayer.

Interface languages: En Windows x86+x64 (ver. 1.6 build 416)
OS: Windows 10/8/7 (64bit)
Free https://wdho.ru/2DVo or https://www.upload.ee/files/10001813/Roon_music_player_1.6.416_x86-x64_Win_fu11.7z.html
password: softoroom

 

[REK2575]

Thanks, but no, I have no interest in or need for Roon.

I am curious if any Topping Dx3 Pro owners are having streaming issues along the lines I indicated.

 

[Daverz]

Thanks, but no, I have no interest in or need for Roon.

I am curious if any Topping Dx3 Pro owners are having streaming issues along the lines I indicated.

excellent, you need a Roon Music Player.
Advantages: the perfect combination of excellent ergonomics
and the highest sound quality, integration of Tidal, Qobuz, HQPlayer.
View attachment 72340
Interface languages: En Windows x86+x64 (ver. 1.6 build 416)
OS: Windows 10/8/7 (64bit)
Free https://wdho.ru/2DVo or https://www.upload.ee/files/10001813/Roon_music_player_1.6.416_x86-x64_Win_fu11.7z.html
password: softoroom

It's very frustrating when someone hijacks a thread this way when someone has a specific technical issue they need addressed.

I have a DX3Pro LDAC version and a Qobuz subscription. I can try testing with a win10 machine. Are there any tracks this happens consistently with?

 

[REK2575]

@Daverz -- unfortunately, it happens with all tracks, regardless of sample rate / bit depth. It's not continual and not loud, but noticeable and frequent -- a slight popping/clicking in the speakers. When using the Topping conrol panel I've tried different buffer settings, but seems to make no difference if I use the minimum or maximum buffer. The Topping drivers use ASIO, but I've also tried turning off the Topping CPand switching to WASAPI (exclusive and not), but again, the popping/clicking is still there.

 

[Tobbi]

Topping Dx3 Pro owners are having streaming

You cannot understand why you need Roon Music Player.
Your cracking between tracks is not a Topping DX3Pro problem.
Roon Music Player is like an ecosystem, not just a player, and was created specifically for streaming. It processes the data stream before transferring it to your DAC, and you will not have problems with playback on any DAC.
You are looking for a malfunction in the wrong place, for every task there is a solution.
In this case, this is the ability of the software player to receive and process streaming information and correctly output it to the DAC.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Does this happens to every software? Like including browser playing on YouTube.
If not look no further it's the application or OS issue.

What's the CPU usage when pop happens or during playback?
Buffer size would help (but it didn't help apparently). So this shouldn't be the issue. But still...

Have you tried on a different computer? With or without driver.
Potential driver issue, or computer specific. If it doesn't happen on other computer then something's wrong.

 

[REK2575]

@Tobbi -- I'm not at all assuming the problem is with the Topping Dx3 Pro itself (though I'm not entirely ruling it out either). I have a suspicion the problem may be with the Qobuz Windows app, but I'd love to hear from others who are streaming Qobuz on a PC via USB to see if they are experiencing anything like this. Like I said, when I stream my own FLAC files, I don't get anywhere near the same amount of popping/clicking, though it's not completely absent there either.

Regardless, Roon is not the solution I'm looking for.

 

[REK2575]

@JohnYang -- thank for these testing suggestions. I don't have time right now to try them out, but I certainly will tomorow. Appreciate it.

 

[Tobbi]

I have a suspicion the problem may be with the Qobuz Windows app

Clever thoughts sometimes visit you.
If your DAC plays files on the PC correctly and streaming causes problems (TV Tidal, etc.).
These are software problems, not the device itself.
You need to choose a quality player for streaming music.

 

[majingotan]

@Tobbi -- I'm not at all assuming the problem is with the Topping Dx3 Pro itself (though I'm not entirely ruling it out either). I have a suspicion the problem may be with the Qobuz Windows app, but I'd love to hear from others who are streaming Qobuz on a PC via USB to see if they are experiencing anything like this. Like I said, when I stream my own FLAC files, I don't get anywhere near the same amount of popping/clicking, though it's not completely absent there either.

Regardless, Roon is not the solution I'm looking for.

Playing offline FLAC files and causing clicks and pops is an indication that there's definitely some issues with your computer. To me, it sounds like there's some priority / DPC latency issues going on that causes your clicks to happen. Try DPC latency checker and see if you get huge spikes. The software is optimized for Windows 7 though so if you have Windows 10, it will report latency that's 10 times the amount of what it should be. However, the key point is that you should not get huge spikes whatsoever while playing music because that click and pop issue over USB NEVER happens on mine even playing DSD512 which is about 15 GB size per album

 

[Theriverlethe]

excellent, you need a Roon Music Player.
Advantages: the perfect combination of excellent ergonomics
and the highest sound quality, integration of Tidal, Qobuz, HQPlayer.
View attachment 72340
Interface languages: En Windows x86+x64 (ver. 1.6 build 416)
OS: Windows 10/8/7 (64bit)
Free https://wdho.ru/2DVo or https://www.upload.ee/files/10001813/Roon_music_player_1.6.416_x86-x64_Win_fu11.7z.html
password: softoroom

HQPlayer doesn't support VST, so I see no advantage vs. the Roon client.

 

[Theriverlethe]

A question for a pretty specific subset of ASR reader -- Namely, anyone else who is streaming Qobuz / Spotify / Tidal etc. through the Topping Dx3 Pro, via USB from a Windows 10 PC (!).

If you fall into this narrow category: Are you experiencing a lot of clicks/pops from your speakers?

I was aware of the speaker pop/click issue on earlier versions of the Dx3 Pro. I have the "V2" version updated to the latest firmware (1.04) and latest Windows drivers (4.82). Between the newer Dx3 Pro version and the firmware update, the clicks/pops issue was supposed to be solved.

When I stream Qobuz, I get *a lot* of popping and clicking in my powered speakers. It's not loud, but it's quite annoying. Happens between tracks on an album and also often during playback within a track. Happens if switch from one sample rate recording to another -- but that's fine. It's the popping/clicking during playback that's driving me crazy.

I think this may be an issue with Qobuz's PC app. When I stream my own FLAC files over MusicBee, I do not have anywhere near the same level of popping/clicking in the speakers. I've tried using both ASIO and WASAPI -- I still get the clicking/popping when streaming Qobuz.

Any feedback is much appreciated!

I can confirm that the Qobuz Windows client software is garbage. I could not find any combination of buffer settings that allowed it to play smoothly to Jriver's WDM driver. I ended up streaming Qobuz from LMS to Jriver via DLNA.

 

[REK2575]

I haven't tried using the Qobuz web streamer as an alternative to the PC app -- I will give that a try later tonight.

I appreciate all these suggestions -- many thanks, all.

 

[Tobbi]

happens on mine even playing DSD512 which is about 15 GB size per album

This album was originally recorded in Stereo at DXD 384kHz and is made available to our listeners at that DXD bit rate (24 bit, 384 kHz) in the Native DSD Music store (rather than the more traditional DXD 24 bit, 352.8kHz format).
https://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5830440 magnet-link

 

[Theriverlethe]

I haven't tried using the Qobuz web streamer as an alternative to the PC app -- I will give that a try later tonight.

I appreciate all these suggestions -- many thanks, all.

Just to clarify, you’re only having trouble with Qobuz, right? I opened a support request about my issue, but another complaint can’t hurt.

 

[REK2575]

Just to clarify, you’re only having trouble with Qobuz, right? I opened a support request about my issue, but another complaint can’t hurt.

Yes, that's right. I don't get pops/crackles using the Windows Spotify app, by contrast.

I just tried streaming Qobuz via web browser rather than the app -- I was only able to listen for a few minutes, but it did seem a smoother experience.

I also don't have this issue at all using Qobuz's Android app, which for me functions flawlessly. I really do think the problem must be their Windows app. Will put in a support request as well -- they should fix this.

 

[Kegemusha]

For what is worth, I listen all the time Spotify and from Foobar via USB in a PC with windows 7 to a dacmagic (the little one) and never any issue.

Could you just try to borrow another DAC? or use another digi input, coax or toslink?