Audio stutters with USB Dacs on Macbook M1 Pro

[staticV3]

@staticV3 just to update, I realized that I had missed an important step with the Qobuz trick, and when I set the DX5 II as the output device in Qobuz (the thing I forgot to do), the popping does not happen, so I think it's exactly what you had identified as the issue. I think/hope that this is something I can go to Topping with, and see if there is anything they can do.

What Topping need to do is write a new firmware for the Xmos XU316 USB bridge which sets "Streaming=Always on" as the default value.

That should've been done from the very start, just negligence on Topping's part.

 

[ziggurcat]

Sounds like your problem is solved now - but I'll just note that there's a lot of power saving going on in modern computer stuff, sometimes the OS will be quite aggressive with this, or the device itself.
I think the Apple headphone adapter switches off its output buffer/amplifier if it detects silence for too long too, with a slight pop. It's a quiet pop though - I often have these plugged straight into the power amps (no pre-amp).

I had a quick look at the Activity Monitor, and Qobuz was only chewing up (at most) 0.4% CPU, so it's not too parasitic on the system. All that is required is to simply boot the app, and not use it at all, which is why I think it's not that bad.

What Topping need to do is write a new firmware for the Xmos XU316 USB bridge which sets "Streaming=Always on" as the default value.

That should've been done from the very start, just negligence on Topping's part.

I'm definitely going to make a case for them to do that because I think that would solve a lot of people's problems.

Edit: I have contacted Topping about this. We'll see what they say (if anything).