Intermittent Sound

[carlosh11934]

This set up played well for a few days and then started pausing. I have my iPad playing Apple music playlists with the following set up. The iPad is connected to a non-Apple camera adapter. The adapter is connected to power and the USB side of the adapter is connected to the SMSL SU1 DAC, which is then connect to an amplifier, as you can see on the diagram and the pictures. I only rolled up the wires for the pictures. They are not rolled up when in use.

When I play Apple music on my iPad by itself (not connected to anything), it plays continuously, just fine with no interruptions. Forget the iPhone 12 Apple music. I can't even make it play through this set up.

Do I need to get a genuine Apple adapter or is it something else?

Carlos in Texas

 

[kemmler3D]

This set up played well for a few days and then started pausing. I have my iPad playing Apple music playlists with the following set up. The iPad is connected to a non-Apple camera adapter. The adapter is connected to power and the USB side of the adapter is connected to the SMSL SU1 DAC, which is then connect to an amplifier, as you can see on the diagram and the pictures. I only rolled up the wires for the pictures. They are not rolled up when in use.

When I play Apple music on my iPad by itself (not connected to anything), it plays continuously, just fine with no interruptions. Forget the iPhone 12 Apple music. I can't even make it play through this set up.

Do I need to get a genuine Apple adapter or is it something else?

Carlos in Texas

Can you be more specific about the intermittent pausing? I think this can sometimes be caused by the iPad thinking the connection got lost, and/or random noise getting into the USB and causing false play/pause signals to go back over the cable, but I am not sure if those are possibly the cause.

What happens if you connect the iPad straight to the DAC without the power adapter?

 

[carlosh11934]

Oops, I hadn't seen the part about plugging in the iPad straight to the DAC without the power adapter. I'll do that next.

In the meantime, I have another vital clue. I was able to verify twice that at the same time that the music stops, the light on the DAC blinks. In other words, it goes off for a fraction of a second and comes back on. The music stops and doesn't resume. Hope that helps.

Carlos

 

[carlosh11934]

OK. I was able to verify that the problem still occurs even if the power supply is not plugged in. I started playing a song and after about 1.5 minutes, the light blinked and the music stopped.

 

[staticV3]

I'd start with trying the original Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter.

A known good USB-A to USB-C cable might also be worth a try:

USB cables: shielding matters as well...

www.yoctopuce.com

I'm not sure if the braided cable in your pictures is properly shielded.

 

[carlosh11934]

I'll be sure and get a braided cable and an Apple camera adapter, though it will be several days before I can get my hands on one. There's no Apple stores near me.

Carlos

 

[staticV3]

I'll be sure and get a braided cable

Braided does not necessarily mean high quality.

What you need is a cable that adheres to USB spec with high quality shielding. Whether or not it's braided doesn't matter.

 

[carlosh11934]

You are correct. Braided does not mean high quality shielding. My bad.

I'm just waiting for parts to come in.

 

[carlosh11934]

I received the shielded cable and the Apple Camera Adapter and plugged them in. Much to my dismay, there was no sound. I tried plugging and unplugging several of the wires to no avail. I rebooted the phone and still no help. Then, I remembered, I had muted the amp before I shut it off to wait for the parts to come in. That was it! It has been playing reliably every time I use it. The reason I didn't post my results sooner is because I was waiting to see that it really worked because I had been disappointed so many times. Perhaps others have had luck with 3rd party camera converter cables. I didn't. I can't thank enough staticV3 for his perfect help. Thank you!

A Happy Carlos in Texas

 

[Philbo King]

Glad you got it sorted out.