Soncoz LA-QXD1 Balanced DAC Review

[Labjr]

I don't think I'd buy anything from Soncoz. Too many issues and too far away to deal with replacements.

 

[Ben1987]

Too many issues and too far away to deal with replacements.

If you encounter problems with the product during use, you can contact the dealer you bought in the first time. We will deal with your problems in a timely manner, including product related issues such as return or exchange.

 

[jawbfl]

If you encounter problems with the product during use, you can contact the dealer you bought in the first time. We will deal with your problems in a timely manner, including product related issues such as return or exchange.

We need a solid product not just a solid warranty, please fix the issues with the power supply and the other issues.

 

[DeepSpace57]

We need a solid product not just a solid warranty, please fix the issues with the power supply and the other issues.

I think Ben solved the issue a long time ago. But, of course wait for his answer.

 

[max1236]

What is the best filter? I guess the first one is the most accurate? (on-off-off) Which one would be nos like

 

[cestmoi]

@Ben1987
Is the current batch free of power supply issues?

 

[Phos]

Yeah I'm pretty curious if these are still coming out a bit sketchy, and if the weaker out of band attenuation is still present.

 

[Ben1987]

Is the current batch free of power supply issues?

It's not actually a power supply issues, it's static electricity that causes the failure of the op amp. You can see HERE and units shipped after that are specially optimized for static electricity.

 

[Labjr]

The problem is that these issues should have been ironed out in the engineering stage of the design. Not on returns.

 

[gvl]

It's not actually a power supply issues, it's static electricity that causes the failure of the op amp. You can see HERE and units shipped after that are specially optimized for static electricity.

Can an early unit be modified to improve protection against static electricity? If so, can you share the details how to do it here?

 

[hyp]

Does else have issues with the v5.02 Maximum volume with Hardware control driver? When I am using that driver, I cannot play any DSD files. Whenever I try, there is just a loud hissing static noise. I am using foobar2k with the DSDTranscoder to output natively to the DAC. What is also weird is that I can control the volume with windows volume keys even when I'm playing through the DSDTranscoder (which is not possible on any other dacs I've tried before, and was not possible before I had this issue). Normally, when I'm running the DSDTranscoder to playback music, software volume control is not possible as it's bit-perfect.
However, when I use the v5.01 Minimum volume driver, I have none of these issues, and the DAC runs as it's supposed to. Only hardware volume control, and DSD playback.

Is there a solution to this problem with the v5.02 driver? I would like to use the v5.02 driver not the v5.01.

 

[Labjr]

Does else have issues with the v5.02 Maximum volume with Hardware control driver? When I am using that driver, I cannot play any DSD files. Whenever I try, there is just a loud hissing static noise. I am using foobar2k with the DSDTranscoder to output natively to the DAC. What is also weird is that I can control the volume with windows volume keys even when I'm playing through the DSDTranscoder (which is not possible on any other dacs I've tried before, and was not possible before I had this issue). Normally, when I'm running the DSDTranscoder to playback music, software volume control is not possible as it's bit-perfect.
However, when I use the v5.01 Minimum volume driver, I have none of these issues, and the DAC runs as it's supposed to. Only hardware volume control, and DSD playback.

Is there a solution to this problem with the v5.02 driver? I would like to use the v5.02 driver not the v5.01.

I have a different DAC but this guide helped me after days of frustration.

 

[hyp]

I have a different DAC but this guide helped me after days of frustration.

Thanks for the reply @Labjr ! However, the issue is not being unable to playback DSD. I can playback DSD just fine with the v5.01 driver as well as with my other DAC through the DSD transcoder. The issue is that, all of a sudden, I cannot play DSD through my QXD1 using the v5.02 driver. When I go back to the v5.01 driver everything works fine as it should. But I'm having problems with the v5.02.

 

[Pluto]

When I am using that driver, I cannot play any DSD files. Whenever I try, there is just a loud hissing static noise.

I know you said...

Does else have issues with the v5.02 Maximum volume

...but the symptom you describe is almost certainly the result of an attempt at volume control taking place somewhere within the DSD space.

If you can revert to 5.01 and that cures the problem, then use 5.01 as this suggests that the issue is a bug in the 5.02 driver package.

In fact, I would be inclined to use the driver package downloaded from the Soncoz site, which is 4.86. There is very little difference in the higher-numbered versions of the Thesycon drivers; use one that works as it should.

 

[hyp]

Aha!! I knew it! I had a sneaking suspicion that the two problems were related. Like you said, the v5.02 enables software volume change for PCM files even when it's normally not supposed to (aka bit-perfect), and that probably tripped the DSD playback. Now I can rest at ease knowing the cause of this problem and that there is no audible difference between the two drivers. Thank you so much @Pluto for the reply.

But this is still a bug nonetheless, and I hope Soncoz fixes this issue. I have already sent @Sophia Ann a message through ASR with more details.

 

[Pluto]

I hope Soncoz fixes this issue.

I doubt they can do any more than notify Thesycon, whose driver is re-packaged for each licensee.

But it truly is a bug; I'm sure it would be just a few minutes work by Thesycon's software developer to prevent any attempt at volume control when a DSD signal is being handled.

 

[MechEngVic]

Does else have issues with the v5.02 Maximum volume with Hardware control driver? When I am using that driver, I cannot play any DSD files. Whenever I try, there is just a loud hissing static noise. I am using foobar2k with the DSDTranscoder to output natively to the DAC. What is also weird is that I can control the volume with windows volume keys even when I'm playing through the DSDTranscoder (which is not possible on any other dacs I've tried before, and was not possible before I had this issue). Normally, when I'm running the DSDTranscoder to playback music, software volume control is not possible as it's bit-perfect.
However, when I use the v5.01 Minimum volume driver, I have none of these issues, and the DAC runs as it's supposed to. Only hardware volume control, and DSD playback.

Is there a solution to this problem with the v5.02 driver? I would like to use the v5.02 driver not the v5.01.

Have you tried putting the volume at max on the Thesycon driver panel before playing a file? That usually solves the static issue for me.

 

[Pluto]

Have you tried putting the volume at max on the Thesycon driver panel before playing a file?

That's what I was telling @hyp, indirectly.

I don't understand why, when Thesycon see a value that can only be DSD…



…they don't ‘force’ the problematic gain slider…



…to 0dB and restore it to its former position when PCM is encountered

 

[hyp]

Have you tried putting the volume at max on the Thesycon driver panel before playing a file? That usually solves the static issue for me.

Thanks for the suggestion! I haven't tried doing that actually. And I do think that could potentially solve the issue with the v5.02 driver. But for now I think I'll stick with the v5.01, as it's working just fine.

 

[Sophia Ann]

Aha!! I knew it! I had a sneaking suspicion that the two problems were related. Like you said, the v5.02 enables software volume change for PCM files even when it's normally not supposed to (aka bit-perfect), and that probably tripped the DSD playback. Now I can rest at ease knowing the cause of this problem and that there is no audible difference between the two drivers. Thank you so much @Pluto for the reply.

But this is still a bug nonetheless, and I hope Soncoz fixes this issue. I have already sent @Sophia Ann a message through ASR with more details.

We recommend customers to use V5.02. This version has maximum volume memory and volume adjustment, but when playing DSD, do not adjust the volume, or there will be noise.
The factory default firmware of V5.01 does not support hardware volume adjustment. When playing DSD, the volume cannot be adjusted on the PC.