Why are my USB audio devices flaky?

[amano]

If I nudge my mouse's usb plug in a usb port, usb audio devices suddenly drop in and out repetitively, and I had to pull the usb audio devices out and plug them in again.

Even if I don't do anything, they sometimes drop out and in.

My usb audio devices are topping D10s and topping DX1.

What is the problem here? Topping usb audio devices? Faulty usb cables that came with topping usb audio devices? Or, faulty usb ports on my computer's motherboard?

Are all usb audio devices flaky?

Keyboard and mouse have been rock solid with my computer.

 

[JSmith]

Hey welcome to ASR.

Is this a laptop? If so, after time the screws holding the whole laptop together can become loose from opening and closing all the time... tightening those up might be the issue, as I've had this happen before when using a wired mouse and RGB mouse pad.


JSmith

 

[boxerfan88]

Check your PC’s 5V power supply rail … maybe it is dying and unable to supply the power properly to your USB powered DAC.

Secondly, check & clean the USB ports & plug (especially the contacts)

 

[unpluggged]

What is the problem here? Topping usb audio devices? Faulty usb cables that came with topping usb audio devices? Or, faulty usb ports on my computer's motherboard?

I think you could at least conduct a simple diagnostic by yourself, no need to ask the telepaths here for speculations.

 

[mcdn]

My best guess would be that your PC has a fault. Either a grounding problem or a lack of power to the USB ports. Hard to say any more without physical access.

 

[beeface]

RGB mouse pad

the most important computer component of all

 

[beeface]

of course you should troubleshoot with cables etc. first, but I'd speculate a powered USB hub could fix your issue

 

[amano]

Check your PC’s 5V power supply rail … maybe it is dying and unable to supply the power properly to your USB powered DAC.

Secondly, check & clean the USB ports & plug (especially the contacts)

I don't know how to check the rail, but I guess my usb audio devices are not getting enough power from my computer's USB ports.

Is this a laptop? If so, after time the screws holding the whole laptop together can become loose from opening and closing all the time... tightening those up might be the issue, as I've had this happen before when using a wired mouse and RGB mouse pad.

I have an under-desk tower-case computer. I love tower-case computers because they are hassle-free.

My best guess would be that your PC has a fault. Either a grounding problem or a lack of power to the USB ports. Hard to say any more without physical access.

of course you should troubleshoot with cables etc. first, but I'd speculate a powered USB hub could fix your issue

If my motherboard or my power supply isn't supplying enough power to USB ports, then a powered USB hub could fix the issue. I will try a powered USB hub.

 

[mcdn]

Good plan. USB audio devices are not usually flaky, and Topping's seem perfectly normal in this regard. The bit where it happens if you "nudge" your mouse's plug is what had me wondering about a tricky ground connection. If a powered hub doesn't fix things then check your motherboard is properly grounded to the PC case

 

[TonyJZX]

thank you for posting this - finally someone said it

recently fosi released their zd3 dac with fully sized type B instead of type c and i was absolutely fine with it when others here wanted type c

and true to form its a real solid connection

face it people - type c is a weak ass connector for charging phones

its been pressed 'into battle' for stuff its not suited for

every type c desktop dac i have has been wonkey on the dac end as far as cable stability goes

the professional field is trying to press LOCKING type c which looks like the grandchild of DVI

USB Type-C Screw Lock Cables - USB Type-C Cables

www.usbgear.com

but this wont get much traction in the consumer field

usb has long history with weak ass connections

i dont have much issue on the PC end if its type A

i didnt mind MINI USB but micro usb 2.0 and 3.0 were terrible

but yeah type c i dont mind for phones but for dacs and any kind of permanent equipment its really crap

they had no consultation with the professional end of the market and it shows

 

[amano]

check your motherboard is properly grounded to the PC case

How do I check that?

 

[Timcognito]

I had a flaky USB C hard drive and because the socket and plug have no preferred top/bottom I flipped the plug 180 deg and bingo all is well. I guess one side had a lose or misaligned pin.

 

[danadam]

I had a similar issue with FiiO K3 and the included USB cable, only the problem was with the USB-C connection on the DAC side. Replacing the cable fixed the issue.

 

[beeface]

they had no consultation with the professional end of the market and it shows

same with HDMI, but we’re well and truly stuck with it now

 

[TonyJZX]

hdmi i'm more ok with - it tends to have a solid hold once you 'get it in'' but it has that weakness where it can slide out just a fraction and then there's no signal and you're troubleshooting like a monkey - true to form there's LOCKING hdmi now too

displayport is worse with a real crap 'hook lok' but its relegated to just PCs

China has a new format called "GPMI"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPMI

but its also non locking and will probably not leave china unless they force it

true to form it looks like BIG type-c

 

[amano]

check your motherboard is properly grounded to the PC case

I just checked with my multimeter. There is continuity between a screw on the case and a grounding pin on the motherboard. However, the outer shell of the case is coated, so the outer shell is not conductive. The screw on the case penetrates the case. Below the coating, the case is conductive.

Check your PC’s 5V power supply rail … maybe it is dying and unable to supply the power properly to your USB powered DAC.

I just checked a USB port with my multimeter. It read 4.85V ~ 5V. But, I haven't checked the current. If I use a usb power meter, the mainboard may turn out to not consistently supply 0.5A to my USB audio devices.

I suspect the mainboard fails to consistently supply 0.5A at 5V to my USB audio devices. Consistency can be a problem with some motherboards especially if they are old. I have an old computer that was built when USB devices didn't demand 0.5A. I think the lesson is to buy externally powered USB devices or a powered USB hub unless your computer is built to handle USB devices that demand a lot of power.

 

[voodooless]

I have an old computer that was built when USB devices didn't demand 0.5A.

Even old computers are demanded to deliver up-to 4.5W over USB. How old is the computer? What is the OS?

Before buying anything new, I would first check BIOS settings regarding USB, and make sure the mainboard drivers are up-to-date. USB Audio is rather timing critical, so it’s easily disturbed if the system is misconfigured.

You can easily test this by booting some Linux Live image and testing if the sound over there is fine. If so, it’s likely a setting or driver issue. If not, the likelihood of a hardware related issues rises (once you rule out BIOS settings).

 

[boxerfan88]

I just checked a USB port with my multimeter. It read 4.85V ~ 5V. But, I haven't checked the current. If I use a usb power meter, the mainboard may turn out to not consistently supply 0.5A to my USB audio devices.

Install HWInfo software (free). Use it to monitor the 5V rail over a few days, see if it drops too low. You can set alerts in that software.

4.85V isn’t good, considering the possibility of further voltage drop after the cable.

—

Just for reference, on my PC, HWInfo reports 5V rail is between 5.04V-5.08V. Very stable.

I have my Topping DM7 connected to my PC via 10M usb3 active repeater cable, powered by my PC. Super stable. No audio dropouts - I stream over USB at 3ch 24bits 88200sps.

 

[amano]

Even old computers are demanded to deliver up-to 4.5W over USB. How old is the computer? What is the OS?

I don't remember how old it is, but the mainboard is asus M5A97 R2.0. I use linux.

Install HWInfo software (free). Use it to monitor the 5V rail over a few days, see if it drops too low. You can set alerts in that software.

To be honest, the contact between the multimeter and the usb port pins was not proper because the multimeter probes were bulky in comparison to the port. I guess I will check UEFI voltage readings. I don't yet know how to get voltage readings inside linux.

 

[amano]

I entered UEFI settings. The voltage level of 5V rail was 4.928 volt. The voltage level of 3.3V rail was 2.9~3 which was in red color.

I don't know whether UEFI sensors are wrong or I need to buy a new power supply.

Linux sensors report only voltage level on 3.3V rail. It doesn't report voltage level on 5V rail.