Rotel RC 1590 Mark 2 Pre Amp PC-USB connection to PC

[Ragsboy1]

I use the PC-USB input for my streaming from pc, using the latest Rotel drivers, over the past several months since installation, I have experienced droputs where the RC 1590 loses the connection, the PC thinks everything is OK and continues to output, but the RC 1590 inputs need to be switched to re-establish contact with the pc. This fault would occur intermittently, say after an hours streaming, or longer.

I have discovered that this USB connection must be using a USB 2 output, from the PC I have tried usb 3.1 and 3.2 with the same dropout result.

This problem has driven me crazy over the past several months and I post this hoping to save time for someone else.
Regards Ragsboy

[JonMarsh]

Thanks for posting this to let others know- USB is a quirky interface for audio, and I've seen situations where a USB output on one side of a MacBook Pro would work fine with something like a pro Mutec MC3+ USB interface with master clock generator, and one on the other side of the MacBook Pro would develop stutters and drop outs. It seems to be related to both the sending chipset, and drivers, and the receiver chip set and drivers.

The most dead nuts reliable USB interface I've ever found has been my Berkeley Audio Alpha USB- just used for isolation and to convert to AES/EBU for connection to a high quality DAC or a reclocking system like that MC3+ or a Brainstorm DCD8, either one with either internal oscillators or with a 10MHz Rubidium reference oscillator.