# FiiO E10: "Popping noise/jitter" is for OLD batches only???



## chococya96

*UPDATE: * I was wondering if this "popping" noise/jitter is produced by old batches only. Or does it produce on newer batches as well?


Alright, this thread was originally started when I had popping sounds for my first FiiO E10.

After founding out my E10 was "defective", we made no further attempt to fix it and thus the thread was inactive. As a result, after few weeks of waiting I've just received my second FiiO E10 (replacement for the first one). However, after testing it on different PC/laptops and guess what... I can hear the *SAME OLD POPPING SOUND* just like the first E10.

I really really really don't know what to do now... seriously, this is pissing me off so bad that I want to break this piece of junk.

I just can't afford to waste more return shipping fee (Yes, I had to pay both the posting from my end AND their end; if I pay this once again, then the total of shipping fees that I've paid will exceed the value of E10...) and God knows if they are going to give me another new one or not...

Someone please tell me that this "popping" noise is normal for E10... please I beg you...



This is the description that I used when I first started this thread:



Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!



I've recently bought a FiiO E10 DAC for my AKG-K701 and everything has been good except, I can hear popping sound from time to time. At first, I put up with it though right now it's just getting annoying.

I'm currently using it on my PC and I've tried different USB slots (3.0 and 2.0) however, the popping sound keeps coming back. The device was also installed successfully so I don't know what's causing this "popping" sound...
I don't think my device is defective as the sound itself has no problem.

As a result, I'm starting to think if this is a normal behavior? Or is there a way to fix this?

Moreover, my headphone has 64 ohm rated impedance so do I need to set the gain to high? (You know, the slider on the amp)?

Thank you.


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## Zoomer13

Is there any specific pattern to the popping? Like, when there's silence, or anything like that? 
   
  Also, I believe 64+ is considered higher gain, so why not experiment with using the higher gain setting?


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## chococya96

Quote: 





zoomer13 said:


> Is there any specific pattern to the popping? Like, when there's silence, or anything like that?
> 
> Also, I believe 64+ is considered higher gain, so why not experiment with using the higher gain setting?


 
   
  From what I can tell, the popping happens when its silence. That's why I can clearly hear it.
  As for the time frame, it happens randomly so there are no "set" time frames between each pop sound.
   
  As for experimenting with gain setting, the only thing I can tell from using high gain setting is that the sound is high when your using that setting. So I guess I leave it as high setting?


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## HamilcarBarca

Do you have another computer to test it with? The fastest one you can find.


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## chococya96

Quote: 





hamilcarbarca said:


> Do you have another computer to test it with? The fastest one you can find.


 
   
  I'll get a friend's laptop and see how it goes.
   
  Meanwhile, is there way to tell whats the problem is? or how to fix it?


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## chococya96

Okay I've just tested it on my friends laptop and after listening to couple of songs, watching videos, play some games etc, I didn't here any popping sound.
   
  Does this mean that its got to do with my PC?
   
  I'm pretty sure there is nothing wrong with my PC as everything works perfectly fine including soundcard, USB slots etc...
   
  Sigh, this is really giving me a headache...


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## HamilcarBarca

Quote: 





chococya96 said:


> Okay I've just tested it on my friends laptop and after listening to couple of songs, watching videos, play some games etc, I didn't here any popping sound.
> 
> Does this mean that its got to do with my PC?
> 
> ...


 
   
  Yes, the evidence points to your PC. USB data transfers aren't 100% reliable. When the transfer is to a disk (or something like that) and there's a problem, the system just retries the transfer. But by the time we could retry a USB transmission containing digital audio, it's too late. The time to hear those sounds has passed; by default, there are no retries. If our digital data transfers are reliable enough, we like what we hear.
   
  What this means is that if there is a temporary USB problem, the symptom can be audible breakup such as popping and cracking. This is likely your problem since the laptop test was successful. I'm not an expert. Your CPU usage is too high or your USB transceiver is marginal or your USB bus is saturated ... or a similar problem has occurred.
   

 Is your CPU usage high?
 Is the DAC on a hub or connected directly to the PC?
   
  I'm sorry I don't have a fix. But you're not the only one with this problem, but I'll bet somebody knows what to do.
   
  If you have a free slot in your PC, you could consider an inexpensive USB adapter especially for your DAC.


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## chococya96

My CPU usage isn't too high when using this DAC. Also, my DAC is directly connected to the USB port on the PC (I've tried both 2.0 and 3.0 ports)
   
  I've just sent an email regarding to this problem to the seller and FiiO support so I'm hoping a solution or something similar...
   
  Or even better, I hope I get a good solution from this forum.
   
   
  UPDATE:
   
  Alright, I narrowed down the problem. The popping sound happens after few seconds when I stop/pause the song or video. It doesn't happen randomly.
   
  It only happens when the song/video/any forms of media player stopped/paused.
   
  Also, it seems that the sound is coming from left side only.


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## chococya96

Sigh... any other help? I've recently contacted the seller and the FiiO support about this problem and I've still yet to get answers...
   
  Argh, this is driving me nuts.


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## chinook9

I believe I have heard the same popping/clicking sound described by the OP.
   
  I recently obtained a couple of USB cables so that I can connect my Samsung S3 (as host) through a Micro-B OTG to a USB A adapter into the USB Mini-B on my iBasso D10.
   
  I tried a few HDtracks and I get the noise regularly.  I had not heard it on any of my normal tracks until tonight and I perceived that they might have been initiated by a loose connection at the Micro-B into the S3.  Once the noise started it continued long enough (10-20 seconds) that I shut down the music player.  I made sure all the connections were snug and I restarted the music without any of the clicking/popping.
   
  If I am able to isolate it down to the connections I will report back.  I will watch this thread.


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## chinook9

I did some testing and I don't think its the USB connection shorting out.
   
  I think that its significant that I get the clicking/popping 100% of the time with HDTracks.  Thats using PowerAmp.  The other music players I've tried won't even play the HDtracks at all.
   
  What music player are you using?  You might try a couple of other music players to see if it makes any difference.


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## chococya96

Quote: 





chinook9 said:


> I did some testing and I don't think its the USB connection shorting out.
> 
> I think that its significant that I get the clicking/popping 100% of the time with HDTracks.  Thats using PowerAmp.  The other music players I've tried won't even play the HDtracks at all.
> 
> What music player are you using?  You might try a couple of other music players to see if it makes any difference.


 
   
  As for me it dosen't only apply for music players. It applies for everything such as watching video through streaming or video player, playing games etc...
   
  I agree that it's not USB connecting is shorting out. I've tried it on my friend's laptop and I couldn't hear any popping sound. 
   
  As a result, I've been told that its got to do with drivers and CPU usage.
  I don't think the latter is the case but for the driver I'm not sure which one it is. I'm still waiting for some answers for driver related issue.


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## chococya96

Alright, now I'm confused...
   
  It looks like I get the popping sound when the CPU usage is "high", though it happens time to time.
   
  It also happens whenever I pause, switch tracks or do some "actions"...
   
  Argh....


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## HamilcarBarca

Quote: 





chococya96 said:


> It looks like I get the popping sound when the CPU usage is "high", though it happens time to time.
> 
> It also happens whenever I pause, switch tracks or do some "actions"...
> 
> Argh....


 
   
  Here's what I think is happening.
   
  In your PC, the CPU must read audio samples from your hard disk and send them to the USB bus regularly and on schedule. It has to do this any time and all the time you're playing music, watching a video, etc. and it has to be reliable. (I don't think 100% reliability is required. I don't know.)
   
  When your CPU usage is too high, you just don't have enough "CPU power" for your computer to do everything you want it to do as fast as you want. If the CPU doesn't get to your digital audio in time, you hear cracking, popping, etc. from the DAC. It's a classic symptom. (Technically, your DAC has become "starved" for data. It responds by making ugly noises.)
   
  What's using your CPU?
   
  I'm surprised that it happens when you "pause, switch tracks ..." Is your player using more CPU than other tasks do? What operating system do you use?


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## chococya96

Quote: 





hamilcarbarca said:


> Here's what I think is happening.
> 
> In your PC, the CPU must read audio samples from your hard disk and send them to the USB bus regularly and on schedule. It has to do this any time and all the time you're playing music, watching a video, etc. and it has to be reliable. (I don't think 100% reliability is required. I don't know.)
> 
> ...


 
   
  Well to be honest with you, I just can't pin point the problem... its really frustrating really.
   
  I'm using Intel core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz atm. Actually, I'll list full specs here:

 Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
 Intel core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz
 8GB RAM
 GeForce GTX460
 2 x HDD (1TB and 500GB)
 Nvidia/Realtek High Def Audio
   
  Moreover, what I mean by "high" CPU is when my CPU usage is around 10% which, I think its not even high.
  Firefox plugin uses the most CPU (5%) and when playing any media player/video player/games, it only uses 2~5% CPU.
   
  So yeah.. even I understand your explanation, I still don't understand why this is happening to my PC.


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## HamilcarBarca

Quote: 





chococya96 said:


> Well to be honest with you, I just can't pin point the problem... its really frustrating really.
> 
> I'm using Intel core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz atm. Actually, I'll list full specs here:
> 
> ...


 
   
  On an i7, or an i3, 10% CPU utilization isn't high enough to be a problem. I still suspect your USB port, but CPU power isn't the problem by itself.
   
  Unfortunately, I don't have any good ideas. You should try researching this elsewhere because somebody somewhere must have some answers. Have you considered an inexpensive add-in USB port?


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## eltocliousus

I'm fairly sure this is a known issue for some E10s, the popping happens between sounds, it gets more noticeable on loud volumes, mine has been doing it since I've got it but it doesn't really bother me.


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## chococya96

Quote: 





hamilcarbarca said:


> On an i7, or an i3, 10% CPU utilization isn't high enough to be a problem. I still suspect your USB port, but CPU power isn't the problem by itself.
> 
> Unfortunately, I don't have any good ideas. You should try researching this elsewhere because somebody somewhere must have some answers. Have you considered an inexpensive add-in USB port?


 
   
  When you mean by "add-in" USB port, which one are you referring to? also if possible, can you link me to that product?
    
  Quote:


eltocliousus said:


> I'm fairly sure this is a known issue for some E10s, the popping happens between sounds, it gets more noticeable on loud volumes, mine has been doing it since I've got it but it doesn't really bother me.


 
   
  I've been told that by many people and yeah... its true that I can put up with it.
   
  Hell, I got used to it already that I don't even care right now.
   
  But if its something that we can "fix" it, than I would like to at least make an attempt to fix it before giving up.


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## eltocliousus

You're right, a fix would be a great, I believe it's a problem with older batches but I'm not certain of that, it's less noticeable with more effecient headphones obviously, as you'll need a lower gain to get your preferred sound output, with my HE-300s it's only slightly noticeable, with the LCD-2s it's quite loud, but only between songs, and as such is a small annoyance that I forget about quickly, I am certain that it doesn't affect the quality of the DAC/AMP in the E10 at all, I've used two other E10s that don't suffer from this issue (friends copies) and they all sound the same.


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## HamilcarBarca

Quote: 





chococya96 said:


> When you mean by "add-in" USB port, which one are you referring to? also if possible, can you link me to that product?


 
   
  I thought an add-in card might make a difference. I'm not sure. Search NewEgg, Amazon, or just about anyplace that sells hardware  for "usb card". From NewEgg,
   
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&Description=usb%20card&bop=And&Order=RATING&PageSize=20
   
  USB 3.0 won't do you any good. I don't see why it should hurt.


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## chococya96

Quote: 





eltocliousus said:


> You're right, a fix would be a great, I believe it's a problem with older batches but I'm not certain of that, it's less noticeable with more effecient headphones obviously, as you'll need a lower gain to get your preferred sound output, with my HE-300s it's only slightly noticeable, with the LCD-2s it's quite loud, but only between songs, and as such is a small annoyance that I forget about quickly, I am certain that it doesn't affect the quality of the DAC/AMP in the E10 at all, I've used two other E10s that don't suffer from this issue (friends copies) and they all sound the same.


 
   
  Yeah I'm pretty sure its not effecting the E10 quality at all. More like a "side" problem if you ask me.
    
  Quote:


hamilcarbarca said:


> I thought an add-in card might make a difference. I'm not sure. Search NewEgg, Amazon, or just about anyplace that sells hardware  for "usb card". From NewEgg,
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&Description=usb%20card&bop=And&Order=RATING&PageSize=20
> 
> USB 3.0 won't do you any good. I don't see why it should hurt.


 
   
  Oh so your talking about those... that means I have to take apart my desktop lol
   
  So plugging it into 3.0 is a no-no?


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## eltocliousus

USB 3.0 wouldn't change anything, the only difference versus USB 3.0 is a larger throughput through the port, no difference at all, plus the E10 isn't USB 3.0 anyway, as so it shouldn't as it doesn't use anywhere near enough data to saturate even a 2.0 port.


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## chococya96

Quote: 





eltocliousus said:


> USB 3.0 wouldn't change anything, the only difference versus USB 3.0 is a larger throughput through the port, no difference at all, plus the E10 isn't USB 3.0 anyway, as so it shouldn't as it doesn't use anywhere near enough data to saturate even a 2.0 port.


 
   
  Ah I see. I might as well plug it on 2.0 if 3.0 doesn't do anything.
   
  UPDATE: I was just told by the seller to install ASIO4ALL to see if it will fix this popping issue. Now after doing some research about it, I still have *NO* *IDEA *how it works...  
   
  Could anyone please explain how I can use this? I'm in total oblivious of using ASIO4ALL and reading threads about it just makes me more confused.
   
  FYI, I've got foobar2000 v1.1.15 (I have no idea which components I need to install for ASIO4ALL) and ASIO4ALL v2.10 (Only the program itself; no ReWu or Off-line settings). From what I have found, I can use these two programs together to setup?
   
  I'll make another thread on computing audio to see if I can get some help.


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## chococya96

Alright I think I've just made a biggest discovery...
   
  I just tried using E10 and my headphone on three different laptop including the previous one I've tested on and...
   
  All three of them made the same popping sound like my desktop.
   
  FML, does this mean the E10 itself is defective?


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## HamilcarBarca

Quote: 





chococya96 said:


> Alright I think I've just made a biggest discovery...
> 
> I just tried using E10 and my headphone on three different laptop including the previous one I've tested on and...
> 
> ...


 
   
  It's a good indication the problem is the E10. You've tried a different USB cable?


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## chococya96

Quote: 





hamilcarbarca said:


> It's a good indication the problem is the E10. You've tried a different USB cable?


 
   
  Yeah, got couple of spares from my friend and it still made the popping noise.
   
  Also tried using other headphones and even earphones, and the results were same.
   
  I just issued a refund from the seller and they told me to send it back so that they can fix it or exchange for a new one.


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## chinook9

I believe I have solved my popping problem on my Samsung S3.  In order to do it I had to root the phone, install SD speed boost app and set read speed to 2048kb.  The music will pop for about one or two seconds after I start a song but then its OK.  I'll report back if anything changes.


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## chococya96

Bumping the thread for update.


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## chococya96

I was wondering if this "popping" noise a.k.a jitter is a known issue for *older batches only?*
   
  Or is it same for newer batches for E10 as well? (The one with gold jack and a word "Olympus" inscribed to it")


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## JamesFiiO

some times the noise is come from the PC, E10 is powered by USB and without build in battery, so there may have some strange noise if the power from the USB port is very dirty


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## chococya96

If that was the case, than it means that all of my USB ports including the one I used from other laptops is all "dirty" and unreliable.
   
  However, I don't think that is the cause of the problem.
   
  Not to mention I have cleaned my PC a week ago so I don't think this is the case.


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## ClieOS

Cleaning your PC has nothing to do with a 'dirty' USB port though. The 'dirty' part is referring to the noise generated by the PC hardware circuit and the inadequate of power filtering in most PC these days.


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## chococya96

Quote: 





clieos said:


> Cleaning your PC has nothing to do with a 'dirty' USB port though. The 'dirty' part is referring to the noise generated by the PC hardware circuit and the inadequate of power filtering in most PC these days.


 
   
  Alright, I see what you mean.
   
  However, I've just found out that the problem was indeed caused by older batches.
  I've just tried using one of my friend's E10 Olympus (His one is latest version with gold jack) and after testing it on various PCs, the result was crystal clear: I could not hear any jitters/popping noise.
  I also tried comparing with my E10 and the jitter was very clear for mine whereas, there were no jitters for my friend's E10.
   
  So I think the older batches are causing this problem. I don't think there are any solution for this as it is something that is out of our reach (defective/faulty).
   
  Looks like I need to get an refund this time though the shop which I bought it from are not letting me since I've already passed the return date according to their policy. But really, I was stuck with this problem for nearly a month and with countless email exchange with them to fix this problem, how are they expecting me to send this item again within the time period? ***, I think I have shopped in the wrong store.


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## ClieOS

Contact FiiO directly and hopefully they should be able to help you.


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## chococya96

Heh, I've tried contacting them a month ago and still haven't got any replies back from them. I gave up on them since they are not even replying back.
   
  As for the seller and the return issue, seems like they are telling me to sell it on Ebay and get a new one from other sellers lol... Are they being serious?


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## ClieOS

A month ago was one of the largest holidays in China so probably no one in the office to check email, or turn on the computer to receive email. Anyway, try again.

 Is the seller an authorized dealer at all?


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## chococya96

Alright I'll try to contact them again. Though I've sent them an email each week till now so I'm pretty sure they have received my email. Also, I forgot to tell you this but last week I received a short message from them asking me if my E10 had a "gold jack" and a word "Olympus" written on the E10 and the packaging. From what I can tell, they are going to tell me to get a refund and buy the latest batch. I don't think they are going to give me any solutions to fix my current E10.
   
  As for the seller, I think they are an authorized dealer. I saw their product on ebay and bought it from there.
  Here is the link to the product: http://www.ebay.com/itm/FiiO-E10-USB-DAC-Digital-to-Analog-Signal-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier-Amp-/290795477514?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43b4c2da0a
  And here is the link to their site: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/
   
  I live in Australia and at that time, when I checked my local and all around Australia to find a seller for E10, I couldn't find anyone thus I decided to buy it from Ebay (which turns out that seller is currently at US). I think my first mistake was here: I've just found out that on FiiO's official website they link to the stores which they supply and when I checked Oceanic there were literally 3 or 4 stores available for Australia (all of them have the latest batches from FiiO). 
   
  But yeah... what's happened is happened, I can't change the fact that I didn't do the research enough. But that doesn't mean sonicelectronix can send defective itemsTWICE in a row and not responding to my email... and also telling me to sell the item on Ebay and buy it somewhere else... what kind of customer service is that?
   
  I don't know what to do anymore. I might go buy a new one from one the stores in Australia but that just means that I have wasted nearly $100 on my current defective DAC plus shipping charges.


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## Dv2y

Hi all.

Found this thread while looking the solution for the exact same problem. 

My E10 is the old one too (with *no* Olympus written on it), and the noises are heard on similar situations (while playing/pausing the music player or an online streaming, I can hear it after the system plays short warning sounds too, like the warning messages from Windows).

But mine have one more problem: It only works after I disconnect the cable and connect it again every time I start my computer. Before that, no sound are detected by the system, it's like there's no playback devices installed. 
This second problem can be solved by disabling the onboard sound card on BIOS and removing all traces of it's drivers from Windows, but if I do that I have no mic-in, and it sucks.
Some time ago I was using GNU/Linux to do some work, and if I recall, The E10 worked perfectly there, with no issues at all.

So I was thinking this old batches has some communication issue with it's own drivers on Windows, not a hardware problem.

I'll try some more things anyway, like making a better grounding for my computer and messing a little more with drivers and stuff on Windows, but I have a feeling that this problem can't be solved.


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## JK1

"But mine have one more problem: It only works after I disconnect the cable and connect it again every time I start my computer. Before that, no sound are detected by the system, it's like there's no playback devices installed."
   
  I had a similar problem, and solved it by going to control panel, sound, clicking on Fiio E10,  properties,supported formats, and unchecking DTS audio and dolby digital.
   
  "On most computers, DVD Quality is selected by default and converting CD Quality audio (as on Audio CD's) to DVD Quality introduces a slight ringing effect. This is clearly audible during relatively silent fragments."
   
   
http://www.polderbits.com/select-playback-audio-format.html


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## AlexBeginner

Hey, started searching for answers since I've been hearing not so long ago the same pops. It's like "tic tic tic tic" and then its over for a minute or two, then it happens again. It didnt happen before.

 I was wondering, why didnt it happen since the 1st time I connected it? Strange. So! Here's my solution, it was making that sound because it was laying on my laptop! Can you imagine that?!
 I just picked it up, put it down on the table and the popping sounds stopped... Weird, but it helped me. Something to do with static?


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## Bookbear

Quote: 





chococya96 said:


> I don't know what to do anymore. I might go buy a new one from one the stores in Australia but that just means that I have wasted nearly $100 on my current defective DAC plus shipping charges.


 
  Before you give up completely, try this:  Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > click on the Audio tab.  Be sure the FiiO USB DAC E10 is highlighted, then click on Advanced.  Click on the Performance tab and be sure that the sliders for Hardware Acceleration and Sample Rate Conversion are both all the way to the right.  See if this makes a difference.   Good luck!


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## Dv2y

bookbear said:


> Before you give up completely, try this: Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > click on the Audio tab. Be sure the FiiO USB DAC E10 is highlighted, then click on Advanced. Click on the Performance tab and be sure that the sliders for Hardware Acceleration and Sample Rate Conversion are both all the way to the right. See if this makes a difference. Good luck!




Could not find this on Windows 7. lol


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## bluestone

I started an account just to reply to this thread.  I got the popping noise vevery couple seconds on my newly acquired "used" E10 and tried changed around the settings and the port it was plugged into.  Nothing fixed it until I disabled the motherboard built-in sound under "playback devices" and disabled USB selective suspend setting under Power Options - Advanced Power Settings.  Now I have it set to 24-bit, 96 kHz and it doesn't pop at all.


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