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Fine crackling noise with RPi3 (Volumio) an Amanero-Cronos-Buffalo

Hello everyone.

I run a Buffalo-IIIsePro38 and run it with a Amanero-Cronus input. It sounds superb when I play music through my laptop connected via USB. However, when I use my Raspberry Pi 3 running Volumio (3.198) to play music a faint crackling noise is constantly present.

I already tried different power adapters, usb cables and settings in Volumio, but the crackling stays the same. Does anyone know this issue and can help out?

Best,
Stefan
 
Normally one first tries to determine where the error is or what causes the issue. Again, pictures and a schematic would be helpful.

Sounds like a grounding issue but I may be wrong. You already found a solution, it is to connect the USB DAC to the RPi 3. Solved 😀
 
But the Buffalo works completely fine when I attach my laptop. So shouldn't it rather be an issue with the RPi?
Troubleshooting may not be easy here, but why not start with the USB plug? Type 2 USB has a ground, a 5v supply, and data plus and minus. Your two DACs behave differently from this same input, but you want them to behave the same. Fine. What does each DAC do with the power connection from the source (laptop or RPi), and what do they do with the ground? How does each use the 5v input? Could the ground be contaminating the data?
 

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I ran across a schematic of the Amanero USB and the 5v source of the USB bus is used to create VCC 3.3v via a linear regulator (ADP151AUJZ). Amanero schematic link; voltage regulator Data sheet link The regulator looks like a decent part. You haven't told us what is powering your RPi. One possible scenario is that Amanero is not getting sufficient current whereas the other DAC gets by on what current is available. One way to test this is to insert a powered USB hub between the RPi and the Amanero. If that helps, then perhaps the RPi itself could use a better/bigger power supply.