The Monkey Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 I got an HRT Music Streamer II for my parents Mac Mini. Just needed a cheap DAC and wanted one that didn't need a power supply. In theory, this DAC fits the bill. In practice, that's not the case. For anyone out there considering the HRT, be forewarned that you very likely will need to run it off a powered USB hub. It appears to simply draw to much power to run reliabily out of a 'puter's USB ports. There are a bunch of posts about this on the internets, but I figured I'd give a heads up here, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebby Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 If you have an additional usb port to spare, you can try using a two pronged usb cable to supply additional power. Something like this: Amazon.com: Cables to Go 28108 USB 2.0 B Male to 2 USB A Male Y-Cable (Black): Electronics edit: Oops, just realized you already bought a usb hub to solve the problem. Guess it's good to keep the Y cable in mind in case you ever need it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 I didn't consider the two-pronged cable, which is a good idea. I have an external HD that does that. However, I needed the hub anyway as I would have run out of ports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 If you have an additional usb port to spare, you can try using a two pronged usb cable to supply additional power. Something like this: Amazon.com: Cables to Go 28108 USB 2.0 B Male to 2 USB A Male Y-Cable (Black): Electronics edit: Oops, just realized you already bought a usb hub to solve the problem. Guess it's good to keep the Y cable in mind in case you ever need it Would that work? Isn't it more than likely running off the same power supply? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 yes, it works. If you're using 2 ports you can request twice the power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayk Posted October 30, 2010 Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 So how does this drawing too much power show up? I have 2 of them (office and home, liked the usb in rca out simplicity) and they seem to operate fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted October 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 I noticed it when music stopped playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayk Posted October 30, 2010 Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 Perhaps there has been a bad batch of them around? I've had mine for 3 months and no issues thus far. Wish there were more similar simple dacs around, just usb in and rca out. Maybe Justin will release an update to the pico dac with an async 24/96 dac he is using for the Gilmore X2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted October 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 iirc some info I read stated that not all USB ports are created equal when it comes to power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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