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[eweedhome]

I am new to this whole thing.  I can get JRiver to play through my computer speakers.  I can get the NAD DAC to work fine on my desktop (which does not have JRiver).  When I try to get JRiver to play into the NAD, I keep getting the message:  Something went wrong with playback.  Details.  Playback could not be started on output ASIO using the format 44.1 KHz 2ch.  I have no clue what is going wrong.

I go to Player; Playback Option; Audio Device - and I can see that JRiver recognizes the "NAD USB ASIO Driver."   It's sitting right there, and I have told JRiver to play into that driver.  So what on earth is going wrong?

Many thanks.  So much of this is baffling to me.

[JimH]

Welcome to the forum.  Your ASIO driver may not be working with MC.  Try WASAPI.

Start here:
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Audio_Setup

[eweedhome]

Jim, thank you for your kind response.  After several hours of work today, here is the bizarre place in which things stand:

The NAD dac works fine with my desktop (Windows 10, lastest iteration, 1803).  While the NAD does not APPEAR to show up in the Sound Control Panel, the NAD is recognized by computer when I plug it into a USB port, and the signal goes into it just fine.  (Seems kind of odd, don't you think? - but that's what happens.)

On the laptop -- also latest Windows 10 (1803) -- I get a few "bleep" noises from the NAD (or the computer, I'm not sure) when I plug the NAD into a USB port, but no signal into the USB.  I find no evidence in the Sound Control Panel that the laptop has any clue that the NAD is plugged in (as with the desk top).

To make life simple as I was conducting these experiments, I did not try to use JRiver (which is not loaded into my desktop in any event - only into the laptop) as a source.  I just used Groove in the desktop, and the Windows Media Player in the laptop.

I did, however, attempt - using the laptop - to get JRiver to play into the NAD dac, with the same non-result that I wrote about yesterday, i.e., nothing.  You had suggested that I try WASAPI.  I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to do so.  JRiver DOES recognize the NAD dac when I plug it in - I think, meaning at least it is listed as a choice - and when I choose it, I cannot figure out how to feed WASAPI into it.

It would appear that there is something different about my desktop versus my laptop, such that the desktop automatically recognizes the NAD, and the laptop does not.  (I should add that I was advised by somebody that the NAD would only work on the latest version of Windows 10, which - I am told - "automatically" supports USB 2.  That is why I made sure that both the desktop and the laptop are equipped with the latest version of Windows 10.)

As I write this, I am at a loss as to where to go next.  The Dell help desk was unequipped to deal with this issue.  (Both computers are Dells.)  Same for Apple (whom I called out of curiosity, since I have been using iTunes - for which JRiver was to be a replacement).

My guess is that this is not a JRiver problem, but I would be most grateful for any suggestions as to where to go next.  I am really trying hard, but this is just over my head.

I hope that this is at least an interesting and curious mystery for someone who understands these things better than I.

Many thanks!

[JimH]

Is this the DAC?
https://nadelectronics.com/product/dac-2/

It's a special USB to wireless Ethernet device, isn't it?

If so, you need their driver and it may not always work.

I think you have it working on one computer, but not the other.  Is that correct?

If so, make sure you have all 32 bit or all 64 bit.  MC and driver.  You can download and install either MC 32 bit or MC 64 bit.  If the driver is 32 bit, you need MC 32 bit.

You may need NAD's help.

[DJLegba]

My brother-in-law has a NAD DAC. I'm not sure which model. We have determined that the NAD must be connected to the USB port and powered up with the USB input selected before the computer boots. Not sure if this is your problem, but it may be something to check.

[eweedhome]

Jim - The DAC at the link you found is not it; it is the 1050.  Not a wireless.  I don't know if it is USB to Ethernet.  Doesn't seem to be, but I'm not sure I know even how to tell.  I think it is simply considered a USB dac.

Yes, it works on the desktop.  I just plug the NAD into a USB, and it takes over the desktop sound.  However, it simply won't do the same thing on the laptop -- doesn't work at all.  No signal from the laptop to the dac. 

Yet both the desktop and the laptop are Windows 10, same latest version, 1803.

I can't tell how many bits the NAD is.  Making sure that all are 32 or 64 is something I don't know how to do.

After a point, I agree that this is NAD's problem.  NAD did have driver software for the 1050, but it apparently doesn't work with Windows 10 (so the forums say -- and I couldn't download it successfully).  But for 1050, v. 1803, it is said that you don't need the NAD driver software.  It is said that the 1803 version supplies USB 2 automatically, and in that way runs the DAC.  And, indeed, this seems to be true on the desktop. But not on the laptop.

DJLegma - I'm sorry, but what does it mean to be "powered up with the USB input selected before the computer boots."  On the desktop, I don't "select" anything.  I just plug in the DAC, and it takes over by itself.  In other words, Windows 10 v. 1803 seems to sense that the DAC has been plugged in, and automatically sends it a USB2 signal, while at the same time shutting down the output to my little desktop speakers (which I think are just plugged into a headphone-type jack).

You guys are great to try to help.  Perhaps you can get a glimpse here of what it is like to be a passionate music lover who would really like to tinker with computer audio, because of all of the potential it offers, but becomes absolutely overwhelmed with a 2001-like monolith of technology that is close to impenetrable for a little guy like me.  I am/was a musician who knows something about notes on a page and what good recording mics can do for my voice, etc., but this is simply Balkan to me.  I've been working on it, in pieces, for a year.  I work some, hit a wall and give up, come back in a couple of months and try again, hit another wall, etc., etc.  I may have to slink back into my hovel again for a while now (though I'm going to push myself to hack away a bit more).  (Thus far, by the way, NAD has failed to respond to my email requests for help - or if they did, I can't find the response anywhere.)

Again, you guys are great.  Thank you!!  Earl

[DJLegba]

Sorry, my brother-in-law's situation probably doesn't apply. His DAC has a power supply and three different inputs (coax, optical, and USB).

[eweedhome]

RESOLUTION - I'm reporting this for the benefit of anyone else who might have similar problems.

The latest version of Windows 10, version 1803 (as of late June 2018) will recognize USB 2 dacs - as I understand it.  I had downloaded a driver from NAD for the 1050 at some point early in the process of trying to figure out how to get the dac to work.  I tried, and failed, to uninstall it, to see if it was interfering with Windows 10 automatically recognizing the dac.  I didn't know that the uninstall was done incorrectly.

I eventually found the real location of the Nad driver software and uninstalled it.  Once that was finally done successfully, Windows 10 recognized the NAD automatically.  I simply had to choose it as the method to play the music, and it worked - except I also had to be sure that I chose the correct version of the NAD in J River under Playback Options -  Once both were correct, I had music.

This was a frustrating experience that used up a lot of 62-year old brain cells.  I will hope that the mental exercise was at least as useful as a game of 3D chess.

Earl

[JimH]

Thanks for reporting the solution.