Do other DACs do this? Auralic Vega

In case of interest, the settings in the NUC do make a difference. At this point I am thinking this is not a DAC issue. Will be exploring additional settings.

Thanks for the input @audioman58

The Innuos Pulse Mini has an on-board DAC, the Pulse and Pulsar do not. I had thought I could leverage the DAC in the mini with the digital output of the NUC, but it cannot do this. To go the Innuos route I would need to keep an external DAC in the picture.

The Vega that I have on loan is old, released in 2013 I believe, this one - AURALIC VEGA (stereotimes.com)

But sounds great to my ears and would be equivalent of just over USD600. This should give an idea of the options and costs over here.

As with everything so far, it seems committing more budget than I am comfortable with is the best (and certainly easiest) solution...

The innuos I was not aware make dacs ,just streamers ,

Vs  the Vega you can do Much better ,how much is this?  . the Vega is a dac- streamer. Isn’t it ,a Delta sigma sabre dac I believe , the New Denafrip Pontus -15

is their New Generations of dacs not like their past minor upgrade like the 12th .since finally by wife is on board i Audio I am running this R2R dac in and have found nothing That is better under $3k on par maybe but around $3k ,for $3200 you can get the model 15 with the excellent Hermes 12  reclocker using a I2S cable,this puts this combo way beyond anything in this price class .it is on par with their Venus -12th dac ,without the reclocker.a New venus15 is coming out shortly .Their new Digital engineer is building dacs far better .then in past efforts.

@lloydc do you have a better source than a NUC to feed your Vega tastier treats?

I have one, it doesn’t do that. 

@lapera it may come to that.  I have upgraded network and USB on order so will give it a shot anyway, then if this fix https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/wmmrum/audio_crackling_pop_on_windows_11/ also doesn't work a new DAC would be the goal 

Nothing to do with cables . You got a defective unit Ask your dealer for a new one

Bummer, sorry to hear that.  Could there be some faulty wiring/ did you try any different cables?  

The DAC Magic it replaced did not do this. It just sounded terrible in comparison.

Could just be more sensitive to the setup, or faulty. A better USB cable is a thought, with no real downside to try. Will give that a go.

I've used at least a dozen <$100 DACs. None has ever exhibited such abhorrent behavior.

I would not accept this.

I used a Vega for years, never experienced this and don't recall this being a Vega issue, something unique in your streaming setup causing this.

Definitely a Crackling / Scratching kind of sound, not a clicking.

I'm wondering if other NUC users have had anything similar too.

Not normal. I had one and don't remember it doing that ever.

Thank-you @bluethinker , it is good to know that this is something that needs to be resolved one way or the other.

I'll check out your recommendations too, thanks.

@incoming - It is absolutely NOT normal for a DAC to crackle as you’ve described. I would recommend an Innuos streamer, btw. Great product with a really good app. I have the Innuos ZENith mkiii. 
 

Another product I strongly recommend is the Gold Note DS-10, which is a streamer, DAC and preamp. If you go that route, I strongly recommend the extra power supply unit, which takes things up significant notch.