help! no sound


Hi Audiogoners-

I am just hooking my stereo up after several months of inactivity during a renovation project.    I run a bnc out from my cd player to a Schiit bifrost (using adapter there for bnc).  I have RCA cables to the Lyr 2 amp.  When I play the cd player I get no sound.  (The cd player is producing sound through the speakers.)

This set up worked before and I am mystified.  Any idea what's going on?  Should I sent the LYR 2 back to Schiit for a repair?  Or is this user error?

Thanks for any insight!

Margot

 

mcanaday

Based on the setup, I assume your speakers are active/powered. The most likely thing to fail in this scenario is the tube. Turn off the power and remove the tube, power up and try again, the Lyr will the switch to solid state according to the site. Another thought is to plug some headphones into the Lyr and see if you get sound there. Lastly, or firstly, is the Bifrost set to the RCA input?

I don’t understand when you say you say the cd player is producing sound through the speakers.  CD players usually don’t make audible noise except music.  Sometimes you can hear a disc spinning noise but is if you are physically close to the cd player and not being transmitted to the speakers.

  Check both the CD player and remote to see if you have a mute button that may have somehow activated.  If that fails see if the DAC has a mute setting.  And if all else fails just unplug everything from the electric mainsand then reconnect and try again 

Hi.

Thanks for your help.

To be more clear- I run an RCA cable from a cd player to an amplifier that connects to my non-powered speakers; from that same cd player I run a bnc out to the Schitt bifrost.  That is the then connected by RCA to the LYR 2.  So since I got these messages I did a few things:

- made sure I selected the right input mode on the DAC. 

-pulled out the tubes and tried it without

-ran rca directly from cd player to Lyr 2.

None of this produced sound through the headphones.  This makes me think that the LYR 2 needs to be repaired.

Anything else to try?

Thanks!

Margot

I have a Lyr 3, not a 2, but have you checked that the RCA cable is plugged into the inputs and not the outputs? And I also assume you've checked that the power cable is firmly inserted at the back of the Lyr and the cable is plugged into a live outlet at the other end, and the power switch is on. Sometimes it is easy to miss the basics.

Margot have you selected the proper input on the schiit defrost dac? It must be switched to spdif. And proper inputs on lyr 2? Try switching inputs on it.

If none of the above works it's possible your BNC adapter is bad? At least that would be cheaper outcome.

Hi all!

Thanks for the help.  I think I have done all of these things.  Spoke to Schiit and they think the tubes may be bad.  (Seems weird that would lead to NO SOUND rather than hissing) but I'll get some new tubes and see if that works.

Thank you!

Margot

Before you had music. But now…you ain’t got Schiit. 
Sorry couldn’t resist. 

@mcanaday -- "Seems weird that would lead to NO SOUND rather than hissing"

Hissing usually happens due to a tube's age as it approachs the end of its useful power-on lifespan. That can range from 1,500 or 2,000 hours for a power output tube to many multiples of those figures for tubes used in preamp stages.

Obviously, a tube can fail in other ways, sometimes quickly, that completely interrupts the circuit.  Sounds like this may be your situation.

Hope you find the replacement tube fixes your problem.

Hello mcanaday!  Cables are the least reliable things in most sustems. Particularly the ones with phono (RCA) plugs used in most interconnects. You mention you were putting a system back together. Just this evening I was putting a system back into operation following a flood and I found two cables that were intermittant and had to be wigged jusst right to get the signal thru. I have lots of cables and replaced them. I am a very careful guy and these were from a reputable company. But they do suffer from a lot of pulling and pushing and go bad somtimes. Check them first. Good luck! 

I didn’t get that in the OP you were trying to use headphones.  I am also still confused what happens when you run the CD player directly into the amp with RCA cables.  Are you getting music or what?  If you are successfully playing music from the CDP into the amp then the problem is the DAC

I thought the OP was pretty clear that he also tried the RCA output from his CD player (which works fine into the speaker amp) and this gives the same no-sound results as using the Bifrost DAC. Definitely sounds like the Lyr headphone amp is the problem.

well I beg to differ, i found the original post confusing in that first there is a statement that sound is produced through the speakers from the cd player followed by a statement that there is no sound from the CDP.  I'm not trying to be pedantic, but I've been through a few rabbit holes on this forum when the original issue is unclear

The OP had a second post that provided more information. That's the one where he said he used the RCA outs of the CD player to his speaker amp, which works without issue, and runs the CD player's coax out into his Bifrost DAC which then fed the Lyr, and didn't work. In this post he explains he did try the CD player's RCA output directly to the Lyr with the Lyr still not producing sound.

Hi all!

Just an update as I just  got a new pair of tubes.  Put them in the Lyr 2 and there was sound.  So it was the tubes!  Phew.

Thanks all for your advice and help.  So appreciated!

(She btw.)

cheers,

Margot