Innuos Zen MK3 tips and tricks

My setup has gone quiet (not even a hum at high volume).

The current setup is as follows:
1) Innuos ZEN MK3 music streamer, to the Laiv uDDC, via USB
2) uDDC, to Laiv DAC, via HDMI
3) Laiv DAC, to Laiv HP2A headphone/preamp, via XLR
4) Laiv HP2A to McIntosh MA252, via XLR

It worked great until last night when the right channel got reduced in sound level. Today there are no sounds at all.

The DAC appears to be processing a signal – when I unplug the USB from the DDC it immediately says no signal and when I plug the USB back in it goes back to what looks like a connected status.

Testing so far
A) MA252 does have sound from phono input (so the Amp works)
B) When I play a record, the sound is centered perfectly (balance is now OK)C) Using the streamer, there is no apparent HP2A output to headphones (using 4 pin connection) or to the amp/speakers; speakers remain dead quiet when MA252 is turned up to 100 (I did not change -40dB on the HP2A yet)D) However, a quiet crackling sound in the speakers is heard when I click from headphones to speakers using the Mode Selector on the HP2A – so there is a connection thereE) When I bypass the uDDC and connect the USB straight to the DAC, it still appears to have a signal and still no soundF) I connected my turntable to the HP2A via the LExt-phono and sound is good. So is headphone output.G) I replaced the streamer with a Bluesound Node and sent the signal to the DAC (using optical and coaxial signals), and later to the DAC via the DDC (using the coaxial) and initially I got no sound, making me think that the DAC was the problem.H) However, after initially setting up the Bluesound Node and getting no sound, when I was moving components around the sound suddenly started playing, convincing me that I had either jostled a loose connection into place or done something as simple as un-muting the HP2A. However, when I returned to the original setup, it again appeared to be working (DAC sees a signal) but no sound again is coming out. (Specifically I was pulling the LExt forward to disconnect it and I bumped the DAC and the HP2A at the same time (they are side by side).

It appears that the issue is either the Streamer (I hard-rebooted it but I have not tried to send its signal to another device), the USB input, or possibly the USB cable (I swapped it but perhaps two cables in my house are bad?). There is only a USB output from the Innuos and there is still the puzzle of the DAC seeming to have a signal in-coming. I do not have a USB output from the Bluesound or my iFi Neo Stream to do an “apples to apples” comparison to check the USB input on the DDC or DAC with those devices. The system makes sound when the Bluesound is connected via optical or Coaxial connections to the DAC.

Finally, when this initially started, I had just connected QoBuz connect to the Innuos streamer and wondered if having done that was somehow causing a problem. I opened QoBuz and tried to play a song and when I tried to play QoBuz connect, the music displayed on my phone scrolled rapidly from song to song, and then it gave me an error message that the streamer was not working. QoBuz signal sent to my cell phone speaker played. When I opened the Innuos Sense app, it appeared to behave as if it was playing just fine (though no sound came out).

I will first be sure that I have properly backed up my Innuos and save all the ripped music and perhaps try a factory reset. I bought it used so they might help me get it fixed with advice but no warranty.

So, does this ring a bell with anyone? Is the change in sound that is coincidental with my attempts to get QoBuz Connect to work (restarting the MK3 and source and setting it up, etc) have any possible connection? Finally I am uncertain if I could take a USB-A to A cord and send the output to my Node just to see if music is coming out that way (I think I can use a node as a DAC only).

Frustratedly yours, Tim