Lab12 DAC1 Reference Problem

The Lab !2 can sometimes have trouble if a 24/48 or higher source is active on one Coax input and there is an active signal on the other Coax input.   

I ended up putting my Vault in another room so it is longer an issue.  Try the CD player alone with the Bluesound unplugged

It is a great sounding DAC,   I didn't discover this until a few months into owning it and my dealer did not believe I was experiencing a problem.   

To me it sounds  so good I can live with it.   I don't believe mine is broken, I think that the two Coax inputs are not isolated and it is confused as what to lock on,depending on what's connected and what the bit rate is

I have had 1.5 years of reliable great sound and I use it daily.  I was pissed at first but their products are built well, sound great, and they are a small company so I gave them a pass on this one.   

Also, does the CD player have a variable output that attenuates the volume in the digital domain?  If so defeat or switch to fixed out   They are rare but some players do this...

Basically you sometimes need to turn the component on the Coax input you are not using off for it to lock onto the active source. My experience 

Definitely put some hours on it just to make sure it's stable with both inputs when the device not is use is powered off and I think you will find it works fine.  Right now I have my Aurender connected via USB and Coax, TV with Toslink and no problems which ever one is selected.  Locks right on

It's important to note that Stratos did reach out to me personally.   I just didn't like my dealers tone and refusal to believe I discovered that issue, to a level of troubleshooting that is easily repeatable.    So I contacted LAB 12 directly and got a reply the next morning.   They did have a firmware revision early on that was supposed to cure any problems with signal lock.   I think my suspicion that each Coax is not fully isolated to be fact.   It is weird that it mostly happens when a m 24/48 or higher output is present at both device outputs .  The problem with the mode and the Vault is they sit on the network all of the time and always have a live spdif output. 

Best bet is to run different type connections but if you want or need 2 Coax what will usually work is to select a 16/44.1 source in the Node like Radio Paradise before switching to the other Coax and vice versa.

The rub is that it sounds soooo good....   I really have no plans to replace it anytime soon.   I had a year trade up and knew early on i was keeping it.  It's a small inconvenience in the scheme of life.  

Second year that it is on Part Time Audiophile's best of and buyers guide.  It was just named one of their values of the year 

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2023/12/15/2023-best-value-awards/

Any settings in the Electrocompeniet ?   Upsampling?   If so turn it  off.   

Try swapping Coax 1 for 2 and keep the Bluesound out of the loop while troubleshooting 

Do you by any chance have CAT 8 ethernet cable?   I had a different problem, not sure it was limited to the DAC where I had dropouts and noise.  Went back to cat 6 and problem solved.   I took that advice from a member here , not to use cat 8 for audio as it can cause issues

Sorry to hear you are having problems.    Anything SPL makes is good in my experience with their headphone/dacs.   A friend has the BP and he is a big analog guy.  

So they have since update the original manual since I got mine...

I used the Lab 12 with a Vault 2i and it's volume control.   If the PC can attenuate the digital out then it is possible.