Weiss DAC 204 hiccups

I recommend putting a wifi extender close to your audio system and plug in to that for your signal. Depending on the rest of your equipment the better the streamer the better the sound quality and the more isolation from the network. Streamers like Aurender cache the signal and isolate from other noise. But for now, I'd get an extender... $50 or so. 

Thank you.  I will try that before looking at higher quality streamers.  

What sort of hiccups are you experiencing? I have a Weiss 204 and am using a Bluesound Node as the streamer and also had some issues for a while (some random noise issues that were very intermittent for instance). I tried a number of different troubleshooting options, including swapping out another 204 from the dealer. What finally solved my issue, after several different ways of connecting to the Weiss was adding an iFi USB ground defender with one of their power supplies. This may have been very system dependent, but eliminating the 5v USB power from the Bluesound and addling it back with a much cleaner PS fixed the issue that took me some months to figure out.

I even had my own “hiccup” issues via an AQ SPDIF (coax) cable. I never truly understood the root cause, but glad that the cleaner USB power resolved the issue.

I agree with the recommendation to add a router extender.  I had the same issue with my separate streamer and DAC.  I purchased a Eero 6+ extender after the one extender I got from my wi-fi provider stopped working.  The technician from the provider recommended it over their own extender.  I run an Ethernet cable from the Eero to my streamer.  Drop out problems solved.  

Thank you for these additional suggestions.   

For clarity, the "hiccup" I am encountering happens once or twice during every few songs.  It is more of a stutter/momentary skip.  Very noticeable.  Last night, I decided to play CDs from an old Cary 306/200 using the Weiss DAC and I encountered no problems with this issue.    

Sounds like a bad digital cable. Or a clock in the BS Node is malfunctioning.
The network stream is buffered in the BS Node so it would have to be an outage of more than 30 seconds. Try Toslink or another digital cable or even an RCA cable. Even if cd player used as transport doesn’t suffer from the same problem it could still be a cable. But to rule out wifi issues you can run a speed test on your phone when you’re next to bs node. Make sure you’re on the same network. Let us know what speed you get on a download. 

I also have a Weiss 204 DAC with a Bluesound Vault.  My Weiss started "skipping" pretty soon after I got it.  At first, turning it off for a couple days worked but then the issue came back.  After several conversations with the dealer and with Weiss, we determined that the jumper could be the issue and we should move it.  

However, once I opened it up I found that it shipped with no jumper at all.  Weiss first suggested I could fix it myself with miscellaneous wires wrapped around the posts, but that was very hard to do and didn’t really work.  Finally, I was able to convince the dealer to send me a jumper - which only costs 30 cents.  Weiss would not send the part and would not agree to an exchange or a refund.    

After a few more weeks of trial and error, moving the jumper around and tryiing different DIY solutions, the dealer finaly agreed to an exchange.

The new one skips as well.

I bought a new high end ethernet cable and directly connected it to the mesh extender but that has not helped.

Final solution - I now turn it on when I want to listen and turn it off when i’m done.

The Weiss DAC sounds good but I would suggest looking elsewhere.  It has a major flaw and I feel like the owner of Weiss (based in Switzerland) does not care about customer support or a quality component.  I was shocked that I was told by Weiss to fix a very expensive item myself, and he would not agree to send me a 30 cent item and would not replace it.  He did initially send some pictures of where I should move the jumper, (if the unit had been shipped with one) but the pics he sent didn't match my unit, so his input was useless.

I had connectivity issues as my Innuos streamer lacks a WiFi ability. I temporarily solved it by using a TP - Link AV2000 powerline adapter until I could run an Ethernet cable. You can buy and try via Amazon although having Wi-Fi , a range extender would probably be better. I encountered an issue while streaming and as mentioned above mine was an issue with my digital coax cable. I tried a different cable which resolved the problem. I also found that with the problematic cable I could drop my resolution to 96 and it stopped thus identifying the cable as the problem. Regards, Mike B.  

@mojo771 well that certainly sucks. I was considering Weiss just recently as one of the options for my next DAC. Glad I didn’t go with it. 

Most streamers buffer the incoming stream really well. In fact on many you can unplug the Ethernet conn and they’ll still play for 20 30 seconds maybe longer 

I also think it’s the Wi-Fi.  You’re losing connection and it reconnects just outside the buffer window.   

I have a TP link and it works great.  Can’t get ether to every room.  

Turn off Audio Clock Trim OFF on the Bluesound 

plug a USB drive into the Bluesound to see if it plays without hiccups.  Also try streaming via USB from a tablet or PC to rule out the music service itself.  
 

A phone with a usb c or lightning to usb B is a good way to isolate the problem as you are on a phone network.  
 

First, thank you to all the contributors.  Very much appreciate the community trying to help me.

Update:  I have plugged the Node into a WIFI extender (First Gen Apple Extreme) fed by the final Gen Apple Extreme.  I have the 2 channel set up by my TV and have never had an issue with pixelation or other video caching which suggests a decent WIFI signal in that spot. The Smart TV, Roku and Apple TV work perfectly 99.9% of the time.  Nonetheless, I placed the extender right by the TV and unfortunately the hiccups still occurred with the Cardas Coax (Brand new).  I then switched over to a Toslink (I found a cheap cable in the box of cables which has all generations of computer cables, iphone cables etc)   I streamed a variety of songs from Amazon and everything was fine.  I then ran a speedtest on my iphone and was getting 120 mbps to 200 mbps downloads and the hiccuping occurred.   After I stopped the download test, it did not hiccup.  I did not run it long enough then to see if it was more stable.

My guess is the WIFI signal may be unstable and could not handle a download test and streaming music together.  Does this indicate the Node is not buffering enough and as a result is affected by unstable internet.  I am in a condo and we have Gigabit service although I never see anything close to that with the Apple Extreme.  At one time I bought a mesh system and frankly the signal strength was no different so I returned it.  

That's my latest update.  

I forgot to mention this.  Someone said they were interested in the Weiss 204.  Notwithstanding the issue I am having, which I am guessing is Node related, the Weiss 204 sound is fantastic.   The detail is amazing, musical and not in the least bit fatiguing and that is before a decent break in period.   So don't disregard the Weiss because of this.  

Glad it sounds like you are headed in the right direction. It is not a matter of bandwidth. Streaming takes almost no bandwidth. The problem tends to be in wifi receivers inside of streamers. They tend to cut in and out. I have found this on $3K streamers and well. 

Weiss is known for details first presentation. 

ghdprentice

Streaming takes almost no bandwidth. The problem tends to be in wifi receivers inside of streamers.

+1. The streamer in my audio system is connected by ethernet to the network gear located on another floor. The results are better than anything I get with wifi, which I use only for control.

When you use coax the clock in the streamer is responsible for clocking the signal. With toslink I think the DAC will take over and reclock the signal. With USB you also rely mostly on the clock in the dac. 
That’s why I suspected either a faulty coax or a clock in the BS Node. 
If you have an option to use USB I would highly recommend going that route. 

The Bluesound has a DAC and never experienced the 2 or 3 times per song that the music stopped for a second, until I started using the Weiss.  I have the Vault plugged into input 2 and the Weiss into input 3 so I can switch back and forth.  I get the hiccup/skip only when I use the Weiss.

The sound is better with the Weiss, but the skipping 2 or 3 times on every song makes me want to get something else.

My issues were very intermittent (more so than what you describe). I could have no issues one day and then several the next. It was very frustrating. I had no issues either with a Bluesound and a much less expensive Cambridge DAC. My issues started when I got the Weiss. I did reach out to Weiss and they got back to me suggesting a firmware upgrade, but that required sending the unit back to them, which I thought was ridiculous. I tried different cables, different types of cables (usb, coax) and a different Weiss and Bluesound.

Like I mentioned, I did fix my issue using the iFi device to essentially “break” the USB, cutting the 5v coming from the Bluesound and replacing it with a much cleaner source of 5v power.

I don’t mind troubleshooting things, but this was sort of ridiculous. Had it not been for truly liking how the Weiss sounds in my system, I definitely would have gotten rid of it. Fortunately now it has works fine and I have since added a ModWright PS as well.

I purchased a Weiss 205 brand new a few years ago and feed it with a Bricasti M5 using a good quality Shunyata cable.   Just out of the box it had regular "hiccups" a few times a song, but only on certain songs.  After a while I realized it was only happening on songs with > 44.1 kHz sample rate.  

I reached out to my dealer and they talked with Weiss and after some trouble shooting was told to send it back to the dealer who would send it to Weiss.   Weiss examined it and said it needed a firmware upgrade and then returned it to me.   It has not had a 'hiccup' since the firmware upgrade.

It seems they must have shipped a bunch of 205/204s that have issues with certain sample rates and a firmware upgrade is needed to correct the issue.   I find the sound vs cost to be very good and after adding a good linear power supply I really have not missed my much more expensive Meitner MA3.   If your happy with its sound (as I am), I would consider the firmware upgrade...   Cheers

Update.  After writing my last update, I did get more hiccups with the Node 2i.  Yesterday, I decided to "borrow" a WIIM Pro from Amazon.  So far, using both COAX and Toslink, I have only experienced maybe 2 hiccups last night.  WIIM has Amazon Music HD and what seems like a very good UI on my iphone.  I cannot tell a difference in AQ between the Node 2i and WIIM Pro.  WIIM has some EQ adjustments which I decided to use the acoustic setting.  We'll see what happens with more time, but I do think the older Node 2i has a problem with the Weiss.  At least now, I can try enjoy the Weiss, which as I have said previously sounds great (or at least much better than the Node, Hegel H 190 and I was also using the DAC in a Cary 306/200 CD player).  

@ga_audio

Thank you to all for this report on the Weiss 204 DAC issues and the manufacturer's terrible customer support.  I was seriously looking into this purchase.  I now do not want any product from this company.

Interesting to hear some of you are having issues with your digital handshake between some streamers and the Weiss 204. I didn't know it needed to be sent off for firmware updates, I do know I can perform any firmware updates myself with the 501 by simply logging into it online, but looks like that wasn't an option they put into the 204. I haven't needed any firmware updates regardless, and it has played flawlessly since I bought it. The one time I emailed the company it was the owner/designer Daniel Weiss himself who answered my question within hours. 

I had outstanding support from Weiss as well.  In fact I was getting email responses from Daniel Weiss over a weekend.  I prefer to have the opportunity to try and solve problems WITHOUT having to box up a product and ship it half way around the world, but to each their own.

Weiss makes some of the finest digital you can buy IMO.

@ghdprentice wrote:

Weiss is known for details first presentation. 

I never found that to be the case. Certainly the latest MkIII iteration of their DAC-1 is very informative and honest in its presentation, yes, possibly even direct, but to my ears also with an "analogue," tonally natural (/naturally warm), well balanced and holistically oriented presentation, which I find goes against the "details first" description. From what I've read their remaining model range share the overall imprinting of the DAC-1 (the only model of theirs I've listened to, fairly extensively even). Maybe some of this comes down to semantics and how we go about our impressions.