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Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 digital DAC

Einstein said:
Pro-Ject has the old firmware utility for Mac on their website again. They say that it recognises the S2 only if you have firmware 2.10 installed! I wonder what they will do when firmware 2.13 is released.
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Thanks. Yes, I wonder... "Please note, that Pre Box S2 Digital has to run firmware version 2.10 for the MacOS DFU to find the unit!" Why doesn't the updater return an error message instead of just failing to find the unit? What about users that installed the 2.11 beta to help John out? Will there be a version 2.13? (And lastly, why the exclamation point? That is very poor writing in any language, and indicates impatience with customers.)
 
Nice for the clarification from Pro-Ject but it's inconsistent with the Windows updater.

I have v2.12 on my S2 and I am able to re-load 2.12 on my S2 DAC in Windows if I wanted to but not on MacOS - using the same Macbook (running Windows Bootcamp).

It's a minor thing, re-loading the same firmware isn't a typical use case but still, hope they fix this inconsistency.
 
gahabana said:
hi @JohnW - that'd be cool to be able to push DSD1024 .. that seems to be about 86Mbits/second ... that one will need to push timely via network and into the USB ...
As you are probably aware - before going with that - can you pls see if you can replicate my findings with playing 'native' DSD (512 and lower) - when it starts working (e..g. upsampling all content) - its great. but if one plays mixed (PCM and DSD) it often seems to produce hiss within 1st 5-10 seconds when transitioning from PCM to DSD.
Does not happen when using DoP (up to DSD256).

Tx !
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I have found this post from gahabana describing the same issue as me. Was it ever solved? Any ideas?
 
Jose V. said:
I have found this post from gahabana describing the same issue as me. Was it ever solved? Any ideas?
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Nothing significantly different from John's reply immediately after that: he cannot reproduce the issue with foobar2000 while the DAC is directly connected to his computer. My guess is that Pro-Ject is not providing the resources to test other configurations. (I asked them, on behalf of other users, to at least equip their testers with Roon, but did not receive a reply. And to be honest, I don't know if they even have software testers at their HQ or manufacturing partner.) Some of these issues may be related to playing DSD over a network - I notice small "thumps" between tracks when playing DSD from an LMS server - or to specific hardware. Or not. I really don't know, but am hoping the next firmware release will offer some improvement.
 
New to the board but happy to report that having just received my S2 Digital DAC I had absolutely no problem connecting to my mac mini running High Sierra 10.13.3 via USB. I promptly updated it using the mac updater on Pro-ject's web page to 2.12 without a problem (aside from the typical untrusted developer warning). Audio Midi Setup controller immediately showed "Pre Box S2 Digital" which I selected for sound output, opened Amarra 4 Luxe, ensured "Passthrough MQA" was selected and began playing TIDAL MQA tracks without a problem! MQA tracks sound fantastic. The S2 is functioning as expected. Actually, it was considerably less fussy then my initial setup of my Dragonfly 2.0. Need to do more critical listening but so far very impressed! Much nicer then the Dragonfly and Arcam rDAC to my ears (both of which I currently have on hand)...really nice balance across high, lows, and mids with tonnes of detail. Will post further thoughts after spending some time with the S2.
 
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left channel said:
@Waving Not Drowning thanks for the report! Nice to hear from a happy customer for a change. Just curious (and this probably should be in a new thread, but) have you tried the new Amarra iTunes library integration?
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Regarding the latest update to Amarra 4, I can definately report that music libarary scanning is much, much faster. I also tried the new iTunes integration and it seemed to work fine (although it wasn't an extensive session). Overall, this recent update to Amarra 4 seems to have fixed most of the major annoyances / issues of the previous version. After I spend more time with both the S2D and Amarra I will post an update.
 
Jose V. said:
I have found another problem: no sound coming out from whether coaxial nor optical input from my CD player. This is very strange. I checked with my previous dac, and it get the sound normally. The input signs lights up as sound would come in and frequency shows up in lcd screen, but no sound at all.
I also checked optical in from tv, and it works (it sound fantastic, better than the usb input)
What could this be????
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left channel said:
Were you ever able to get the S2 working with your CD player? For the DSD question please tell us more about your system, hardware and software.
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Jose V. said:
Hi, left Channel. Thank you for still remembering about this. No, I wasn't. I tried with another unit, a normal consumer DVD player, and the sound did como into the s2 via coaxial. I cannot understand what kind of incompatibility can exist between a certain CD player and a dac. The funny thing is that I could not hear any difference between listening the cd through the s2 and the analog output of that dvd, which I was expecting to be huge, since it was a very normal player, so I am not using it.
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I finally have a quality CD transport again (NuPrime CDT-8 Pro) and can confirm the "S2D" works with a coaxial connection to this player, from 44.1 through upsampled 384 kHz. The S2D accepts no higher sample rates on the S/PDIF inputs. I have not tested optical, and the S2D does not accept DSD through either S/PDIF connection. Anyway, am now enjoying the sound of Bob Kenmotsu on his sax.
 
http://goo.gl/LbevA6

Having bought a Pre Box S2 Digital, I have benefited from the nuggets of information scattered within three threads at three forums. But I have had to spend hours searching the threads, with many nuggets repeated across all three forums. To aid those who are only now coming to this DAC, or those who would like to find out more about their purchase, I have pulled together as many nuggets as I can find into a Google Doc. Thanks to left channel for suggesting improvements to the doc. (And also, as I am sure many will agree, for his work over many months to uncover and disseminate as much as possible about this device.)
 
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I reckon we don't understand why the S2 Digital behaves in this way. But I reckon it's not a bug, and so cannot (and ought not) to be fixed in firmware. I reckon that John is taking a little power from Vbus in order to power the earliest and most noisy filtering necessary when the USB signal first arrives inside the DAC. So as not to pollute the main network of (clean) power rails within the DAC.
 
MagnusH said:
I wish connecting the USB A would trigger the DAC to accept signal even if the USB don't have any VBUS. I would prefer to turn off VBUS power as early as possible, for example with this; https://www.sbooster.com/sbooster-tweaks/sbooster-vbus-isolator
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I've never seen a DAC that functions like this (not that I've seen every USB DAC on the market). I've only seen it with add-on devices and cables like you linked there, that allow you to disconnect the power.
 
So is the sbooster gadget worth having with a PS2D and will it ensure I can use my linear power supply even when connected via USB?
 
slavedata said:
So is the sbooster gadget worth having with a PS2D and will it ensure I can use my linear power supply even when connected via USB?
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No, the dac wont work with the sbooster gadget, but you can still use a linear power with USB. The dac auto-switches to power on the microUSB input if its present. I use a linear power myself.
 
Can anyone get DSD64 (DoP) to play over TOSlink?

I have no issues with PCM176k and PCM192k over TOSlink, so my TOSlink cable is fine up to 192kHz.

And with other DACs DoP64 has never been an issue for me over TOSlink, with this same cable.
 
sberry20118 said:
Can anyone get DSD64 (DoP) to play over TOSlink?

I have no issues with PCM176k and PCM192k over TOSlink, so my TOSlink cable is fine up to 192kHz.

And with other DACs DoP64 has never been an issue for me over TOSlink, with this same cable.
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This DAC does not do DSD over S/PDIF, sorry.
 
Does anyone know how ESS's famous jitter 'elimination' works with the dual DAC chip configuration?

I have a feeling this may be related to why DoP via SPDIF doesn't work - i.e. something else is doing the jitter reduction before the signal reaches the dual DAC chips. Maybe the XMOS interface?

I'm only guessing though. It doesn't look John is active here anymore sadly.
 
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