Custom Firmware Builds for Element II, EL DAC II(+), and Atom DAC(+)

72 thoughts on “Custom Firmware Builds for Element II, EL DAC II(+), and Atom DAC(+)”

1. I am looking to buy an Atom stack. I must be able to use the Atom DAC with both Win10 and iOS (13.7 now and 14 when available). You mention the need for a USB hub for iOS connectivity. Will use of the Apple lightning to USB 3 camera adapter fulfill the hub requirement for iOS? If not, please specify what adapters or workarounds are necessary for DAC operation with both these operating systems.

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   1. @InMotian – Yes, you may use Atom DAC with the Lightning adapter and a USB hub as described at jdslabs.com/faq

      I’ll upload an alternative firmware shortly which should bypass the need for a hub.
      Edit: See v1.4.3

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2. My Element II is connected directly to my iPad Pro with the Apple USB-C Multiport Adapter and it works fine without an additional hub. Is the Multiport Adapter serving as a hub in this scenario? Is there any disadvantage with this setup, and would I see some advantage installing 1.3.8?

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   1. @Alan – Yes, some of Apple’s adapters avoid the need for a hub. There’s no advantage to installing v1.3.8 in this case.

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      1. Great, thanks John. In case it’s helpful to others, here’s a link to the adapter. https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MUF82AM/A/usb-c-digital-av-multiport-adapter

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      2. I can confirm that this iPhone adapter works great with the Atom DAC!

         https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088PG2SRR/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_i_gU-uFbQK4KAZZ

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3. Element II version 1.3.5 appreciated. DoP matters most to me. #2 need after that is 4.4mm balanced output. Guessing I won’t see that from JDS anytime soon?

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   1. Thanks, Brian. We’re currently reworking DoP support for EL DAC II and Element II, and once we’re content with the beta firmware it will become standard.

      As for balanced headphone connectivity: We view 4.4mm balanced connectors as a marketing fad in direct objection to our performance standards. Benchmark explains well in their article titled AUDIO MYTH – BALANCED HEADPHONE AMPLIFIERS ARE BETTER

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4. Just thought I’d mention that I got this to work under Mac OS Catalina. I have no experience building source code, so it was a little slow going. Before building, I installed X-Code and the X-Code command line tools from Apple, installed Homebrew and the latest USB libraries via Homebrew, then edited the xmosdfu.cpp file to replace the VID and PID codes with the ones mentioned in this blog post.

   These instructions were the most understandable for my beginner’s brain:

   https://docs.khadas.com/tone1/HowtoUpgradeFirmware.html#Upgrade-On-Mac-OS

   Note that the instructions don’t cover editing the xmosdfu.cpp file for different vendors and devices. I edited the relevant section of that file so that it looked like this:

   /* the device’s vendor and product id */
   #define XMOS_VID 0x20B1
   #define XMOS_L1_AUDIO2_PID 0x30DA
   #define XMOS_L1_AUDIO1_PID 0x30E0
   #define XMOS_L2_AUDIO2_PID 0x30E1
   #define XMOS_SU1_AUDIO2_PID 0x0008

   I successfully changed the firmware on an EL DAC II from 1.6.3 to 1.6.4.

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5. Hi,

   a while back I asked about an Atom DAC driver that allows us to adjust ASIO settings (latency etc.). Is that still planned and if so could I get a rough estimate when this will likely drop?

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6. Hi John and the team. So it looks like the AKM plant responsible for ADC/DAC chips semi burned down. Stocks are quickly dwindling, people speculate there will be AKM scarcity for at least a year or so.

   Do you have any crisis preparation for this kind of situation, do you have enough chips in inventory for the time being? I guess future product(s) might need to switch to cirrus logic/burr brown/sabre in the light of the current situation?

   Hope it doesn’t affect your operation too much.

   cheers

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   1. Hi Arthur – Yes, the AKM Fab2 disaster is at the top of our concerns. In the short term, there will be no JDS Labs Black Friday event this year. It will take time for the full impact to pan out; I imagine shortages will begin to appear in 18-36 weeks.

      JDS Labs has had a strong year and maintains healthy inventory. Without showing all of our cards, this supply crisis has little impact on our long-term plans.

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      1. “In the short term, there will be no JDS Labs Black Friday event this year”

         I see, understandable.

         “Without showing all of our cards, this supply crisis has little impact on our long-term plans”

         That is excellent to hear 🙂 best of luck to you and the team!

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7. Await news about enabled native dsd for Element II. Would use with Windows 10 notebook running older JRiver Media Center in audio-only mode.

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8. Meant to say Native or DOP. Either way the click sound from PCM track to DOP track remains audible and no manufacturer can address that thus far. (c;

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9. I just purchased the Atom DAC and plan to use it with the PS4/PS5 (if I ever get one). I’ve noticed you’ve said that installing it will disable future updates. Does this mean I will be unable to install any UAC2 based firmware in the future should I need to?

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   1. @Abdullah Correct, you will be unable to install firmware or revert to UAC2 if you install UAC1 only firmware. If you later wish to return to UAC2, we can replace the flash memory IC at JDS Labs (soldering is required).

      Under the UAC2 configuration, two devices appear when connected to a PC: The USB DAC device, and a separate Device Firmware Update (DFU) device. The DFU device is not available under UAC1, thus, there is no way to load different code.

      Edit: UAC2 with UAC1 fallback is now available for Atom DAC, see v1.4.6 and v1.4.7. DFU firmware update ability is retained. We will continue to investigate smarter host detection.

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      1. @John, ah so firmware updates are a part of the UAC2 but were not supported in UAC1? Hmm, what would your suggestion me? I love good quality sound but am in no way a ‘professional’ in that field. Would you say the sound under UAC2 is “better” in anyway during your testing of the UAC1 firmware? And is my understanding correct in that the support sample rate is the main difference?

         I’m in love with the Atom stack and want to use it with my PS4 but if that means losing the fidelity, I’m not sure

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         1. @Abdullah Perceived sound quality will be the same under UAC1 and UAC2. There are more features with UAC2, such as higher sampling rates, ASIO drivers for professional applications, DFU updates, and potentially more. In general, you will not hear a difference from these features, and if you have no need for ASIO, there is little to worry about. Again, we can always return to UAC2 by swapping the memory IC. Not ideal, but not impossible.

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10. Why the need to swap the memory chip after UAC1 flash? I’ve just got an Atom to pair with my PS5 as the Arcam rDAC and Benchmark DACs I was using for my PS4 (via optical) do not play well with the PS5s UAC1 and (of course) the PS5 does not have an optical out. I’ve updated the Atom firmware to 1.4.5 and the DAC works as expected with the PS5 now. However, should Sony implement UAC2 as a firmware update (unlikely, but you never know) the Atom could be re-utilised. Do you plan to release the memory chip as a user-replaceble part? I assume the memory chip’s SMD, which I can solder (just) at the hobbyist level.

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    1. @Dave: Please see https://blog.jdslabs.com/2020/08/custom-firmware-builds-for-element-ii-el-dac-ii-and-atom-dac/#comment-30525

       Yes, we can supply memory chips loaded with default code if/when the need arises, but imagine this will be a rare request. The chip is an SOIC8.

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       1. Hey John I had a question, for a regular folk like me who doesn’t know a whole lot about technical audio content, do you think Am I ever going to need the UAC 1 upgraded to UAC 2 if Sony decides to add UAC 2 support for the ps5? Or is the audio pretty much the same and with UAC 2 you just get features and professional tuning etc.

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          1. @Abdul: It’s unlikely you will *need* UAC2, as there is no audible difference. UAC2 simply adds more features.

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11. So does this UAC1 driver restriction apply to the Xbox Series X as well or this strictly for Playstation 4/5?

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    1. @Anthony – From what I’ve read, Xbox Series X does not permit connection to external DACs:
       https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/xbox-series-x-support-for-external-dacs.17445/

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12. Would the UAC1 for the atom dac,work for the Nintendo Switch?

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    1. Yes, you may use any UAC1 DAC with Nintendo Switch.

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13. Hello John
    I have a question about the Element II firmware, so I ask. I am wondering if it is possible to revert to 1.3.4 from version 1.3.8.

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14. John,

    Will a UAC1 capable DAC be affected by the low output from the PS4/PS5 USB port? I have a Creative G6 DAC/AMP which is recognized and “works” with the PS5, but it’s ability to drive even low impedance headphones is very much affected vs. when the G6 is plugged into my PC for example.

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    1. Yes, please see: https://blog.jdslabs.com/2020/11/connecting-a-usb-dac-to-ps4-or-ps5/

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15. Hey Admins,

    the dac fw bins no longer available on the links above:

    Forbidden
    You don’t have permission to access this resource.
    Apache/2.4.41 (Ubuntu) Server at db.jdslabs.com Port 80

    Please fix them 😉

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    1. @Dani – Thanks for pointing this out! All fixed.

       We performed a server upgrade over the weekend and security was rather locked down. The public /downloads folder is again accessible.

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       1. Thanks for the fast response!
          Now my Atom Stack works from my iPhone <3

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16. With the Atom DAC and the PS5 I tried the UAC2 with UAC1 fallback option using the Targus hub and it sounds really distorted/dithered at any volume.

    Then I went to try the UAC1 firmware and I accidentally used the Element one instead of the Atom one so now mine is bricked. How do you not have a check for what device is being used during a firmware upgrade? 🙁 So I assume I have to send it back now?

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    1. Ryan – Sorry again for the difficulty, and thank you for your recent help.

       Firmware downloads will soon be moved to https://jdslabs.com/support/drivers/, requiring product selection.

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17. Thank you so much for adding firmware options for ps5 users. Does anyone have any other sources for a usb 1.1 hub? I live in Canada and can’t find one for sale here without insane shipping times/cost. Does JDS plan to offer a “stepdown” usb cable in the future?

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    1. @Scott – Yes, old USB 1.1 hubs are difficult to find. We’ll have a better solution soon.

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18. Hey, I see that the only firmware for the EL DAC II that supports auto fallback to UAC1 has OS volume controls enabled, will it work properly with the PS5?
    (BTW thanks for your great support!)

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    1. @Raz – Yes, EL DAC II v1.66 firmware can connect to PS4/PS5. It’s ideal to lock the volume control. We’ll try to upload a custom build for you this week.

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19. I’m using the original PS4 and an Atom DAC. I installed the firmware version 1.4.7 on the Atom DAC and the PS4 still doesn’t recognize it as an output device, any help would be appreciated!

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    1. Alexey – Are you using one of the suggested USB 1.1 hubs / adapters?

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       1. Hello John,

          No I’m not, I didn’t realize that those were required, I’ll try that out.

          Thanks for the quick response!

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          1. I ended up trying to plug the Atom DAC into the PS4 with the USB 1.1 isolator and it works! The only problem I came across is that the PS4 only recognizes the DAC when I connect the isolator to the DAC with the original cable included with the DAC, my USB 3.0 extension cable doesn’t work. The other thing is sometimes when I turn the PS4 on or reconnect the USB cable I need to restart the DAC (by unplugging it and plugging it back in) in order for the PS4 to recognize it.

             Otherwise, it works great and I appreciate all the effort put into making this work!

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20. A quick question – are there any performance upgrades in firmware 1.6.6 for the EL DAC II compared to the shipping version 1.6.3? In other words, is there a reason to upgrade to the latest firmware for someone that does not use iOS/Android or PS4/5?

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    1. Same performance and improved Android/iOS compatibility!

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21. Does the UAC1 fallback work with a usb 2.0 hub that are compatible with usb 1.1? Or it needs to be a usb 1.1 hub?
    I searched a little bit about it still confusing and i dont know if it is related but does the speed of the hub have an effect like 12mbps or 480mbps?

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22. Does the UAC1 fallback work with a usb 2.0 hub that are compatible with usb 1.1? Or it needs to be a usb 1.1 hub?
    I searched a little bit about it still confusing and i dont know if it is related but does the speed of the hub have an effect like 12mbps or 480mbps?

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    1. @Nawaf – A 480mbps hub will not work. The hub must be limited to 12mbps (USB 1.1 speed). Our custom UAC1 cables are in production now, due to ship soon.

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23. Hi there, I’m new to high end headphones and DACS+Amp, I notice a lot of these posts are from around a year ago. Is it still recommended to install custom firmware for the DAC+ for PS5 due to volume levels? thank you

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    1. @Peter – Yes, the Playstation volume requirement has existed for years with PS4 and remains the same for PS5.

       BTW, this article is updated regularly as we add features and products. Atom DAC+ firmware v1.8.4 is currently preferred for PS5.

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       1. makes sense thank you for the reply, one last question, the optical input will still work with this custom firmware? I plan to use USB for PS5 and optical for everything else

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          1. Yes, Atom DAC+’s optical input performs identically in all downloads at this time.

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24. I see the Atom DAC+ now supports DoP. Are there any plans to backport this to the original Atom DAC?

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    1. @Jim – We explored this option in detail and found that the automatic DSD/PCM detection algorithm of the AK4490EQ did not behave as needed, meaning the original Atom DAC is locked to PCM mode. The ES9018 in Atom DAC+ is controlled by serial, so we have full control over its configuration.

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25. Are there any plans to enable DoP to the EL DAC II and ELEMENT II ?

    Thanks,

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    1. @Ernest – At this point, DSD support for ELII through a field firmware update is unlikely due to naivety on our part that AKM’s auto DSD|PCM flag would behave, well, automatically. The DSD receiving endpoint and DSD flags are already functional on the XMOS side; the AK4493 is set to PCM mode. Unlike the original Atom DAC, EL DAC II and Element II have I2C config access to their the AK4493EQ through a separate processor for general logic. The AK4493 is statically configured during boot by this external MCU.

       Like PCM mode, locking the AK4493 to DSD only mode at boot is trivial. This much has been verified. Adding proper DSD/PCM switching at the AKM side is a matter of bypassing the default behavior of the XMOS engine and essentially bitbanging a specific data + clock sequence to “auto detect” a DSD stream by the AK4493 (specifically, table 41 of the datasheet).

       Our lead programmer dedicated time to this effort prior to the AKM factory disaster and determined such an implementation is non-trivial. Additionally, demand for DSD is unfortunately quite small. There was not even a blip in traffic when we added DSD support to Atom DAC+!

       With all of these considerations in mind, I’m beginning to wonder whether the community could benefit from our UAC2 code being opensource. We tried this with C5 & C5D code a decade ago. The code never moved forward, understandably, as there were no feature gaps at the time.

       Edit Dec 2021: Auto switching between PCM and DSD64 is now possible on Element II. The change requires a boot initializer update, which must be performed at JDS Labs. We can load auto DSD support on any new or existing Element II upon request. Better late than never?

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       1. That is great news! Any chance the boot initializer update can apply to EL DAC II (please…..).

          Ernest

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          1. Thanks, Ernest. Yes, the same change is possible for EL DAC II.

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             1. Awesome.. Thanks for continue to release updated firmware for products released back in 2019…

26. Hello guys,

    big thanks for the great FAQ however I got a little bit confused regarding the ATOM DAC+..

    1.8.9 would work if I would like my PS5 to control the audio which is probably terrible so thats out…
    1.8.4 is the older recommended firmware for PS5 with fallback cable without DOP.
    1.8.B is the newest firmware for Switch and PS5 with fallbackcable and with DOP.

    Should I use the 1.8.B firmware if I e. g. would switch usb cables often and would like the better sound?
    Are there any downsizes for this software?

    Thank you very much in advance.

    Reply

    1. @Matthew – Yes, your understanding is correct. v1.8.4 is still the best option for PS5, assuming you do not need DSD support.

       Using v1.8.B forces 16-bit audio, which is required by Nintendo Switch.

       We can publish another build if you need PS5 support with DSD (DoP); no one has made such a request thus far.

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       1. Hello John,

          Thank you very much for the quick reply. Since I’m unfortunately not a sound engineer but instead just a office worker and due to me reading about the subject a few months ago, I thought that UAC1 was limited to 16 bit (my bad and I also missed your first paragraph… :/).

          Anyways I will use the v1.8.4 since I don’t think that the PS5 supports or will ever support DSD and with my limited usecase (sadly just a 2nd DAC for adding the PS5 to my system) I would feel bad to request such an oddity.

          I would really find it interesting and would like to know if anybody would have such a usecase of needing UAC1 fallback, need for DSD and disabled OS volume control 😀

          Keep up the good work and have a nice day 😀

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27. I have a MacBook pro 2018, I couldn’t get the install to work for Element II. I kept getting “dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/local/opt/libusb/lib/libusb-1.0.0.dylib” errors. I couldn’t find any info on this error with the firmware install. I have managed to get it all working. I had to install homebrew (https://brew.sh/) and then install libusb ($brew install libusb).

    Then I ran through the firmware check (step 5) only on v 1.3.4 so did step 6, all working great.

    Just thought I’d put the info out there incase anyone else has the same problem.

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28. Hi, I bought the dac+ a few days ago for my ps5, I tried the version 1.84 and 1.8b but neither is recognized by my ps5.
    but it works perfectly on my pc. what would be happening?

    Thanks.

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    1. @Roberto – Sorry for the confusion. Are you using the required UAC1 Fallback Cable.

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       1. is it a special cable? I tried 4 different cables and they didn’t work. even the one that comes with the dac +

          I can’t believe it, I thought it was normal usb cable. I have no problem to buying it just that I am extremely far away. is there anything i can buy at a local store?
          Tanks!

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          1. Yes, the UAC1 Fallback cable is custom made for JDS Labs. You may also use a UAC1 hub, but these are difficult to find, since most were produced about 20 years ago.

             Yes, you may install v1.8.5 to force UAC1 immediately if you prefer. A better option: Please privately send me your order number and I’ll suggest a closer retailer. Shipping should only take a few days, not a month!

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       2. If I buy the cable now I have it in a month at the earliest … if I install the firmware 1.8.5 the ps5 works with the volume fixed? It is a shame to lose the updates, but if it works well I prefer that or pay you for the cable so that you can only teach me some trick to make it work without waiting for the month. Thank you

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29. Finally got my hands on a USB 1.1 hub.
    PS5 into usb hub into usb switch.
    Volumio (RasPi) into same switch.
    Switch to Element II.
    All works perfectly… Switch auto selects RasPi when PS5 is off so can chill with music, and one button to click when I want to have sound from ps5.

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30. Attempting to install the XMOS Firmware Utility on WIn 11 but am getting an error: Failed to open application configuration file. Is there a solution for this or an alternative method to install the ps4/ps5 firmware form the ATOM Dac.
    Managed to fix it by correctly installing the most up to date drivers. For my second question regarding the usb hub, what is the best way to connect both ps5/pc to the atom dac?

    Also for connecting a ps5/PC to the DAC what would be suggested for the best device to acquire in AU,

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31. Hey John,

    I bought the original Atom DAC in 12/22/20 and asked you guys to flash it with UAC 1 for it to be compatible with the PS5. I’m assuming it uses the 1.4.5 firmware update of 11/16/20. Because of the 1.4.5 update preventing updates, does that mean that I cant update the DAC firmware to 1.4.8 to use for Nintendo switch alongside your UAC1 cables? Thank you in advance.

    Reply

    1. Yes, your understanding is correct. We’ll be glad to replace the flash IC and load a newer firmware for you. Feel free to reach out via email with your original order number and current shipping address.

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