davis419b

I see usb receiver but I don't know what that means.

No

I had to edit the previous post as it was misleading. The smoke from my ears was getting in my eyes and I left a couple of key words out !

I have got SMOKE coming out of my ears trying to take all of this in as every bit of it is way over my head but I really thank everyone for trying to help me with the problem. I just hate buying a piece of gear and not being able to listen to it and this wasn't cheap.

Yes but like I said I could NOT really tell a difference when I first bought it and plugged it in. It is set to usb. Maybe I should try the other one as I have 2 of them.

I can't see how it would ever output sound to your DAC if this is the case. The only that that is checked is this : Realtec Digital Output / high definition audio default device

Go to control panel, sound, playback and see what's checked. The only thing checked is Realtec Digital Output / high definition audio default device That sounds like your sound card, what are the other options under sound devices It says Speakers / Nvidia hdmi output / and Speakers again. One thing that keeps sticking in my brain is that even though in the link I posted it plainly shows a pic of the back saying it will play 24bit the manual says 16-24bit** and when I go to the bottom to see what the astrics mean it says 16bit for usb.

OK, maybe the Dragonfly instructions for Windows 7 will help point the way: Go to Start/Control Panel Open Hardware and Sound Select Sound Select D/F as default audio playback device -- the D/F is added as one of the "Speakers" Click Properties, click the Advanced tab Select best rate , e.g., 24 bits 44100 Hz Click both options for "Exclusive mode" Ugh! -- good luck! Just another stupid question because this is really stretching my brains capability ! Is there a chance that by messing around with settings that I can screw up what is already set up for this system ?

Go to control panel, sound, playback and see what's checked. The only thing checked is Realtec Digital Output / high definition audio default device

This link shows a picture of the back of the dac stating that the usb port will do 24 bit. http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/media/dacmagic-100-top-tips-english-double-page-spreads-1395331415.pdf

The manual for the dac says it will do 16 or 24 bit.

This may be the key to it. On a Mac, I go to a Settings menu. The instructions for my Dragonfly were:Open system preferences Click the "sound" panel Click the "output" tab Select "Dragonfly" (in my case) You may have to play with selecting "internal speakers" There are also instructions for "playing audio from music and movies": Open the applications folder and select utilities (again, this is a MAC) Launch Audio Midi Setup Select "Dragonfly" (or whatever) Adjust format and channels, e.g., 44100 Hz The D/F is very well engineered, and seemed to find itself on subsequent tries. The system on the computer is Windows 7 home premium.

Without a doubt I know this has got to be a good system I am just going to need help setting up so all I have to do is drag music over to the play list and click play then I will be in heaven. Rudy already said he would like to see the system before I ever tried hooking it up. He will have some time soon.

When the main screen comes up it says welcome to Hollis Audio Labs. When I click on Foobar and it comes up in the top left hand corner it says Foobar 2000 V1.1.15

Who or what is Dodd? Did you go into the control panel and make sure your DAC was checked as the audio output? I am in trouble as that is over my head !

Wouldn't that be the Foobar 2000 ?

I fall into that category but as stated above, if you don't go into the control panel and select your DAC as the primary audio device, nothing will play. I've had that happen every time I've used my DAC with someone else's system. You would think Dodd would have been able to do that if he really wanted to help me !

Thanks to everybody for all of the help but I am not giving you info on this stuff because I know nothing about it. The computer says Quada cube N3 on the back of it.

I bought this system from Gary Dodd the tube amp builder . He built the tube dac that he was using and wants to sell me one. His comment yesterday when he came over to set everything up was my dac wont work because it is a 16bit dac. He knows I am technically challenged and wants to sell me one of his $1,600 dacs so I don't think he is going to be much help.

I am sure it is working because I can see the vu meters moving on the monitor. I don't know if this means anything but he was using Foobar 2000

I am sure it is working because I can see the vu meters moving on the monitor.

I have only used it with a cd player . I have never had a pc system for music before.

This is my first time and you know me I am technically stupid !! Maybe I am in over my head but it is too late as I have already bought the system.

On the monitor you could see it was playing but no music.

I just bought a music server system that I have been wanting for a long time. The problem is when I got it all set up it would not play music through my Cambridge Audio dac because it is 16 bic and all of the music on the hard drive is 24 bit or more. What I want to know (and I know it is a dumb question) is will a hard drive with 16 bit music play in this system ? This is all above my head but I do believe that once it is all working I should be able make it play music with my limited ability,