I got an HRT Music Streamer II for my parents Mac Mini. Just needed a cheap DAC and wanted one that didn't need a power supply. In theory, this DAC fits the bill. In practice, that's not the case. For anyone out there considering the HRT, be forewarned that you very likely will need to run it off a powered USB hub. It appears to simply draw to much power to run reliabily out of a 'puter's USB ports.

There are a bunch of posts about this on the internets, but I figured I'd give a heads up here, too.

If you have an additional usb port to spare, you can try using a two pronged usb cable to supply additional power. Something like this:

Amazon.com: Cables to Go 28108 USB 2.0 B Male to 2 USB A Male Y-Cable (Black): Electronics

edit: Oops, just realized you already bought a usb hub to solve the problem. Guess it's good to keep the Y cable in mind in case you ever need it

I didn't consider the two-pronged cable, which is a good idea. I have an external HD that does that. However, I needed the hub anyway as I would have run out of ports.

If you have an additional usb port to spare, you can try using a two pronged usb cable to supply additional power. Something like this:

Amazon.com: Cables to Go 28108 USB 2.0 B Male to 2 USB A Male Y-Cable (Black): Electronics

edit: Oops, just realized you already bought a usb hub to solve the problem. Guess it's good to keep the Y cable in mind in case you ever need it

Would that work? Isn't it more than likely running off the same power supply?

yes, it works. If you're using 2 ports you can request twice the power.

So how does this drawing too much power show up? I have 2 of them (office and home, liked the usb in rca out simplicity) and they seem to operate fine.

I noticed it when music stopped playing.

Perhaps there has been a bad batch of them around? I've had mine for 3 months and no issues thus far.

Wish there were more similar simple dacs around, just usb in and rca out. Maybe Justin will release an update to the pico dac with an async 24/96 dac he is using for the Gilmore X2.

iirc some info I read stated that not all USB ports are created equal when it comes to power.