The Micca OriGen G2 is a premium DAC, preamp, and headphone amp primarily intended to be connected to a PC.
The Problem & Troubleshooting
My OriGen failed to be recognized by my PC when I powered up my PC after returning from a trip. I attempted to re-installing the driver, swapping USB ports and cables, and tried installing it on my laptop - all to no avail.
Micca's OriGen support tab offered suggestions:
- replace USB cable if power does not turn from red to blue,
- try other drivers using Windows Device Manager.
Another Amazon purchaser mentioned that the through-hole capacitors had swollen in his failed unit. I disassembled mine (great build quality BTW) and desoldered the two caps in question. They looked good and passed ESR tests with flying colors. I recall that the measured capacitance was off, but it didn't concern me (probably higher or within 10 or 20%). Visual inspection of the other components (mostly SMD) revealed nothing of concern. I re-assembled everything and tested again just in case the soldering and handling made any difference. Nope.
If I tear into it again I'll check out the USB data lines, and maybe try powering it via the DC 5V input.
Support from Micca is minimal if not non-existant. Their website is still up but none of the products I spot checked have been available recently on Amazon (their typical outlet).
The Solution
Fortunately my newish PC motherboard has a TOSLINK optical output so I fed that to the OriGen, flipped the input switch, selected the Realtek Digital Output as the audio output on the PC, and moved the 3.5mm analog output cable (feeding my Klipsch powered PC speaker system) back to the OriGen. And there was sound! :-) The LEDs no longer indicate the digital format, and the power LED is red, but I've got great sound again and the convenience of both 1/8" and 1/4" headphone jacks and volume control. It is still powered via USB, now from a powered hub's recharge port.
I can't understate the utility of the vertically oriented volume knob. The DAC is left of my keyboard so I can continue mousing with the right hand ... so convenient! No diverting to click on apps or the Windows tray, or aiming for volume keys on the keyboard. I would have installed it a lot sooner if I had realized how non-distracting it is to my workflow.
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