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Noise Reduction

post #1 of 7
5/22/07 at 9:16pm
Thread Starter 
When I'm listening to music at higher volumes (and only when the music is playing), there is a noticeable amount of noise, and I'm not sure where it's being generated. My current setup is as follows:

FLAC rips in foobar > Toslink > Beresford TC-7510 DAC > RCA > Darkvoice 336i w/ stock tubes > Senn HD650 w/ stock cable

What could it be?
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post #2 of 7
5/23/07 at 2:08am
It's either the music files that are inherently noisy or the opamp in your DAC. You really shouldn't get much noise from your amp with the 650.
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post #3 of 7
5/23/07 at 5:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dj.Evi* View Post
When I'm listening to music at higher volumes (and only when the music is playing), there is a noticeable amount of noise, and I'm not sure where it's being generated. My current setup is as follows:

FLAC rips in foobar > Toslink > Beresford TC-7510 DAC > RCA > Darkvoice 336i w/ stock tubes > Senn HD650 w/ stock cable

What could it be?
Possibilities:

Low quality/Defective tubes
Grid noise
EQ is being used ?
Defective IC's

You can do some quick check:

Swap tubes
Use a power conditioner to remove grid noise
Turn off EQ
Swap IC's

Good luck.
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post #4 of 7
5/23/07 at 6:35pm
Thread Starter 
1. I'm using the stock tubes that came with the 336i, and I don't have any replacements (if I did, I would be using them already)
2. I don't know what grid noise or power conditioning is.
3. I'm not using an EQ.
4. I don't have any other ICs. The ones listed above are the first cables I've ever bought.
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post #5 of 7
5/23/07 at 7:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dj.Evi* View Post
1. I'm using the stock tubes that came with the 336i, and I don't have any replacements (if I did, I would be using them already)
2. I don't know what grid noise or power conditioning is.
3. I'm not using an EQ.
4. I don't have any other ICs. The ones listed above are the first cables I've ever bought.
Some of the surge protectors have some built-in noise filter to reduce noise from the power line. Some fancy units have filters for individual devices. I had to use them for my home situation.

Other options require a known good set of spare to verify if the components are not defective.

Sorry about your wallet... Welcome to Head-Fi.
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post #6 of 7
5/30/07 at 3:13am

Cut out the amp.

The Beresford has a headphone out. You could try that and see if you still get the noise. That might indicate whether its the DAC or the amp.
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post #7 of 7
5/30/07 at 5:09am
I don´t know the Darkcoive, but many chinese tube amps comes sometimes in a bad manufactered state. Just open your amplifier and have a look inside. You don´t need "known good set of spare to verify if the components are not defective" for a basic check. Sometimes you see cables that are not twisted. If you correct it you hear less hum.

But be careful! High voltage inside.
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