I received a new Raptor amp from Ray and the first thing I wanna say is it sounds absolutely beautiful and dealing with Ray was the best. Ray really seems to love his craft and takes pride in his work. I have a computer and Ultra micro DAC and some accessories plugged into a power strip and then the raptor is plugged directly into the same wall socket along with the power strip. This configuration produced a hiss that was audible when the volume was low or the music was very simple. I tried a 2 prong adapter and that made an improvement but wasnt a total solution, but it reduced the hiss to a level where I cant here it when I listen to music unless there is a pause or extremey low point in the music. I moved the amp to a different wall socket and that socket has no other devices on it. That didnt improve the situation either. The hiss reminds me of an HK PM655 amp I had in the eighties, it made a similar hiss with no source running and you put your head next to the speakers but was not audible just sitting in the room. It is definitely not a hum, its a hiss. I have an extremely nice interconnect Jacob at Soloz Audio made for me and it is a night and day difference because when I first got the amp I had a fifteen dollar cable from best buy and it sounds like crap so its not the cable. Jacob was also very nice to deal with and had extremely good communication. The power cord is a 14 gauge unit I got from PC Power And Cooling. Its cheap but built real solid. My question is this, will a power conditioning power strip eliminate the hiss I can hear. Also, is this normal with an amp like this? I think it is but like I said, last time I heard something like this was a super nice amp I had 20 some years ago. If you think I need a power conditioner let me know what brand or what models you like. I don't wanna spend a fortune, 100 to 200 would be nice.
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Cables, Power, Tweaks, Speakers, Accessories (DBT-Free Forum) › New Raptor Has Low Level Hiss, What to do?
Join Now
Be a part of the community.
It's free, join today!
Recent Reviews
-
All I have to say is that their awesome pair of headphones. Great sound stage, vocals are a bit too strong, you can feel the bass other than hearing it, and great for movies. Comfort is 4.5...
-
I know people bash on Bose because of they're over priced and I agree. I believe these retail for about $150 or so and I paid $85 for these due to employee discount at where I work. With that...
-
I bought these headphones as an upgrade from my BD DT-770 Pro 80Ohm. The are better in all areas, except that the right can can't handle bass. As soon as there are low bass it just becomes a...
-
I just picked these up today so this is just an initial assessment. These are a great sounding headphone overall but the fact that they are also closed back and still have great soundstage at...
-
everything about these headphones is flawless. Everything is balanced, and perfect. Any of the reviews that didn't like them most likely have a fake pair, or, hate life. The only thing I could...
Head-Fi Sponsors
Drop by and thank our partners for helping keep the lights on at Head-Fi!
New Raptor Has Low Level Hiss, What to do?
post #2 of 9
5/25/08 at 1:31am
- sacd lover
- Trader Feedback: 0
-
- offline
- 8,207 Posts. Joined 8/2002
- Location: Ohio
- Select All Posts By This User
Quote:
|
I received a new Raptor amp from Ray and the first thing I wanna say is it sounds absolutely beautiful and dealing with Ray was the best. Ray really seems to love his craft and takes pride in his work. I have a computer and Ultra micro DAC and some accessories plugged into a power strip and then the raptor is plugged directly into the same wall socket along with the power strip. This configuration produced a hiss that was audible when the volume was low or the music was very simple. I tried a 2 prong adapter and that made an improvement but wasnt a total solution, but it reduced the hiss to a level where I cant here it when I listen to music unless there is a pause or extremey low point in the music. I moved the amp to a different wall socket and that socket has no other devices on it. That didnt improve the situation either. The hiss reminds me of an HK PM655 amp I had in the eighties, it made a similar hiss with no source running and you put your head next to the speakers but was not audible just sitting in the room. It is definitely not a hum, its a hiss. I have an extremely nice interconnect Jacob at Soloz Audio made for me and it is a night and day difference because when I first got the amp I had a fifteen dollar cable from best buy and it sounds like crap so its not the cable. Jacob was also very nice to deal with and had extremely good communication. The power cord is a 14 gauge unit I got from PC Power And Cooling. Its cheap but built real solid. My question is this, will a power conditioning power strip eliminate the hiss I can hear. Also, is this normal with an amp like this? I think it is but like I said, last time I heard something like this was a super nice amp I had 20 some years ago. If you think I need a power conditioner let me know what brand or what models you like. I don't wanna spend a fortune, 100 to 200 would be nice.
|
- GordonFreeman
- Trader Feedback: 0
- Banned
-
- offline
- 420 Posts. Joined 3/2008
- Select All Posts By This User
Its both channels and switching the 5687s didn't seem to have any effect. This is my first tube amp. Also I should say that the noise is more apparent using 300 Ohm 650s as compared to 62 Ohm 701s. Have no idea what that means but maybe someone out there will. I also live in an apartment building and the noise is faint or non-existent late at night.
- GordonFreeman
- Trader Feedback: 0
- Banned
-
- offline
- 420 Posts. Joined 3/2008
- Select All Posts By This User
Bump
post #5 of 9
5/25/08 at 7:30pm
- vcoheda
- Trader Feedback: +5
- High-End Forum Volunteer
-
- offline
- 9,954 Posts. Joined 11/2004
- Location: Westchester, NY
- Select All Posts By This User
ask ray, maybe.
post #6 of 9
5/25/08 at 7:36pm
Quote:
|
I also live in an apartment building and the noise is faint or non-existent late at night.
|
Call or email Ray on Tuesday morning. Heck, email him tonight; maybe he reads his email on holiday weekends. If it is a power problem, a line conditioner might help. Ray would know what to do. Let us know what you find out.
post #7 of 9
5/25/08 at 8:00pm
- johnsonad
- Trader Feedback: 0
-
- offline
- 888 Posts. Joined 12/2006
- Location: San Diego, CA
- Select All Posts By This User
Call Ray, he will walk you through step by step in isolating the sound.
- GordonFreeman
- Trader Feedback: 0
- Banned
-
- offline
- 420 Posts. Joined 3/2008
- Select All Posts By This User
Thanks everyone!
post #9 of 9
5/27/08 at 1:40pm
- JimP
- Trader Feedback: +6
-
- offline
- 614 Posts. Joined 5/2005
- Location: Hong Kong
- Select All Posts By This User
I don't own a Raptor and am relatively new to tubes, but I'll throw out the following in my own efforts to 'debug' my Almarro that may (or not) help:
1. I had random squelches/squeaks irrespective of volume levels, cables etc. I searched HF where someone recommended removing the tubes and giving the pins a good scrub with an old toothbrush and rubbing alchohol. Carefully reseated the tubes, and it worked, this problem solved. [but this does not seem like your problem]
2. Separately I had a low level hiss. I tried everything, different cables, sources etc at least to semi-scientifically isolate the problem. For me, the problem definitely was using USB cable connection on the either the DAC1USB or miniDAC. Using optical connection, which I can do from my Macmini, solved this problem. (these days I primarily use my 840c as DAC, which can take optical out from macmini as well). Also, getting a bit longer ICs to move the source further away from amp may have helped.
Again this is in my situation and YMMV (I have one more minor issue related attenuation that I'm resolving, but so far the noise issues #1 and #2 have gone away). Also caveat that aside from the K1000, I'm using high impedance phones, DT880-600 and HD650.
Not to digress but my Earmax AE is dead black silent irrespective of sources (including USB DACs), cables, etc, whatever combo I through at it -- very impressive. The Almarro is finicky but the sound is so wonderful, worth the effort to 'debug' - and I'm satisfied with the result so far.
Good luck!
1. I had random squelches/squeaks irrespective of volume levels, cables etc. I searched HF where someone recommended removing the tubes and giving the pins a good scrub with an old toothbrush and rubbing alchohol. Carefully reseated the tubes, and it worked, this problem solved. [but this does not seem like your problem]
2. Separately I had a low level hiss. I tried everything, different cables, sources etc at least to semi-scientifically isolate the problem. For me, the problem definitely was using USB cable connection on the either the DAC1USB or miniDAC. Using optical connection, which I can do from my Macmini, solved this problem. (these days I primarily use my 840c as DAC, which can take optical out from macmini as well). Also, getting a bit longer ICs to move the source further away from amp may have helped.
Again this is in my situation and YMMV (I have one more minor issue related attenuation that I'm resolving, but so far the noise issues #1 and #2 have gone away). Also caveat that aside from the K1000, I'm using high impedance phones, DT880-600 and HD650.
Not to digress but my Earmax AE is dead black silent irrespective of sources (including USB DACs), cables, etc, whatever combo I through at it -- very impressive. The Almarro is finicky but the sound is so wonderful, worth the effort to 'debug' - and I'm satisfied with the result so far.
Good luck!
Return Home
- New Raptor Has Low Level Hiss, What to do?
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Cables, Power, Tweaks, Speakers, Accessories (DBT-Free Forum) › New Raptor Has Low Level Hiss, What to do?
Currently, there are 2117 Active Users
(474 Members and 1643 Guests)
Recent Discussions
- › Dilemma: Should I not believe any reviewers who talk about cables... 33 seconds ago
- › FOR SALE: Ultrasone Pro 900 (Unbalanced) less than 14 days... 1 minute ago
- › the way I analyze audio performance 1 minute ago
- › Feedback for Justin's Headphone Modding (jschristian44) 1 minute ago
- › Headphone Help! 1 minute ago
- › New to Head-Fi / High-end Audio Forum / Proud MDR-R10 Owner 3 minutes ago
- › Post A Photograph Of Your Turntable 4 minutes ago
- › Alternative to Lehmann audio Black Cube Linear USB 4 minutes ago
- › **IC: Denon D2000** 5 minutes ago
- › ++RECOMMENDATIONS THREAD++ i.e. Don't start a new thread: ask for... 5 minutes ago
View: New Posts | All Discussions
Recent Reviews
- › Sennheiser HD 800 Headphones by DannyRox23
- › Bose OE2i Audio Headphones - White by emceelokey
- › Beyer Dynamic DT 770 Premium 600 OHM Headphones by kungmarten
- › AKG K 550 by JohnnyBlaze554
- › Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Studio Monitor Headphones by Headphonezz
- › Sennheiser HD 238 Stereo Open Aire Headphone by Squirelrepublic
- › Beyerdynamic DT-990 Professional Headphones by turgid
- › Phonak PFE 012 by drsamdc
- › digiZoid ZO2 Personal hi-fi experience by redguy
- › Stanton Dynaphase Sixty by voodoo do-er
View: More Reviews
New Articles
- › Comparing headphones: Sennheiser's HD... by Windsor
- › iBasso DX100 FAQ by DoctorHeadz
- › DIY Cable Info and Resources by Pingupenguins
- › Asr Head-Fi Threads Compendium by Asr
- › Headphone Buying Guide by keanex
- › Fostex T50RP modification summary LINKS - wiki by jgray91
- › Comparisons of the LCD-3 and the LCD-2 Rev. 2 by MacedonianHero
- › Posting Guidelines by Currawong
- › Comparisons of LCD-2 Rev. 1 and Rev. 2 by MacedonianHero
- › Membership Levels, Badges and Custom Titles by Currawong
View: New Articles | All Articles
Home | Head Gear | Forums | Articles | My Profile
About Head-Fi.org | Join the Community | Advertise
© 2012 Head-Fi.org is powered by Huddler Tech | FAQ | Support | Privacy/TOS | Site Map
About Head-Fi.org | Join the Community | Advertise
© 2012 Head-Fi.org is powered by Huddler Tech | FAQ | Support | Privacy/TOS | Site Map





