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LittleDot MK3 + Buzzing sound

post #1 of 6
8/3/11 at 6:13pm
Thread Starter 

Hi Everyone,

 

So I finally bit the bullet and bought the LittleDot MK3 amp to go with my sens. hd 555 (It's overkill I know, but I plan on upgrading the headphones at some point). So there's no doubt that the sound is now ALOT better... it gives the headphones a nice bass kick that really brings the music to life.

 

Just one problem:

 

When I plug my headphones into the amp, I have a very subtle buzzing sound. It's not overt, but it is there. I can't really hear it on most tracks that I play, but when I play nothing or when I play a more mellow song, I can sense it in the background.

 

This buzzing only occurs when I plug my headphones into the amp. If I plug them into the computer, or switch the amp with a soundcard or basically plug them in anywhere else.. there's no buzzing. Also, it doesn't seem to matter where I move the amp or what I put underneath it or whatever.

 

Has anyone ever encountered something like this.. and if they have.. how do I fix it? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks alot in advance.

 

Cheers,

 

Sam


Edited by sam6350 - 8/3/11 at 9:07pm
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post #2 of 6
8/3/11 at 10:07pm
Thread Starter 

Update:

 

After running a few tests I realized that the sound interference is actually coming from my pc because everytime I move the mouse, or I type or anything like that...the amp catches a bit of the noise.

 

Unless I'm wrong, this indicates that my soundcard isn't filtering the pc interference well enough for such a sensitive little amp. I tried plugging the amp into my soundblaster x-fi, but it didn't do sh*t.. in fact it made it worse. I think that makes some sense though because that sound card is plugged in through usb only.

 

So my question is: What soundcard should I get that would be optimally suited to filtering out pc noise?

 

Any help would be most appreciated once again.

 

Cheers,

 

Sam

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post #3 of 6
8/4/11 at 12:41am

Hi Sam,

 

Have you tried plugging the amp into another source (cd player, ipod etc.)? 

If it's your card have you thought about purchasing an external dac?

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post #4 of 6
8/5/11 at 7:45am

I get the same thing with my laptop but only when plugged into the mains. Fine when its running off battery. I too can hear changes in the buzzing when I move the mouse. And an external creative soundcard doesnt stop it.

 

I feel its some interference from static build up; something is not grounded properly. I find it strange that it doesnt happen from my desktop with either onboard or the external soundcard.

 

Hope this clears your LD from being faulty.

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post #5 of 6
8/5/11 at 8:16am

Quote:

Originally Posted by sam6350 View Post

When I plug my headphones into the amp,

 

Cheers,

 

Sam

 

Hi,

 

just to be absolutely sure: you do plug your headphones into the LD III *before* turning it on (as specified in the manual), right?
 

 

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post #6 of 6
8/6/11 at 9:47am

I had exactly the same problem a couple of years ago, and you're right, this is entirely due to the power supply to your laptop.  Great news for you though, you can fix this by spending no more than about £5 or $5 - you need a 'ground loop isolator'.

 

Here's one I picked out entirely at random from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Av-Link-CAR-NF01-Skytronic-Isolator/dp/B000NVWB9O (check out the reviews).

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