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pc dac?

post #1 of 25
6/5/12 at 10:28pm
Thread Starter 
What's a good dac to go whit d5000s and a Asgard amp? I'm coming out of my old xfi to the Asgard right now and since I added the amp I pick up so much pc noise that I had to stop uesing the Asgard. My mob has and coax and optical out if I uesed those to a good dac would I still get all the pc noise every time I move my mouse and stuff? wahts a good dac to ues and should i ues optical or something like usb
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post #2 of 25
6/5/12 at 10:45pm

If its not the amp causing the noise, then yes, I think using an external DAC may solve your problem. But better check first.

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post #3 of 25
6/5/12 at 10:56pm
Thread Starter 

every time i move my mouse or use my keyboard and i can hear my hdd drive Head's moving i think the amp is just picking it more as when i hook it up to my labtop it makes way less noise. so whats the best way to not hear the pc sounds and noise but still beable to use the amp?
 

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post #4 of 25
6/5/12 at 11:03pm

HDDs can cause static if too close to the motherboard.

You can either try going for a soundcard if you are a gamer or need 5.1 sound etc.

Or else buy a USB DAC, it has a line out that goes into your amp. 

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post #5 of 25
6/5/12 at 11:08pm

How close is your Asgard to your PC?  If they are very close, and if your cable permits, spread them apart so see if it helps any.  Next, I would check your cables.  If they are not well insulated, it will contribute to the noise.  I assume the amp is connected directly the your xfi sound car through the RCA connects, correct?

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post #6 of 25
6/5/12 at 11:17pm

^ Good point. Try putting your amp at a distance.

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post #7 of 25
6/5/12 at 11:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tunatime View Post
Every time i move my mouse or use my keyboard and I can hear my hdd drive Head's moving I think the amp is just picking it more as when I hook it up to my labtop it makes way less noise. so whats the best way to not hear the pc sounds and noise but still beable to use the amp?

Do you use the current X-Fi sound card for music? movies? gaming?

The Asus Xonar DX sound card gets it's power from the floppy power cable directly from the PC's powersupply.

The card might pick up less electrical noise from the PC's motherboard.

The DX should also have a better DAC then your X-Fi card.

 

If all you do it music, the DAC Destroyer (USB DAC) sells on eBay for $50.

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post #8 of 25
6/6/12 at 12:11am

Two questions:

 

-Do you play games, and if so, which ones?

-What model X-Fi do you have?

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post #9 of 25
6/6/12 at 7:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tunatime View Post

What's a good dac to go whit d5000s and a Asgard amp? I'm coming out of my old xfi to the Asgard right now and since I added the amp I pick up so much pc noise that I had to stop uesing the Asgard.

 

If the noise is much worse with the Asgard at the same volume (even if you set the volume on the X-Fi as high as possible when using the external amplifier), then you likely have a ground loop, especially if both the PC and the Asgard are grounded. You could try using an external DAC with optical input or USB isolation, or a non-grounded (e.g. O2) or battery powered (e.g. E11) amplifier.


Edited by stv014 - 6/6/12 at 7:12am
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post #10 of 25
6/6/12 at 3:02pm
Thread Starter 

yea i play a lot of games of all kinds, i also watch movies and tv shows form my pc when the wife is asleep.

 

i have the x fi platinum whit the fount box thing, I'm coming out the xfi whit a RCA to 3.5mm plug to the amp. what is wired if i unplug my pc but still have the RCA hooked up to my amp and pc i get a good bit a noise when the amp is on 100% volume, if i plug in my pc but don't turn it on i get almost no noise if i turn the pc on i can hear the drives start to spin and when my cpu or gpu goes under load it gets way worse, if i unplug the RCA cable form the amp there is no noise at all  even if i turn the amp to 100% . so how do i check for this ground loop thing vs needing a dac?

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post #11 of 25
6/6/12 at 8:57pm

X-Fi Platinum? That's a proper card with the DSP, no worries about its gaming performance.

 

Hmmm...the baffling part is that leaving the cable connected to the amp, but disconnected from the PC results in noise, while disconnecting the cable from the amp results in no noise. Why would that ever happen? Tried a different cable? (No, I don't mean the super-expensive kind, just another known-good cable.)

 

For that matter, does the level of noise change when you change the X-Fi driver volume?

 

I can't think of how to solve this unless you have other cables, amps or sound cards to experiment swapping out with through simple process of elimination.

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post #12 of 25
6/6/12 at 9:54pm
Thread Starter 
Yes I tired a new cable and that fixed a lot of the noise as I can leave the cable connected whit the pc off and get no noise but it didn't help any whit having the pc on I even tried using my mob onboard sound and its a little worse then form the xfi changing the pc sound does nothing as it even does it I'm bois I can hear it every time I move my mouse so would xfi optical out to any dac fix it or is it some thing else.
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post #13 of 25
6/6/12 at 10:53pm

Read this and go from there:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/497902/schiit-asgard-unboxing-and-first-impressions/1425#post_7887090

 

Sounds like your source (sound card).


Edited by alphaphoenix - 6/6/12 at 10:55pm
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post #14 of 25
6/6/12 at 11:01pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by alphaphoenix View Post

Read this and go from there:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/497902/schiit-asgard-unboxing-and-first-impressions/1425#post_7887090

 

Sounds like your source (sound card).

so whats the best way to fix it?

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post #15 of 25
6/6/12 at 11:06pm

I would try the least expensive route and get a relatively cheap USB DAC, like a grubdac, Fiio E10, Hifiman Express..etc in place of your xfi sound card and go from there.  If you know someone, borrow it for a day or two.

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