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Fiio E10 USB DAC warning!

post #1 of 8
7/10/12 at 1:21am
Thread Starter 

Hi guys, had my Fiio E10 USB DAC for a few months now and have a major gripe

 

Basically it does not isolate the noise from a laptop/PC completely, you still get electrical interference noise passing through it! I never had this with the Fiio E7 I guess due to the output stage being powered via a battery and not directly from USB.

 

Yes the sound quality is very good but when there is a lull/quiet period in the music you can hear the awful noise :(

 

Anyone else observed this?

 

***EDIT*** I have discovered that the E10 is sensitive to the USB cable, some USB cables prodcue this effect whilst others do not. I guess the E10 needs a cable that is well made and that no power PINs short with the data (or even close to shorting). I have not found this with other USB DACs that have shown no sensitivity to the USB cable used.


Edited by Krisman - 7/10/12 at 8:15am
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post #2 of 8
7/10/12 at 2:45pm

The shorter the USB cable the better.  The more shielded a USB cable is the better.  The higher quality termination on the USB cable is also a factor.  The last thing to watch for is impedance mismatch issues that can lead directly to noise due to transmission line reflections.

 

Glad you made the noise go away.

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post #3 of 8
7/10/12 at 2:54pm

Same issue occasionally with my E17/E9 setup.  Was told to try a USB splitter and when I did, the problem went away.  That was a few months ago and since then have had a few updates to the OS and now it doesn't do it at all even using the stock USB cable supplied by Fiio directly into USB port, but I still have the splitter nearby in case the problem shows up again. 

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post #4 of 8
7/11/12 at 12:58am
Thread Starter 

Good advice guys. Just a point about the length of the USB lead, shorter is not always better. Shorter leads can suffer from high relfections and is the cable has some degree of shorting between pins the reflected noise can be induced into other wires.

 

Sometimes it is best to get something over 0.5m to attenuate out any rogue noise! :)

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post #5 of 8
7/11/12 at 6:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Krisman View Post
***EDIT*** I have discovered that the E10 is sensitive to the USB cable, some USB cables prodcue this effect whilst others do not. I guess the E10 needs a cable that is well made and that no power PINs short with the data (or even close to shorting). I have not found this with other USB DACs that have shown no sensitivity to the USB cable used.

 

Are you using the E10 with an external amplifier ?

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post #6 of 8
7/17/12 at 6:31am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by stv014 View Post

 

Are you using the E10 with an external amplifier ?

Nope :)

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post #7 of 8
9/5/12 at 8:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Krisman View Post

 

Yes the sound quality is very good but when there is a lull/quiet period in the music you can hear the awful noise :(

 

 

***EDIT*** I have discovered that the E10 is sensitive to the USB cable, some USB cables prodcue this effect whilst others do not. I guess the E10 needs a cable that is well made and that no power PINs short with the data (or even close to shorting). I have not found this with other USB DACs that have shown no sensitivity to the USB cable used.

 

I have the exact same problem. Although only when *no* music is playing then I get a low "humming" noise which is really annoying.

 

What brand of cable did you go for?

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post #8 of 8
9/15/12 at 10:41am
Thread Starter 

Hey, sorry for the slow response! I had Lindy branded cables and all exhibited the 'interference'. I then tried an unbranded cable and there was no issue! :(

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