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Interference in Little Dot MKIII

post #1 of 22
12/30/12 at 5:02pm
Thread Starter 

I just bought a new little dot mk3 amp for my HD600s but i have been getting a lot of radio interference with it. It is close to my wifi router, wireless phone, and a wireless printer but I have no other place to put it so I cannot really move it or any of the other devices. I am assuming the interference is coming from one of those but I am new to this and not really sure what to do about this with out moving the amp. I am stationed in Germany but bought a 110v amp and am running it though a transformer to reduce the volts from 220 to 110 could this be causing interference? I dont know if it matters but I am running all stock cables but I have a new longer RCA cables coming. I use the amp with my Macbook Pro.

 

Is there any thing i can do to reduce or remove the interference from this amp? I know I am doing a lot wrong by putting the amp so close to all the wireless devices but there isn't much space for me to put something like that in the small rooms in the barracks. Any info on how to fix my interference problem would be great thanks.

 

thanks

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post #2 of 22
12/31/12 at 8:03pm

Have you tried isolating the problem by switching off those other devices one by one?

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post #3 of 22
1/1/13 at 10:51am
Thread Starter 

No I have not. Would that make a difference in how to stop the amp from picking up the interference to find out where it is coming from? I cannot move or keep the other devices off as I use them quite often.

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post #4 of 22
1/2/13 at 8:49am

No, of course not. Just keep fumbling in the dark. tongue.gif

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post #5 of 22
2/5/13 at 6:41am
Thread Starter 

it has been a while but i have found out that the interference is coming from my ethernet port. I am forced to use ethernet as the router that I have doesn't agree with my mac. I am using a shielded cat6a ethernet and a shielded audioquest input to my amp but am still getting alot of interference when I have the ethernet cable plugged in to my computer. Any way to correct this?

 

I cannot replace the router as it is a router modem and it is the only one that works with my internet phone which I need when I call back to the states.

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post #6 of 22
2/5/13 at 3:20pm

Try better shielded RCA cables? 

 

You should try to narrow down where the source of the interference lies. My guess is that its the connect between the amp and your computer. 

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post #7 of 22
2/6/13 at 1:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pnaples92 View Post

I am using a shielded cat6a ethernet and a shielded audioquest input to my amp but am still getting alot of interference when I have the ethernet cable plugged in to my computer. Any way to correct this?

 

Could it be a ground loop problem? Could you try an unshielded network cable?

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post #8 of 22
2/6/13 at 3:39am

I think the LDMKIII generally is very prone to picking up interference and radio signals. For example, many head-fiers, including myself have reported it picking up noise occasionally from cellphones. My first guess is your wireless phone. If you can't move anything then maybe better shielded RCA cables might do the trick, but I wouldn't bet on it, not with the MKIII at least.

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post #9 of 22
2/8/13 at 9:33am
Thread Starter 

my RCA cables are audioquest evergreens. I have just upgraded to the shielded cat6a from a basic unshielded ethernet cable that you get with a router or something like that. If it is a ground loop how can i fix that using 220v? Or could it be the transformer that is causing the ground loop?

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post #10 of 22
2/9/13 at 6:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pnaples92 View Post

I have just upgraded to the shielded cat6a from a basic unshielded ethernet cable that you get with a router or something like that.

 

Let me get this straight. The problem only appears with the ethernet cable connected? With unshielded as well as shielded cable?

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by pnaples92 View Post

I am forced to use ethernet as the router that I have doesn't agree with my mac.

 

How so?

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post #11 of 22
2/9/13 at 7:00am
Thread Starter 

yes that is correct. I thought that a shielded ethernet cable would have fixed it but it didn't. I have to use an ethernet because my computer drops the signal with the router I have to use. I dont know if something happened to my computer or if it just router. It worked fine with my router back in the states but once I got to germany it has not held a signal for longer than an hour or so

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post #12 of 22
2/9/13 at 7:05am

If you really can't move away any of the components causing the interference I would perhaps suggest looking into a different amplifier. I've said it before and I'll say it again, LDMKIII is really prone to picking up almost any type of interference. I suffered from cellphone radio signals and from ground loop issues when using it, now I switched to solid states and haven't had a single issue since.

 

Alternatively, if tubes are your thing, there is DarkVoice and LaFigaro 336C which are comparable to LDMKIII but with better quality and more tube rolling options.

 

LDMKIII is really a great product if you're using it in a noise/interference free environment, which unfortunately you're not.


Edited by Monir - 2/9/13 at 7:33am
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post #13 of 22
2/9/13 at 7:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pnaples92 View Post

yes that is correct.

 

Ok. Is the amp connected to the analog output of the laptop; i.e., you have no DAC or external audio device? Is the problem there if you connect your headphones straight to the laptop? Does the amp make the noise when it's not connected to the laptop? Have you tried moving the amp away from the rest of the kit?

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post #14 of 22
2/9/13 at 8:36am
Thread Starter 

I dont have a DAC i was looking at getting one but I dont want to invest more if im going to continue to get inference. When im not using my amp there is no problems and when the amp isnt connected to my computer there is no interference either. Can you elaborate on what you mean by the rest of the kit please.

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post #15 of 22
2/9/13 at 8:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pnaples92 View Post

I dont have a DAC i was looking at getting one but I dont want to invest more if im going to continue to get inference. When im not using my amp there is no problems and when the amp isnt connected to my computer there is no interference either. Can you elaborate on what you mean by the rest of the kit please.

 

If you do get an external DAC and connect it via Optical from your computer then all type of interference from the computer will be eliminated since Optical is a type of digital connection which does not carry with it forms of interference/noise. Very common in eliminating ground loops for example.

 

But I'm still not sure whether the interference is internal or external (ie like radio signals) due to the wireless phone and wifi router.

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