[H20Fidelity]

Even if the music is paused the buzzing noise is there.

The only way to get rid of the buzzing sound is to switch to Out2 or LowGain.

That's not normal, can you try on another source to confirm it's not amplifying something from your player?

Output2 has an impedance circuit rigged behind it which may filter out the noise.

 

[Swy05]

Quote:

That's not normal, can you try on another source to confirm it's not amplifying something from your player?

Output2 has an impedance circuit rigged behind it which may filter out the noise.

I've been using my Galaxy S3 as my source.  I'll try using my laptop or ipad.

 

[Swy05]

Okay, so I had a bit more time to play around with it and here's what I found.
 
I did a comparison with my Fiio E6.  When I have my earphones plugged into the E6 and turn it on, there is no sound but, you can hear a certain "empty" sound.  It's very hard to describe but if you've ever turned on speakers or turned up the volume of a t.v. when there is no sound, you can hear this "empty" sound.
 
On the C&C, Out2 is completely silent with Highgain on/off.  There is no "empty" sound like the E6.
 
On Out1 with Highgain off, it's completely silent.  Once again, there is no "empty" sound.  Dead silent.
 
However, on Out2 with Highgain on, I can hear a slight "whirring" sound.  This is even when it's not plugged into my mp3 player.  I only have the earphone plugged into the C&C.
 
I apologize, I don't mean it's a high pitched buzzing sound but, a faint but noticeable "whirring" sound.  Like a "beeeeeeeee" or "whheeeeeee" sound.
 
The sound is not high-pitched or extremely noticeable.  However, it's a bit annoying that I can hear this slight constant whirring.
 
When it's plugged into an mp3 player and a song is playing I can't tell if the whirring is there or not.
 
No one else's C&C has this issue?  Or is it just an issue because of the highgain/Out1 combination?  

 

[Gintaras]

i agree with H2O, this is not usual.
 
SE215 cannot be the problem, i got SE215 and had no issues on BH. small audible sh....ish noise can be heard in background when DAP is not playing but no issues during playback. is my BH copy so good?

 

[kova4a]

It's the source not the amp or the headphones. You probably hear the S3's internals buzzing and the high gain amplifies that sound. The BH is dead silent with a good source even on high gain all the way up to 95% on the volume pot. And I mean dead silent even when no music is being played - just the BH isn't the greatest performer out of headphone outs.
edit: Probably high impedance headphones will be better with your rig as even with Out1 you'll have less background noise. Also the se215 might just have bad synergy with the BH or it's just prone to hissing when amplified because of you hear it without a DAP connected that's just plain hiss.

 

[Swy05]

It's the source not the amp or the headphones. You probably hear the S3's internals buzzing and the high gain amplifies that sound. The BH is dead silent with a good source even on high gain all the way up to 95% on the volume pot. And I mean dead silent even when no music is being played - just the BH isn't the greatest performer out of headphone outs.
edit: Probably high impedance headphones will be better with your rig as even with Out1 you'll have less background noise. Also the se215 might just have bad synergy with the BH or it's just prone to hissing when amplified because of you hear it without a DAP connected that's just plain hiss.

See thats the thing though. I can hear this sound even when its not plugged into my galaxy s3.

As a test I took a couple of iems and plugged them only into the bh amp. I did not connect the amp to my s3.

Even when its only connected to the bh, I csn hear the noise.

 

[zerocoolhifi]

Quote:

It's the source not the amp or the headphones. You probably hear the S3's internals buzzing and the high gain amplifies that sound. The BH is dead silent with a good source even on high gain all the way up to 95% on the volume pot. And I mean dead silent even when no music is being played - just the BH isn't the greatest performer out of headphone outs.
edit: Probably high impedance headphones will be better with your rig as even with Out1 you'll have less background noise. Also the se215 might just have bad synergy with the BH or it's just prone to hissing when amplified because of you hear it without a DAP connected that's just plain hiss.

But he is saying he is hearing this "whirring" sound even when the amp is not plugged in to ANY source. If you are hearing noise through Out 1 when no source is plugged in then I would say you have a bid unit. Mine is dead silent with my IEM plugged into Out 1, high gain on, others switches off and no source plugged in.

 

[kova4a]

Quote:

But he is saying he is hearing this "whirring" sound even when the amp is not plugged in to ANY source. If you are hearing noise through Out 1 when no source is plugged in then I would say you have a bid unit. Mine is dead silent with my IEM plugged into Out 1, high gain on, others switches off and no source plugged in.

The iem might be just sensitive and hiss prone. You'll never hear that on OUt1 with your iems coz none of them is hiss prone or exactly particularly sensitive.

 

[Dark Helmet]

Is your S3 in airplane mode?  I would also turn off Bluetooth.

 

[imackler]

Hey all! I'm looking for a portable amp that would tighten the bass and bring forward the mids just a little on my DT770 LE 32ohm. I've read some reviews and some of this thread as well as done some searching but I'm not quite sure what the sound signature is of the C&C BH. The headphones are a little warm and bassy so I don't want an amp that would accentuate that sound signature any more than it already is. the treble is already bright. If it helps, I liked it more with the OPA227 C421 than my Neco V3 w/ AD8610. Is the C&C BH for me, or should i look elsewhere? 

 

[zerocoolhifi]

Quote:

It's the source not the amp or the headphones. You probably hear the S3's internals buzzing and the high gain amplifies that sound. The BH is dead silent with a good source even on high gain all the way up to 95% on the volume pot. And I mean dead silent even when no music is being played - just the BH isn't the greatest performer out of headphone outs.
edit: Probably high impedance headphones will be better with your rig as even with Out1 you'll have less background noise. Also the se215 might just have bad synergy with the BH or it's just prone to hissing when amplified because of you hear it without a DAP connected that's just plain hiss.

OK but you said it was the source and not the amp or headphones - I was pointing out that is NOT the source since he is hearing it with out it even plugged in.

 

[kova4a]

Quote:

OK but you said it was the source and not the amp or headphones - I was pointing out that is NOT the source since he is hearing it with out it even plugged in.

I missed that part when I wrote the first comment but I fixed that afterwards. Generally if you don't hear it with low gain then it's hissing from the headphones' sensitivity or they are just prone to hissing.

 

[kova4a]

OK, so I've been trying to put my finger on what exactly the SF switch does aside from the opinions here that it's magical. H20 said it expands the soundstage but it changes the frequency response and he was partially right. It does affect only certain frequencies by moving them forward in the presentation - for instance a guitar that is slightly in the back moves forward and expands slightly to the center. This makes the tracks affected by the switch sound fuller and grander, which can give the impression that the soundstage is bigger while it's exactly the same. Now the other thing - those frequencies actually move not only to the center also but to the opposite channel, so there is a very small crossfeed. This can easily be heard in older tracks that have complete channel separation like a lot of rock and metal from back in the day. That's why it's also detectable in stuff like trance and such. 

 

[Gintaras]

Today in late evening had not much to do and remembering some past conversations I decided to try higher quality silver LOD from iTouch 4 into BH and my EB50. I recall some people were claiming iTouch sounds better than C3 with BH... What can I say? Nothing like this IMO. While iTouch sounds surely better with amp via good LOD cable i find it sounding more digital, lacking air and articulation dynamics, essentially no matter how much time I spend on listening iTouch just does not come ahead, stage is flat and compressed, timbre lacks richness while much falls into lower registers in bass and overall presentation becomes pretty boring despite fairly good detailing. iTouch simply cannot produce analogue-like sound no matter, i tried two more amps including Digizoid and another amp I received now, but neither could force iTouch to sound analogue. Mind this iTouch is an Ok player and delivers good sound when amped but... this not anywhere close to audiophile world unless you use older moded or rockboxed versions of iPod classic.

So far so are my findings. And to counteract arguments about Apple bashing and bias I have to tell that except for iPod my home is fully Mac equipped with five computers, three iPhones and some smaller stuff... Plus I personally know director of Apple for Europe... So if iPods could sound really good I would have bought them in no time.

 

[Dark Helmet]

Quote:

Today in late evening had not much to do and remembering some past conversations I decided to try higher quality silver LOD from iTouch 4 into BH and my EB50. I recall some people were claiming iTouch sounds better than C3 with BH... What can I say? Nothing like this IMO. While iTouch sounds surely better with amp via good LOD cable i find it sounding more digital, lacking air and articulation dynamics, essentially no matter how much time I spend on listening iTouch just does not come ahead, stage is flat and compressed, timbre lacks richness while much falls into lower registers in bass and overall presentation becomes pretty boring despite fairly good detailing. iTouch simply cannot produce analogue-like sound no matter, i tried two more amps including Digizoid and another amp I received now, but neither could force iTouch to sound analogue. Mind this iTouch is an Ok player and delivers good sound when amped but... this not anywhere close to audiophile world unless you use older moded or rockboxed versions of iPod classic.

So far so are my findings. And to counteract arguments about Apple bashing and bias I have to tell that except for iPod my home is fully Mac equipped with five computers, three iPhones and some smaller stuff... Plus I personally know director of Apple for Europe... So if iPods could sound really good I would have bought them in no time.

Thanks for the info Gintaras.  Very reassuring to know.