[Selbi]

I've purchased a Fiio E10K to get rid off my crappy computer's on-board sound, namely hissing. And it worked fine.
 
Now, I've recently picked up a part-time intern job in an IT company (I'm a student). There are times in which there simply is nothing to discuss, and I got a single-person office, so I asked my boss if it was okay to listen to music and he was totally fine with it. But alas, the computers are optimized for CPU usage to be used with Virtual Machines and intense computing applications. Not graphics or, for that matter, music.
 
Hissing ahoy. Lemme tell ya. The motherboard probably has a sound chip the size of a fingernail in it, just to produce anything.
 
So I brought my E10K to work today and plugged it into the front-rear USB ports and my earphones in the DAC. The audio quality definitely improved, but the hissing was still very noticeably there...
 
Did I misunderstand the concept of DACs? I was expecting to get the exact same audio quality that I get at home, as I thought DACs completely bypass the on-board soundchip and do their own audio shenanigans.

 

[Sam21]

Some DAC-AMPs offer lower noise floor while others have higher noise floor....theree are millions of different DAC-AMPs out there...E10K is known to have higher noise floor...Depends on the DAC chip and the implementation both...If you want to be hiss-free you have to throw in more cash...there are cheap solutions out there like the zorloo DAC which has no hiss but the amp section is pretty weak....
 
and, by the way, what kind of noise are you hearing ? does it increase when you turn the volume knob ? or is it constant at all volumes ?

 

[Selbi]

  and, by the way, what kind of noise are you hearing ? does it increase when you turn the volume knob ? or is it constant at all volumes ?

I have no idea what noise floor is, sorry. Didn't pay attention how the noise actually scaled with volume, but I can definitely tell it was only playing while I was listening to music and I could very audibly hear it on quiet sections. It was like an extra layer of the same song, very very inaudibly and just with a section of the basic structure, in the high treble. All of that accompanied by a constant *Pfffffffffffzzz*.
 
It's hard to describe.

 

[Music Alchemist]

A USB power isolator (like the Schiit Wyrd) may help.
 
...But you may just want to get a DAP (portable digital audio player) instead.

 

[Selbi]

  A USB power isolator (like the Schiit Wyrd) may help.
 
...But you may just want to get a DAP (portable digital audio player) instead.

Now I'm confused. "USB Decrapifier"? Looks like I completely misunderstood how USB as a whole works it seems.
 
As for audio players, I might as well just use my phone, which I also do sometimes. The benefit of plugging it into my office computer is that I can just click on a button for Spotify.

 

[Sam21]

looks like an EMI, try using a different computer in a different location..your motherboard probably suffers from EMI as well....

 

[PleasantSounds]

Just to make sure that something simple is not overlooked:
How are you controlling the volume? Through the computer or the E10K? You should make sure that the computer volume is at 100% (or as close to that as practical) and use the E10K volume pot to set the desired volume level.

 

[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

  I've purchased a Fiio E10K to get rid off my crappy computer's on-board sound, namely hissing. And it worked fine.
 
Now, I've recently picked up a part-time intern job in an IT company (I'm a student). There are times in which there simply is nothing to discuss, and I got a single-person office, so I asked my boss if it was okay to listen to music and he was totally fine with it. But alas, the computers are optimized for CPU usage to be used with Virtual Machines and intense computing applications. Not graphics or, for that matter, music.
 
Hissing ahoy. Lemme tell ya. The motherboard probably has a sound chip the size of a fingernail in it, just to produce anything.
 
So I brought my E10K to work today and plugged it into the front-rear USB ports and my earphones in the DAC. The audio quality definitely improved, but the hissing was still very noticeably there...
 
Did I misunderstand the concept of DACs? I was expecting to get the exact same audio quality that I get at home, as I thought DACs completely bypass the on-board soundchip and do their own audio shenanigans.

 
Are you sure you're in IT?
 
Anyway... the "hiss" is probably the noise floor of the device you're using. What headphones or IEMs are you using?

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Now I'm confused. "USB Decrapifier"? Looks like I completely misunderstood how USB as a whole works it seems.
 
As for audio players, I might as well just use my phone, which I also do sometimes. The benefit of plugging it into my office computer is that I can just click on a button for Spotify.

 
USB noise/power issues are something you can look into, but it may not be worth bothering with in this case. You'd probably be better off with an alternative that can bypass the computers.
 
If you can connect your FiiO to your computer at home and everything sounds fine, then you know that the FiiO is not the problem, and it's gotta have something to do with the computers at work.
 
FYI, some DAPs and phones are compatible with Spotify.

 

[Selbi]

   
Are you sure you're in IT?

 
Thanks a ton for your insightful comment.

 

[Currawong]

I think he was just being humorous (note his user name). USB isn't the problem and isn't going to cause hiss issues. We need to know what IEMs you are using. Some IEMs are sensitive enough to easily pick up the noise floor of an amp, even a "good" amp.

 

[Selbi]

Yeah I just don't take well in mocking me for not being omniscient.

As for IEMs, got the Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear. They sound fine on my Fiio when used at my home desktop but not the one at work.

 

[Currawong]

Yeah I just don't take well in mocking me for not being omniscient.

As for IEMs, got the Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear. They sound fine on my Fiio when used at my home desktop but not the one at work.

Ok, that makes sense then. Have you considered getting a DAP instead? Have you tried the rear USB ports at least?

 

[Selbi]

 
Have you considered getting a DAP instead? Have you tried the rear USB ports at least?

As said before, I might as well use my phone then. But I'd like to have the instant availability of Spotify without having to use up my phone's traffic limit, which is why I use the computer. As for rear USB ports, yes, I tried them and my front ones. No difference.

 

[Currawong]

 

 
Have you considered getting a DAP instead? Have you tried the rear USB ports at least?

As said before, I might as well use my phone then. But I'd like to have the instant availability of Spotify without having to use up my phone's traffic limit, which is why I use the computer. As for rear USB ports, yes, I tried them and my front ones. No difference.

Fair enough. I cache Radio Paradise for the same reasons.  
 
It's hard to say if any kind of USB device would be a possible solution if audio playback has such low priority, unless it is something causing the computer to send out less than bit-perfect data, or under-power the USB ports. There are FiiO reps on here you might ask to see if they have any idea.