[exSpire]

Hey everyone,
I'm using the Aune T1 (first generation) and when I turn on the device, there's this painful sound coming out of my headphones, I can only describe it as an electrical click.
There's another similar issue when I turn on the lights in the room, I hear a sound through my headphones but its different, it sounds like crumpling paper.
 
A friend told me that these might be the result of bad grounding in the wall sockets, but I don't know what to make of it and what to do. It doesn't bother me too much but it sounds nasty and every time I turn on the DAC I'm afraid it would be the last time.
 
If someone could give me some advice in this matter, I would appreciate it.
 
Thanks,
Daniel.
 
 
P.S.
Wasn't sure where to post this so I'm sorry if its in the wrong section and please move it to the correct one.

 

[exSpire]

Anyone? :\

 

[Me x3]

Is the Aune grounded?
 
The third prong is responsible for grounding

 

[exSpire]

Thanks for your comment
 
No, I have the one with 2 prongs. That's the way it came and there's a power brick in the middle of the cable so I can't just replace it with any other cable.

 

[Me x3]

  Thanks for your comment
 
No, I have the one with 2 prongs. That's the way it came and there's a power brick in the middle of the cable so I can't just replace it with any other cable.

Have you tried contacting Aune directly?
http://en.auneaudio.com/index.php?s=/Home/Article/lists/category/49.html
 
Tell them your amplifier suffers from bad/no grounding symptoms and it comes with a groundless power cord.
They should be able to give an explanation.
 
Please report back if you get an answer!

 

[exSpire]

Thanks,
I've sent them a message and will let you know what they say.
 
By the way, I'm not sure if this was there before but i'm noticing these clicks\pops between audio tracks in Foobar, not always but sometimes. Ever since this issue got my attention, I've been noticing these annoying clicks\pops here and there, not only in the conditions I mentioned in my first post.
 
What do you think about this? What can I do to try and isolate the issue?
 
I'm so frustrated by this problem
 
Thanks again,
Daniel.

 

[Me x3]

  Thanks,
I've sent them a message and will let you know what they say.
 
By the way, I'm not sure if this was there before but i'm noticing these clicks\pops between audio tracks in Foobar, not always but sometimes. Ever since this issue got my attention, I've been noticing these annoying clicks\pops here and there, not only in the conditions I mentioned in my first post.
 
What do you think about this? What can I do to try and isolate the issue?
 
I'm so frustrated by this problem
 
Thanks again,
Daniel.

Some DACs click when you change the type of file you are playing (just at the begining of the song in the new format, not in the middle of a song)
(44.1/16bit to 96/24bit for instance) If that's the case, that's normal.

 

[exSpire]

I don't know yet about turning lights in the room and some other things like that, but as far as skipping in Foobar - I think I found the cause for that since there's no more clicks\pops.
I had a microphone connected from a long long time ago, so that' why I didn't think it could be the reason.
I just disconnected the microphone, it was faulty and making a lot of noise as I moved its' cord. It wasn't the connection of the mic to the pc but the cord to the mic itself, there's probably some bare open wires in there touching one another.
 
By the way I'm connecting my DAC now with another USB cable that I had and I was wondering if there's much difference between them. The one that came with the Aune T1 seems gold plated USD connector and the other one isn't. I think I once read that its more about elasticity of the connector and not conduction (as far as gold plated connectors), so sound quality wise it shouldn't make a difference. Is that right?
 
Thanks once more
 
 
Edit: never mind, still clicking\popping sounds here and there. :\\\

 

[Me x3]

  I don't know yet about turning lights in the room and some other things like that, but as far as skipping in Foobar - I think I found the cause for that since there's no more clicks\pops.
I had a microphone connected from a long long time ago, so that' why I didn't think it could be the reason.
I just disconnected the microphone, it was faulty and making a lot of noise as I moved its' cord. It wasn't the connection of the mic to the pc but the cord to the mic itself, there's probably some bare open wires in there touching one another.
 
By the way I'm connecting my DAC now with another USB cable that I had and I was wondering if there's much difference between them. The one that came with the Aune T1 seems gold plated USD connector and the other one isn't. I think I once read that its more about elasticity of the connector and not conduction (as far as gold plated connectors), so sound quality wise it shouldn't make a difference. Is that right?
 
Thanks once more

As far as both cables are fine, they should sound the same.

 

[exSpire]

The clicks are back, I'm even hearing them here and there in the middle of tracks.
In a random empty text field when you get a system sound for using Backspace (since there's no text to delete), hearing the system sound over and over, I have managed to hear it quite a few times. This is my new method of checking for the issue.
 
I tried disconnecting all USB ports, I tried removing my GPU and using the onboard one. Nothing helped.
 
Aune replied and said that I should try another tube, but sadly I don't have another tube. :\

 

[Me x3]

  The clicks are back, I'm even hearing them here and there in the middle of tracks.
In a random empty text field when you get a system sound for using Backspace (since there's no text to delete), hearing the system sound over and over, I have managed to hear it quite a few times. This is my new method of checking for the issue.
 
I tried disconnecting all USB ports, I tried removing my GPU and using the onboard one. Nothing helped.
 
Aune replied and said that I should try another tube, but sadly I don't have another tube. :\

Sad to hear that.
Some tubes can be found pretty cheap, maybe you can get more information on the Aune T1 dedicated thread.
Tons of people there have the Aune T1 and some of them probably faced the same issues as you in the past, so they should be able to shed some light on the matter, or at least point you in the right direction.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/633006/aune-t1-usb-tube-dac-ss-amp-discussion-thread-see-first-post-for-faq-updated-on-02-14-15