[joespride]

further details, I just found the culprit to my hum
 
I had a Schiit sys in between using as a source switch, The mini out went to the in on the sys, the 2 outputs on the sys went to my external headphone amp, and my speaker amp, turns out if I remove the speaker amp the mini is silent
 
so I have a ground issue on the speaker amp which is a cheapo and only uses a 2 prong power cord
 
 
I am just happy I dont have an issue with the MINI 

 
 
I rarely use the speakers anyway so it no loss, it just made things easy

 

[joespride]

Connected to the Kenzie Tube Headphone amp and all I can say is WOW, currently doing Dave Brubeck Take Five 

 
 
something that is really sticking out is the quiet, Everything just seems to appear from nothing...................My bifrost etc were all quiet but this thing is almost eerily quiet
 
 
 
 I feel like the onboard amp is very good and I could live with it, But after the Kenzie warms up there is no doubt it is better 

 

[joespride]

now I am finding where this beats out Bifrost Uber
 
cleaner edges to the individual instruments, better separation yet remains very analog and musical, while Bifrost uber was very good IMHO and was very musical it was not able to reveal the separation like the mini, 
 
I am having a problem putting the sound to words........................the synergy I have here is almost sinful, Absolutely the best I have heard the HE500's sing
 
 
Death Cab for Cutie,  Plans is sublime  I have a long night ahead

 

[zilch0md]

It's always nice to see someone having a good time, appreciating their gear!
 
Enjoy!
 

 

[mgoodman]

Ok I have an issue

I want to hook this up so I can use it as a stand alone or as a dac only,  this way I can go back and forth between amps, (tube and built in) what I am doing is hook up rca from the output to my external amp (external amp is off), plug headphones into the mini I get a nasty hum, pull the rca the hum goes away.

Plug phones into external amp power it on and I get no hum from the phones

I dont want and dont expect to have to plug in and remove RCA cables everytime I want to use externals


any ideas ??????? 

Sounds like a grounding problem, possibly with the wiring. DACmini's audio ground (RCA connector ground) is isolated from the mains, so it is insensitive to bad ground wiring, but I don't know about the other amp. Check to see that ground is correctly connected in the other amp and not reversed in the power cable - that would be my first guess.

 

[joespride]

Problem was resolved, I was using the centrance as a dac only through a passive pre to 2 different amps 1. The Kenzie Headphone amp, and 2. a cheap digital receiver which I use to power bookshelves,  turned out the cheap digital was causing the hum
 
I now have it set up to use with the kenzie or the built in amp with no issues at all
 
although the kenzie amp sounds better it does take the normal tube warm up in order to do so, I like just turning on the centrance and have good sound, as a bonus I will save some tube life

 

[ptrok]

Wondering if anyone can lend me their expertise in electronics to help me with hooking up my Dacmini. I recently moved my room around and went to hook up the dacmini up again and it kept resulting in the tripping of the breaker in my home. I had no problems before this and I plugged in all the other essentials before plugging in the power like it is suggested in their website. Is there anything I need to know when setting this up that I might have messed up. Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Bostonears]

Wondering if anyone can lend me their expertise in electronics to help me with hooking up my Dacmini. I recently moved my room around and went to hook up the dacmini up again and it kept resulting in the tripping of the breaker in my home. I had no problems before this and I plugged in all the other essentials before plugging in the power like it is suggested in their website. Is there anything I need to know when setting this up that I might have messed up. Thanks for your help in advance.

If you plug the AC adapter into the power line before it's plugged into the CEntrance, does the breaker trip, or does it only trip when power gets into the CEntrance?

 

[DevEng]

ptrok,
 
Because the breaker is tripping, let's start with basics.  Please use caution when investigating power cables.
 
By 'breaker', are you referring to the switch that controls power to an entire room or rooms of your house, or are you referring to the outlet that is something like a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) that has a reset button?  I suspect the former, but please confirm.
 
Is your DACmini CX or PX?
 
When you "moved my room around", did you change DACmini's outlet location?  If yes, does DACmini work at the previous location?
 
 
1) do what Bostonears said, except I'd like to request that you do so without any peripheral connected to DACmini - no RCA, USB, etc.  The fewer the variables, the better.
 
If the AC adapter by itself causes the breaker to trip, try the AC adapter by itself on another outlet.
 
2a) If the breaker does not trip when DACmini's power supply is connected to power, then connect one item to DACmini (USB, etc.), and then reconnect power.
2b) repeat, connecting each peripheral one at a time.
 
3) if circuit breaker trips only when a peripheral is connected to DACmini, then you need to carefully inspect the peripheral connected to DACmini.
 
Looking forward to your findings.

 

[ptrok]

Thanks for your input guys. I tried connecting each component one at a time and discovered that it was the iMac that was causing the breaker to trip. Since looking into it, it seems the iMac is a little charged itself. If I touch it with my bare skin there is a slight shock that I get and I am not sure why? Does anyone have any idea why this may occur. Kind of sucks to be without music, I think I learned a lesson, never rearrange my room. LoL. Thanks for your quick responses. By the way, it is a CX model. 

 

[ptrok]

A sad day. I figured since the iMac was shocking me so I would try another power cord and it fixed the problem of getting shocked. So I went to plug in the Dacmini, now the Dacmini won't turn on anymore. Think it might have got fried by the experiments. Are there any other possibilities on why this may have occurred? To DevEng, is there any way for me to repair this and how much would it cost to repair this? Thanks everyone for your help. 

 

[DevEng]

I figured since the iMac was shocking me so I would try another power cord and it fixed the problem of getting shocked

 
I recommend the following next step:
 
Immediately have a qualified electrician look at the wiring and power cables of your room - to get a shock from an iMac sounds a loud alarm in my mind.  Something is not right with your house wiring or cables, and it should be fixed as soon as possible before you get hurt.  I cannot emphasize that enough.  I cannot determine if swapping power cords fixed the root problem, but I have enough experience to know we should not assume the root problem is resolved.
 
I'm reluctant to troubleshoot any further, until you have a qualified electrician evaluate the situation.  I will be very glad to help and answer your questions about DACmini after hearing a report from a qualified electrician.  Yes, the thought of a potentially-dead DACmini really sucks, but I think it is secondary at this moment.
 
Re-reading this, I hope my tone doesn't come across as harsh, but I do think this is urgent and vital.  Ok? 

 
Looking forward to hearing more.
 
Best Regards,
DevEng

 

[ptrok]

Thanks for the concern and you did not come off as harsh, just logical. Had a guy come in yesterday to look at it, from what I understood, it was due to the surge protector socket that was faulty. I switched that out and everything seems ok. Since he was speaking Korean and my skills are limited, this I guess is true. I asked him many times if it was safe and he reassured me all was good.
 
Out of curiosity, when plugging in the dac mini, is it normal to see a charge from the power cable to the unit? This was always something I wanted to ask about but kept putting it off since everything was working fine. I think I need to send the unit back to you guys to get it looked at and repaired and am wondering if it might be a good idea to send the power brick too because of this charge. I know it will cost to get this repaired, but do you have any idea what the most it will cost before I send it in so I can assess the feasibility of getting this repaired. Thank you in advance.

 

[DevEng]

Big, big sigh of relief!  I'm very glad you found the source of the problem.

 
The charge you see is normal.
 
I'll PM you to discuss troubleshooting and repair.
 
For everyone else reading this, if you ever experience a shock while touching electronic devices, please contact a qualified electrician.  The electrician's bill will be far cheaper than the alternative.  Note: I am not referring to electrostatic discharge, i.e., low humidity + carpet.

 

[Bostonears]

One of these AC receptacle testers is a handy to have around. Of course it is not a substitute for a qualified electrician, but it can help diagnose some common problems with AC outlet wiring.