What happens if you run it from battery? For quality purposes, get yourself Lithium 9v to try out. It sounds mostly like analog noise, so either there's a section picking up noise in the amp, or a power line is sending it in. The USB cable should be immune (pops and other timing noises may result form crappy USB transmission, but not clicking or humming), but the power input might be able to take in some of your PC's EMI/RFI and not be rejected by the power stage in the Move.
If a battery fixes it, I'd look into getting a PSU whose whole DC section sits very near the DAC/Amp
If you can, return it if some suggestion doesn't fix things quickly. This crap is a major reason for going USB in the first place. It was
the reason I moved out of my PC case.
Finally, even though it probably won't do much good, if your USB cable has ferrite cores, get one that doesn't need them. There's very good info in the USB cable thread (still on the first page, right now).
Quote:
When I use my iPod LOD instead of USB, I get crystal clear sound. All my USB ports are on the motherboard itself.
If I use a USB PCI card, will that likely minimize the interferrence in the audio? |
This assumes that you mean the iPod and Move both near the computer, otherwise like if you had it plugged in USB:
Maybe, but probably not. In this case, I'm thinking the Move's USB section is allowing the noise on the USB line to be transmitted overto the analog side, bypassing any potential noise rejection the power input stage may have, and making a quality DC supply useless as a potential solution.
The thing is, with all the switching going on, and most of the uses of your power being digital, USB will have a tendency to be noisy. A different controller may help, but there's a good chance it will change the nature of the interference more than fix it. But, try it. Worst case is that you'll have extra USB ports, and maybe can upgrade an old PC to USB 2.0.
If the Move is internally allowing USB line noise through, and it's not EMI/RFI from outside in the air, or from the power input, then it is likely a design fault in the Move.
Good luck!