[Kukuk]

I recently got a Beyerdynamic A20 amp, and I love it. I intended to have it replace my Schiit Magni 2 and simplify my multi-amp setup, but I get some nasty interference from my computer with it.

At first I thought it was maybe an issue with poorly shielded cables or something, so I swapped those out with ones that I knew were fine. No change.

My sound card (SoundblasterX AE-5) has a headphone out and a direct out. I tried both of those with the A20, no change.

I never had issue with either of my other amps, and I wasn't sure if the interference was something that just started, so I hooked those up direct to both outputs, there was no interference.

I even hooked up my Schiit Modi 2 through USB. It doesn't technically work anymore, but I was still getting the same electrical interference when hooked up to the A20.

Running another amp out of the outputs on the A20 has that interference persist to the added amp, even when the A20 isn't powered on (but plugged in).

My WA2 user guide says sometimes electrical noise can be because of surge protectors, so I tried plugging the amp into different wall sockets. Noise still persists.

I don't get any of this interference when I run from my phone or laptop. It seems to just be an interaction between that computer specifically, and that amp specifically.

It's really odd, it's reminiscent of running off onboard audio on a computer from the early 2000s. You can hear as a program is opening, or as the video card is firing up. If I play a game it's so bad I can hear the noise over the game's audio.

 

[Kukuk]

It may be related to power draw. I hooked the amp up to another computer on a different electrical circuit and got noise, albeit less. That computer does draw significantly less power than my current computer, and more than my laptop. At idle there's almost no noise on that other computer, but as it gets more busy the noise increases. My current computer, being a Threadripper system, even at idle draws loads of power, which might explain why I still get loads of noise at idle.

I'm just not sure why this is even a thing, though.

 

[Kukuk]

To add another wrinkle to this: daisy-chaining an amp between this one and the computer doesn't make the noise go away.

Is the amp simply so sensitive that it's picking up this noise that the WA2 and Magni 2 aren't capable of?

 

[theveterans]

I’d suggest an external DAC with SPDIF input (not USB) to mitigate the noise

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

SoundblasterX AE-5 -->> toslink to rca adapter ---->> Beyerdynamic A20 amp

Adapter costs around 15$

OR

Computer -->> Schiit Modi via toslink /or spdif ---->> Beyerdynamic A20 amp

 

[Kukuk]

As mentioned, the Modi doesn't work anymore, so that's out of the question. It was mainly used to see if the electrical interference persisted, which it did.

The toslink to RCA is interesting. Would that degrade the quality at all? Toslink is just digital, isn't it? I can't imagine a $20 adapter would use a very good DAC.

But buying a new DAC is really sidestepping the issue. I'd really like to know why I'm getting the interference at all, and why I'm not getting it with other gear. Is there something in my other amps that's filtering out this noise? Can something be added to the chain that would act as that filter?

 

[Monsterzero]

I had a similar situation,but instead of computer noise I was getting distortion that would seemingly migrate from the mids to the highs down to the lows and then back again.
I tried changing all my cables,RCAs,USBs,power. No change. I did three partial system teardowns,also to no avail.

I picked up an iFi Micro USB3.0 which lessened the severity(and improved the 3D of the sound) of the distortion,but it still persisted.

What finally worked for me was a PS Audio Dectet. My system now sounds really good,with no noise. Its prolly the most un-exciting way to spend 500.00 in this hobby,but it solved my issue.

Good luck.

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Toslink is optical so it will be less hampered by electrical noise or ground loops.

Well the adapter is a temporary solution.

Phone and Laptops are battery driven, you maybe have a ground problem. Change to another power outlet and/or with a AVR (if you have).

 

[Sebastian.Athea]

I recently got a Beyerdynamic A20 amp, and I love it. I intended to have it replace my Schiit Magni 2 and simplify my multi-amp setup, but I get some nasty interference from my computer with it.

At first I thought it was maybe an issue with poorly shielded cables or something, so I swapped those out with ones that I knew were fine. No change.

My sound card (SoundblasterX AE-5) has a headphone out and a direct out. I tried both of those with the A20, no change.

I never had issue with either of my other amps, and I wasn't sure if the interference was something that just started, so I hooked those up direct to both outputs, there was no interference.

I even hooked up my Schiit Modi 2 through USB. It doesn't technically work anymore, but I was still getting the same electrical interference when hooked up to the A20.

Running another amp out of the outputs on the A20 has that interference persist to the added amp, even when the A20 isn't powered on (but plugged in).

My WA2 user guide says sometimes electrical noise can be because of surge protectors, so I tried plugging the amp into different wall sockets. Noise still persists.

I don't get any of this interference when I run from my phone or laptop. It seems to just be an interaction between that computer specifically, and that amp specifically.

It's really odd, it's reminiscent of running off onboard audio on a computer from the early 2000s. You can hear as a program is opening, or as the video card is firing up. If I play a game it's so bad I can hear the noise over the game's audio.

Toslink is optical so it will be less hampered by electrical noise or ground loops.

Well the adapter is a temporary solution.

Phone and Laptops are battery driven, you maybe have a ground problem. Change to another power outlet and/or with a AVR (if you have).

Agreed! Creative sound cards are notorious for their horrible DACs, but EAX does sound good though. And don't just buy some 15$ ebay crap, you'll get the same problem, you can find good dacs in 100-200$ range, also get a set of good interconnects, anything from blue jeans cables will be more than good enough.
And do not plug audio equipment into UPS if you have one.

I'd really like to know why I'm getting the interference at all, and why I'm not getting it with other gear.

The noise comes from signal ground, better amps will have higher input impedance, the higher input impedance the less will amp interact with the signal (change the signal), amplifier output will be cleaner, and higher input impedance will allow more devices to be connected to the same source without affecting the signal, but components with higher input impedance will be more susceptible to noise.