[ofsahf]

I have two headphone amps, a Total Bithead & a Cmoy I bought on Ebay, and two headphones, an ATH-M50 and ATH A700. All combinations sporadically pick up radio broadcast all around my office & house. The cmoy is in a plastic enclosure, not a mint tin. The Cmoy was boxed and it was just the bithead, but I dug the cmoy out and hooked it up to an ipod & running on battery and the problem was worse. I could walk all around the house, different areas... I could not really find any rhyme or reason but I wasn't sure what I was looking for, just waving it in front of stuff and walking around. This is honestly driving me crazy. If anyone has any suggestions of tests I can do or solutions or whatever, please let me know.

 

[Frankie K]

Some say it could be the interconnects or improper shielding, though I have not had this problem, I do try to read up as much as I can. You could look up 2 older sites with others having this problem. 1.Help! My corda ha-1 is picking up the radio and 2. amp acting as a radio. Hopefully this could point You in the right direction. Good Luck! 

 

[ETAHL]

Those ferrite cylinders that clips around power cords and cables work wonders in eliminating radio interferences. You see those things build into lots of better quality video, USB and power cables. They are cheap and I have them on all my cables that don't already have them.

 

[ofsahf]

I picked up some ferrite cores (was doing this after I posted from another recommendation). USB cable already has a ferrite core on it. Adding 2 more didn't have any changes (had the headphones on as I was doing it) nor was adding 1 to the usb cable, 1 to the headphone cable also didn't do anything.
 
Although, I have seem to alleviate the problem thus far by plugging my Q Jays into the second headphone out port. Will need to do some more testing to see if this is completely it, but does this make electrical sense? I also notice that while the Q Jays are plugged in, handling the cord of the q jays affects what I hear (making sure I'm clear: i have my other headphones on my ears which are plugged into the other jack) -- i get the cord clicking/popping sound I would get just the same if I had the q jays on and the cord brushed my zipper or something -- this would indicate to me there's some information passing from one headphone out port to another & the radio when the port is open means that the open jack is picking up the signal...
 
edit: pressing aluminum foil to the open second headphone jack also seems to alleviate the problem sharply and immediately (not so far, taping it in place does not?). however, the radio only shows up when the USB cable is plugged in. it becomes louder IF 1) the usb cable is plugged in partially so that the unit does not turn on, or 2) usb cable is inserted fully, bithead is switched into "on" with batteries off (this actually turns the led off since it switches to battery instead of usb power). then it is resolved by either pressing with foil or using another pair of headphones to block the second headphone out port. i have seen reference here to people saying the total bithead is prone to rf interference and blaming it on the plastic casing or whatever.. perhaps the two headphone out jacks are a problem for people other than me. if you have a suggestion to try for a more permanent solution than keeping an extra pair of headphones plugged in, i'm open to it. i don't know anything about electronics so i don't know if i can like snip off a cheap interconnect to make a plug or whatever.
 
also edit: i am using a shielded usb cable with ferrite bead.

 

[estreeter]

Anyone with a metal plate embedded into their head after an accident can tell you all about RF interference. Must be hell.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Try a shielded cable. An unshielded one can act like an antenna.