[cbiscuit90]

Hey guys,
 
New to head-fi and hi-fi in general, so any help is appreciated! I bought a pair of Beyerdynamic DT990 Pros (250 Ohm). I'm using a Xonar DG (for dolby headphone) as a DAC, and since it didn't have enough power to drive the phones to the desired noise levels, I needed an amp.
 
Rather than shopping around, my father had an old Yamaha RX-V870 A/V receiver sitting in his garage. I connected the receiver via 3.5mm -> RCA through the front panel audio (connected to the Xonar DG, with the onboard audio disabled).
 
Everything works fine for the most part, however at some point (either very soon after powering on, or could take hours) the sound in one ear (random) seems to transfer to the other ear, resulting in loud sound in one ear and very quiet sound in the other. Powering the receiver on and off provides a temporary solution. I tried switching outputs from the DG from front panel to rear, and inputs into the receiver, however the problem still arises. I've tried google, but I can't find anything definitive.
 
Does anyone have any idea what the issue is, and if so, is it repairable or should I move on to buying a new amplifier?
 
Thanks!

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

Does this occur when you only use the Xonar?

Very best,

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

Heya,

Does this occur when you only use the Xonar?

Very best,

Agree'd as there is either an issue with you Xonar Sound card or your fathers old dusty amp xD 

 

[cbiscuit90]

Thanks for the quick reply!
 
Testing it now, will update if it occurs with onboard audio. One thing to note is that I actually hear decreased static (when listening to nothing) when I use the onboard audio vs the Xonar DG. It's a new card... maybe it's defective? I suppose we'll see if the error returns.
 
I will also try switching the card to another PCI slot.

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

Thanks for the quick reply!
 
Testing it now, will update if it occurs with onboard audio. One thing to note is that I actually hear decreased static (when listening to nothing) when I use the onboard audio vs the Xonar DG. It's a new card... maybe it's defective? I suppose we'll see if the error returns.
 
I will also try switching the card to another PCI slot.

Good thinking, also check and see what eq's or post effects your might be running with the XONAR card it self. check your bit rate and sample rates on the card as well. 

 

[cbiscuit90]

Well,
 
Thanks to both of your directed help, I think both the Xonar DG and the receiver are the culprits. The sound increasing in one ear appears to occur through the DG and the onboard audio, meaning the receiver is shot. Compared to the onboard audio, the Xonar DG has some pretty noticable static, meaning the sound card is going back to Amazon.
 
Looks like I'm going with the Xonar DX (was thinking of upgrading anyway), and the Schiit Magni. If you have time to answer a quick question--Using the Xonar DX with Dolby Headphone, the Magni won't limit sound to stereo (two channel) sound, correct? I guess this is a pretty basic question about how amplifiers work, but the output from the DX won't be changed except for an increase in volume through the Magni (to word it differently)?
 
Thanks again for the help, solved my issue pretty quickly! 

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

Well,
 
Thanks to both of your directed help, I think both the Xonar DG and the receiver are the culprits. The sound increasing in one ear appears to occur through the DG and the onboard audio, meaning the receiver is shot. Compared to the onboard audio, the Xonar DG has some pretty noticable static, meaning the sound card is going back to Amazon.
 
Looks like I'm going with the Xonar DX (was thinking of upgrading anyway), and the Schiit Magni. If you have time to answer a quick question--Using the Xonar DX with Dolby Headphone, the Magni won't limit sound to stereo (two channel) sound, correct? I guess this is a pretty basic question about how amplifiers work, but the output from the DX won't be changed except for an increase in volume through the Magni (to word it differently)?
 
Thanks again for the help, solved my issue pretty quickly! 

Hmm the amp should not.. although I do not entirely know BUT I do lurk the Gameing Thread, so I don't think so. Although check with MadLustEnvy He'd know! 

 

[davebucklin]

Thanks to both of your directed help, I think both the Xonar DG and the receiver are the culprits. The sound increasing in one ear appears to occur through the DG and the onboard audio, meaning the receiver is shot.

 
So you're testing both the DG and onboard audio through the receiver and, upon observing the same behavior in both cases, concluding that the receiver is faulty. I suppose that makes sense if you test the onboard audio and prove that it doesn't exhibit that behavior. Ideally, you would just take the receiver out of the loop and test that way, or test the receiver with another source. In any case, it's not hard to believe that the dusty old receiver might have a problem.
 
 

Using the Xonar DX with Dolby Headphone, the Magni won't limit sound to stereo (two channel) sound, correct? I guess this is a pretty basic question about how amplifiers work, but the output from the DX won't be changed except for an increase in volume through the Magni (to word it differently)?

 
Dolby Headphone is a digital signal processing technology that you can use with any pair of headphones. Provided you are feeding the Dolby-processed signal to the Magni, the Magni isn't going to alter that signal aside from amplifying it for your headphones. So, yes, it's just going to increase the volume.

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

 
So you're testing both the DG and onboard audio through the receiver and, upon observing the same behavior in both cases, concluding that the receiver is faulty. I suppose that makes sense if you test the onboard audio and prove that it doesn't exhibit that behavior. Ideally, you would just take the receiver out of the loop and test that way, or test the receiver with another source. In any case, it's not hard to believe that the dusty old receiver might have a problem.
 
 
 
Dolby Headphone is a digital signal processing technology that you can use with any pair of headphones. Provided you are feeding the Dolby-processed signal to the Magni, the Magni isn't going to alter that signal aside from amplifying it for your headphones. So, yes, it's just going to increase the volume.

That's what I thought, glad some one else confirmed it! 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Thanks to both of your directed help, I think both the Xonar DG and the receiver are the culprits. The sound increasing in one ear appears to occur through the DG and the on-board audio, meaning the receiver is shot. Compared to the on-board audio, the Xonar DG has some pretty noticeable static, meaning the sound card is going back to Amazon.
 
Looks like I'm going with the Xonar DX (was thinking of upgrading anyway), and the Schiit Magni. If you have time to answer a quick question--Using the Xonar DX with Dolby Headphone, the Magni won't limit sound to stereo (two channel) sound, correct? I guess this is a pretty basic question about how amplifiers work, but the output from the DX won't be changed except for an increase in volume through the Magni (to word it differently)?

When you have the Xonar DX/Magni setup, try turning up the computer's volume as high as possible (max) and use the knob on the front of the Magni to control volume.
That sound give you the best possible sound quality.
 
Might also try the third party drivers like the "Unified Xonar Drivers".
 
For Blu-ray movies, get Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 11, it's only $29.90 on eBay.

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

When you have the Xonar DX/Magni setup, try turning up the computer's volume as high as possible (max) and use the knob on the front of the Magni to control volume.
That sound give you the best possible sound quality.
 
Might also try the third party drivers like the "Unified Xonar Drivers".
 
For Blu-ray movies, get Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 11, it's only $29.90 on eBay.

Well on the movie player, I find I like jRive 18 A LOT for movies. It works wonderfully! And it plays music