[TrevorNetwork]

I have hooked the DAC1 up to my Sony DVD player, and the headphone outs sound great. I am thoroughly impressed. However, when utilizing the RCA outs there is a significant amount of buzz. I suspect a ground loop issue. Anyway, when I utilize the DAC1's right output, it sounds very buzzy, however, if I touch the left RCA jack (connected to my amplifier) to the jacket of the BNC connector, suddenly the right (connected) channel is very clean, and does not have the buzz. It seems as though the RCA outs on the DAC1 do not have a ground connection. It is not my amplifier, as it works perfectly fine with outputs from other sources. I do not suspect it is the DAC1's ground connection, as the DAC1's internal amplifier sounds great.

Thoughts?

Trevor

 

[tiberian]

umm strange i didn't encounter that before, try to 'tamper' with the rca plugs and see if it helps or not.

 

[TrevorNetwork]

Ok, I just used the female -> male rca converter that came with the dac (the one with the ground screw on it), and grounded the converter to the dac1's chasis (screw near rca outs) using a small piece of wire. Why would I have to do this? Works great now.

Trevor

 

[tiberian]

does the manual say anything about grounding?

 

[Edwood]

First off, confirm whether or not it's a ground loop.

You can easily do this one of two ways with a cheater power cord.

First, try using a cheater adapter, which is a three -> two prong adapter you can get from the hardware store.

Or, take an el cheapo generic IEC computer power cord, and rip the ground plug (the third round one) out with pliers.

Then plug use it with your DAC1. If the buzz is gone, it's a ground loop for sure. If it's still there, it's something else.

BTW, using balanced outputs will all but eliminate the buzz from a ground loop. I had the same problem with my Grace 901, but switching to balanced cables solved it.

Of course I had to upgrade to a balanced output source.....which the DAC1 is BTW. But your amp may not be.........
-Ed

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorNetwork Ok, I just used the female -> male rca converter that came with the dac (the one with the ground screw on it), and grounded the converter to the dac1's chasis (screw near rca outs) using a small piece of wire. Why would I have to do this? Works great now. Trevor

Floating the ground?

-Ed

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

I never had any such problem with buzz from the RCA outs, whether using different headamps or powered speakers.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer I never had any such problem with buzz from the RCA outs, whether using different headamps or powered speakers.

Yeah, that's weird. And you know that I got some hideous ground loop buzz from your system's unbalanced output to my Grace before.

No buzzin from the DAC1, but then again we were using balanced XLR.

-Ed