Help with noises from new amp+dac

[texx]

Hey,

I recently bought my first headphone amp (Fiio e10k) to use with a pair of audiotechnica M50x and I noticed three types of noise:

1. A high pitched sound that lasts for some seconds after I pause any sound. I can also hear it during quiet moments in musics.
2. An even higher pitched sound that's always present.
3. "Static" (not sure how to describe it) that I can only hear when no sound is played and the sound is coming from the desktop.

From some quick searches it looks like similar problems are caused by "ground loops" and by using the GPU. I've described by setup here:

The noises I hear shown in the table below:

Source	Noises if connected directly	Noises if connected through switch
Desktop	2,3	1,2,3
Laptop	None	1,2
Another laptop	None	Not tested

Can I fix this and keep the dac+amp connected to the switch? I've seen a few usb adaptors that "filter noise" but I don't know if they work.

Thanks for the help!

 

[texx]

Any help with this?

 

[PointyFox]

Does the sound change based on CPU or GPU usage? If you take a window and drag it quickly all over the screen does the sound change? Have you tried different USB ports on the desktop?

 

[texx]

Does the sound change based on CPU or GPU usage? If you take a window and drag it quickly all over the screen does the sound change? Have you tried different USB ports on the desktop?

Yes, I hear a crackling noise if a move a window when the sound comes from the desktop. On laptop it doesn't happen. I've also tried plugging it to a different usb port and didn't notice any change, all the noises remain.

 

[PointyFox]

Yes, I hear a crackling noise if a move a window when the sound comes from the desktop. On laptop it doesn't happen. I've also tried plugging it to a different usb port and didn't notice any change, all the noises remain.

I had that issue once. USB and power filters didn't work. The problem was the computer. What fixed it for me was getting a sound card and plugging into that instead of USB.

 

[texx]

I had that issue once. USB and power filters didn't work. The problem was the computer. What fixed it for me was getting a sound card and plugging into that instead of USB.

That's not great news :/ Any idea about the high pitched noises I get from both the laptop and desktop? Those are the most annoying to me.
Changing to a sound card would also make it harder to change the sound source from laptop to desktop, as I do frequently.

 

[PointyFox]

I'd think that is a different issue and probably one with the switch. How is it powered?

 

[texx]

I'd think that is a different issue and probably one with the switch. How is it powered?

It's powered by the usb cables connecting it to the laptop/desktop, nothing else.

 

[PointyFox]

If there's one for just power I'd try connecting it to a power adapter. It might remove noise #1.

 

[texx]

If there's one for just power I'd try connecting it to a power adapter. It might remove noise #1.

I can't hear it anymore Altough it seems to be gone even after unplugging the power adapter.
So now I'm left with 2 (a constant very high frequency sound) when using the switch and 3 (crackling/static) when using the dac directly connected to the desktop.

I can still return the Fiio e10k and get something else, like the Scarlett Solo. Is that worth a short or would the results be identical?