[PPkiller]

Hmm.. Have u look into ur mac power adapter? There's grounding actually but only certain plug type gives that..

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

Hmm.. Have u look into ur mac power adapter? There's grounding actually but only certain plug type gives that..

You are correct. Thanks very much for helping troubleshoot. I am currently using the extension with the ground connection (to the "button" on the transformer). I swapped to the slide on plug (without the extension) that does not have the ground connection when I was troubleshooting to see if I had a situation with multiple grounds. Swapping had no effect.

I've also experimented with using individual outlets vs. a power strip and various combinations of the plugged devices into the strip vs. directly to an outlet.

Admittedly, throwing stuff up against a wall to see what sticks (but in a sequential manner that hopefully leads to figuring this out). There's also crazy RFI though the line at times (can hear what I think is a TV signal when I've got the volume at 0), but that's another matter altogether. UGH!

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

I've also experimented with using individual outlets vs. a power strip and various combinations of the plugged devices into the strip vs. directly to an outlet.

OK - If anyone has a similar situation - here is where I wound up. I have NO IDEA why.... some of you are probably laughing and know why... This has been an exercise in madness... On the plus side I invented a few new creative curse words.

This works flawlessly. The ONLY noise I get is a very tiny bit of hiss at top volume on the iCAN SE with no source playing through my sensitive / low impedance in-ears (the A&Ks), which seems to be expected. I don't use those through this anyway.

Wall outlet => Grounded Power Strip (El Cheapo dug from a box) Note - if it matters I'm in HKG with 220 / 50. All devices and their corresponding plugs etc. were purchased here (UK plugs with no other adapters except those provided by the manufacturers)

Power Strip => MacBook Pro (w/ Grounded Connection) + iPower 5V to iDefender + iPower 15V to iCAN SE

MacBook => iDefender + iPower => iGalvanic 3.0 => iDAC2 = iCAN SE

I removed the Groundhog to the iCAN SE once I had everything through the same power strip, and it removed hum. Moving the iDefender to first in the chain removed the last bit of hum after that and (possibly) prevented the periodic nastygram notifications that my USB was being shut down b/c something was drawing too much power. I get recognition of the iDAC2 all the time in Audirvana. The RFI also seems to have gone away, but who the heck knows, maybe my neighbor shut off their TV. Venkman, Stantz, Zeddemore, and Spengler should be proud.

It is odd though, if there is supposed to be a ground on both sides of the iGalvanic, there isn't one now on the downstream side - I removed the Groundhog from the iCAN SE. Also, when I remove the power to the MacBook, there are no issues (no hum), when I seemingly remove the only ground in the entire chain... but it definitely snaps / pops when reconnecting.

Who cares. It works. WHEW! Tunes and beer are in order.

 

[PPkiller]

Mine is the latter, iG3 -> nano iusb3.0 -> DAC.

Any idea if the iPurifier you used in your chain make any improvement? done any A/B with and without?

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

Any idea if the iPurifier you used in your chain make any improvement? done any A/B with and without?

Not sure who you were asking, if it was me and/or Thuanb - I haven't really done any type of serious A/B. When I was comparing what I hope will be my final home system to the Nano BL, I put it in and out of the chain with the Nano BL just to give the Nano a perceived leg up. With that quick and completely unscientific (3-4 songs) A/B, it was inconclusive.

It's important to know that I bought it at the time of initial purchase (unheard). When I did my initial set up, I had MUCH bigger problems to solve, so there was never any hope for it to shine through all the noise and notice any subtle differences it may have made. I got it before I got the iG3, iDefender combo and went down the rabbit hole with the Groundhog.

Another Head-fier (@technobear) had a strong impression of its merits when used with similar equipment, and their recommendation factored into me picking one up. Currently, with the iG3 in the chain, I'm not sure if it will be needed, and it would require yet another cable (for me in my configuration), so I'm not sure if I'll try it out. However, when I go on the road next, I'll probably give it a go with the MacBook => iPurifier2 => iDSD Micro BL. It's small, so it's no trouble for me to bring it along and give it a go. It may wind up being a part of my road warrior kit.

What I seem to notice with a lot of these products is that YMMV. My #1 issue was getting the infuriating hum out of my system. Now I can move on to subtleties.

There's a ton of info here https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-ipurifier-2-reviews-impressions-and-discussion-thread.784983/ @technobear has been very helpful and is usually around here somewhere.

 

[technobear]

They do more when they are warmed up. Quick in and out comparisons won't reveal much. This goes for iPurifier2, iUSB3.0 and iGalvanic3.0.

 

[Franatic]

They do more when they are warmed up. Quick in and out comparisons won't reveal much. This goes for iPurifier2, iUSB3.0 and iGalvanic3.0.

Very good point technobear. I also believe that any device you add to your usb chain takes about a day to achieve "equilibrium" (my word) in your system. Whether this is due to residual electrostatic charges or what, I'm not sure. That is especially applicable to cables, but for me, can apply to any new device put it a system. That is why I need to do any A/B experiment in my own system and give it time to acclimate. I think the better your system, the more this holds true. This certainly makes it hard to test for small sound quality improvements. This is not burn-in I'm referring to, which is a whole other phenomenon.

I believe the effectiveness of the iPurifier 2 is system dependent. It works well in my system. I also feel the IGalvanic was a nice step up from the Intona. The IGalvanic pairs very well with the W4S Recovery. It is a nice combo.

So my usb line looks like this:
PPA v4 Card(Linear+5 PSU) > Dual headed Pachanko USB cable > iGalvanic 3.0 > Uptone Audio usb adapter > W4S Recovery(Linear PSU@6.5volts) > iFi Mercury 3.0 cable > iPurifier 2 > Singxer SU-1(i2s out) > Wireworld Starlight 7 HDMI > W4S DAC2V2 DSDse

Just for comparison. I plugged my Pachanko usb cable directly into the W4S DAC eliminating all the fixers in-between. The resulting sound profile was a bit harsh, without all the higher qualities that make my system so enjoyable. Hummm...harsh, with no higher qualities.....who does that remind me of who is in the news everyday.

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

Quick in and out comparisons won't reveal much.

Agreed. I finally got the hum solved (albeit not perfectly) and got around to giving the iP2 a serious(ish) listen. I was impressed. I put my thoughts in the iP2 thread. Thanks again for the help.

 

[music_man]

I think this is a good solution with midfi. although then you can decide if you should just buy a better dac. probably not because it is going to be a lot more. I do not see anyone hooking this up to the likes of msb and dcs etc. because they simply do not require it and it may in fact even harm the sound. since most people do not have that I have heard this and the iusb 3.0 with it and yes, I would recommend it in many under $5,000 dacs. I did not really mean to bash it. It does what it says. you cannot ask for more than that. the real issue is companies should be building better dacs in all price ranges. apparently not. enter this. past a certain point though and in already isolated dacs this may or may not add noise. in fact I had trouble with the msb select even communicating with the pc with this and isub 3.0 in place. interestingly much lower end dacs mostly were plug and play with it. I recommend it in most average setups. I am not bashing it but giving credit were credit is due. however if companies built better dacs this probably would not be needed. it did lower noise floor, increased dynamics etc. in very high end dacs just the opposite. I do not know why that is and find it strange. perhaps because they are being isolated twice then. I will say there is a lot better chance of this working than the lanrover.

 

[Wyd4]

Was using one of these with my work laptop.

Hearing a nice improvement .

Tried using the same DAC with my PC at home running windows 10 and the igalvanic and no joy .

The DAC is found without issue but just distortion pops and crackles.

Fingers crossed I can get it working as it worked a charm on my terrible Toshiba work laptop.

 

[technobear]

Was using one of these with my work laptop.

Hearing a nice improvement .

Tried using the same DAC with my PC at home running windows 10 and the igalvanic and no joy .

The DAC is found without issue but just distortion pops and crackles.

Fingers crossed I can get it working as it worked a charm on my terrible Toshiba work laptop.

A lot more information will be needed to diagnose this. Open a ticket here:

http://support.ifi-audio.com/

 

[Wyd4]

A lot more information will be needed to diagnose this. Open a ticket here:

http://support.ifi-audio.com/

Thanks for that.

Have raised a ticket.

Hoping I can sort through it as I had good results with my laptop.

Have an idefender which should show up tomorrow to add to the mix. Who knows if that will help or not as well

 

[ItsAllInMyHead]

Was using one of these with my work laptop.

Hearing a nice improvement .

Tried using the same DAC with my PC at home running windows 10 and the igalvanic and no joy .

The DAC is found without issue but just distortion pops and crackles.

Fingers crossed I can get it working as it worked a charm on my terrible Toshiba work laptop.

I hope you get it worked out. I had a heck of a time finding a root cause for my noise issues. None of their solutions (iGalvanic 3.0, iDefender, iUSB 3.0, Groundhog, AC iPurifier, iPower) worked to solve the problem separately or in combination in my case, but we tried. Overall, my experience with the iFi team's customer service was fantastic. They walked me through troubleshooting over about 20 e-mail exchanges. Turns out my AC power is just that crappy (along with some other extenuating issues), and I need a different solution than they offer.

Looking forward to hearing if you get it solved. Good Luck.

 

[PPkiller]

I have mine in the same order as well iG3-> micro iusb->idac2. Just make sure your sources power is stable and very close to 5v. Which I believe was the thought behind selling the i defender and ipower with the iG3. A lot of motherboard manufacturers have added voltage regulators to the USB ports to help with that I know for example asus calls there’s truevolt 5v. Also I think you want to put devices in order of higher noise floor —-> to lower noise floor but in reality not sure how much it matters between the iG3 and the iusb3.0.

So per ifi’s advice I got the groundhog to ground the part of the system after the iG3 since my pc is earth grounded. I used the groundhog on my amp and it ended up working out great. It got rid of the audio clicks and weird dropouts I was having.

GHoldridge, do you use idefender for the iG3 in your chain?

because of some problem, i have swap my iglavanic bundle to micro iusb.

but once you know the improvement IG3 brings, it's very hard to do without. so i'm considering whether to purchase another IG3 and stack with iusb, and how should i go about stacking both of them.

so i'm trying to find out if IG3 before micro, does idefender brings any benefit at all? i'm hoping to do without it because of some issue i faced previously.


Thanks in advance!

 

[Lappy27]

GHoldridge, do you use idefender for the iG3 in your chain?

because of some problem, i have swap my iglavanic bundle to micro iusb.

but once you know the improvement IG3 brings, it's very hard to do without. so i'm considering whether to purchase another IG3 and stack with iusb, and how should i go about stacking both of them.

so i'm trying to find out if IG3 before micro, does idefender brings any benefit at all? i'm hoping to do without it because of some issue i faced previously.


Thanks in advance!

I used the igalvanic 3.0 before a micro iusb 3.0 since last week and they are truly great together...when it worked! The problem is that I have intermitent strong white noise with the igalvanic in the chain. With only the micro iusb alone, no white noise, no problem whatsoever. But the sound is better with the galvanic before the iusb 3.0 so I'm going to open a ticket with ifi Audio. Maybe my Uptoned Mac Mini doesn't provide the igalvanic enough power and that I need the idefender ipower combo too.