Interferences with cMoy
Jan 9, 2009 at 4:35 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 1

LeChucksBeard

New Head-Fier
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
Posts
4
Likes
0
Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone would have an idea of where this issue is coming from. Now, this might not have anything to do with the cMoy itelf, but perhaps someone knowing more than I do about electronics will be able to tell.

I have a cMoy v2.00 with bass boost (boost on or off makes little difference) from JSeaber. It is connected to one of those nifty cable DACs (mini USB sound card), which is connected to a USB port on my MacBook. The cMoy is powered using a DC adapter. With it I use a Sennheiser HD595.

I have been using this configuration successfully for several months.

I recently had to relocate my stuff to another bedroom and hadn't used the headset for a while and noticed a problem just yesterday. There is some noise/static/buzzing (not sure how to describe it) coming through the headphones.

BUT, here's the funny thing, as soon as the thermostat on my oil-filled heater decided to turn the heater on, the buzzing almost stopped! (still there but much lower) That was very strange so I did some testing but couldn't really pinpoint the issue. Looks like a mix of things.

My computer stuff, including the cMoy's power supply, is connected onto a power strip, which is connected to a double-socket (with ground) on the wall. On the second socket of that doubler, there's the heater.

If I unplug the heater completely, the buzzing gets very faint. If I plug the heater back it but the heater is *off*, buzzing becomes pretty loud, but then if I turn on the heater, buzzing stops, or I can't hear it anyway. So it seems that there is some interference coming from somewhere, that gets louder when the heater is plugged but off, and almost disappears when the heater is on.

I tried a number of other things, such as disconnecting the DAC cable or the cMoy's DC adapter. When the buzzing is loud, that helps lower it, but doesn't make it disappear. Also, if I try the same configuration with my PX 100s, there is no buzzing. I thought perhaps the 595 is damaged or has an interference problem with its plug or cable (it does seem like the buzzing gets louder if I approach the cable to the heater) but using the HD595 directly on the computer (without the amp) produces no buzzing.

Isn't that the weirdest thing?

The one thing I haven't had the time to test yet is to take laptop, anmp and headphones into another room to try, but as I mentioned, I used this configuration many times before with no trouble (in 2 different countries, 3 different houses, and several rooms).

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Edit: I just discovered one more thing: the level of buzzing also seems to react to the volume knob of the cMoy. It seems to have some kind of sweet spot where the buzzing is lower, but goes back up as the volume is turned down or up. At the same time, the general level of buzzing is lower when the heater is on.

David
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top