[lapzoo]

Hey folks, I finally was able to plug my headphones into my new Schiit Heresy combined with the Schiit Modi 3. There is a huge amount of distortion, making it unlistenable. Modi 3 gets power from my PC, simultaneously getting the audio signal via USB (already tried different ports). This is awful, and I'm not talking a little distortion, there is yuge distortion. The FiiO K5 Pro sounds infinitely better. I must be doing something wrong...

So what might be going on here?

 

[cgb3]

Hey folks, I finally was able to plug my headphones into my new Schiit Heresy combined with the Schiit Modi 3. There is a huge amount of distortion, making it unlistenable. Modi 3 gets power from my PC, simultaneously getting the audio signal via USB (already tried different ports). This is awful, and I'm not talking a little distortion, there is yuge distortion. The FiiO K5 Pro sounds infinitely better. I must be doing something wrong...



So what might be going on here?

Amp problems, solutions from Schiit: https://www.schiit.com/guides/amp-problems.

Ferrite noise suppressors are sold as both clip-on's, and as part of the cable. I recall all my Garmin GPS USB cables had a ferrite choke. Here's a selection from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=usb+ferrite+noise+suppressors&ref=nb_sb_noss. Any electronic parts store should also carry ferrite chokes.

Before buyng the ferrite, try different cables you already have.

 

[cgb3]

Reroute the AC wall wart line to your amp from it's current 90 degree cross over the USB.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

My advice is to not use your pc as a power source for your dac.
Use a seperate power adapter instead.

That's gonna be the main reason for your bad sounding rig.

 

[Relaxasaurus]

FWIW I had the same experience with a Schiit Hel. It sounded so bad on first listen I was making steps to return it. I moved though, recently plugged it back in and something must have changed because it sounded perfect. Definitely go with the wiring advice from the posts above.