[sergiuo]

Hi, First of all, I'm pretty sure its caused by my PC and not headphones or soundcard because I tried with two different ones.
 
Every once in a while I can feel and hear a little tick (not even sure how to describe it) in one of my IEMs I can both hear it and feel it in my ear, it pulses somehow and ticks a few times then it stops. I'd like to get to the bottom of it and fix it somehow but I'm not even sure where to start.
 
Note: I've tried with two pairs of IEMs both the same model and two soundcards, an onboard one and a IFI Nano IDSD, same thing happends every once in a while like I said thats why I think there's something else wrong.
 
Any ideas are greatly appreciated, Thank you.

 

[SDBiotek]

I have often experienced hearing ticks/blips etc. when connecting headphones directly to a computer, particularly towers. There is a lot of potential for electronic "noise", if you will, being carried on the audio circuitry. That is partly why you can find lots of people on Head-fi using an external DAC/amp with their computers (and also to take advantage of amplifier circuits capable of properly driving a range of headphones). At my last job, I could even hear almost a whirring noise through my headphones whenever the hard drive began to spin.

 

[sergiuo]

I have often experienced hearing ticks/blips etc. when connecting headphones directly to a computer, particularly towers. There is a lot of potential for electronic "noise", if you will, being carried on the audio circuitry. That is partly why you can find lots of people on Head-fi using an external DAC/amp with their computers (and also to take advantage of amplifier circuits capable of properly driving a range of headphones). At my last job, I could even hear almost a whirring noise through my headphones whenever the hard drive began to spin.

Hi mate,
 
thank you for your answer, but like I said same thing happens when I'm using IFI Nano IDSD which is an external amp/dac that's why I'm wondering where should I start to locate the problem and hopefully fix it.

 

[SDBiotek]

I'm not too familiar with that model...is it powered by USB, or external power or battery? If it is powered by USB, depending on the power filtering in the iNano, there could still be some random noise coming through. Iems are generally a lot more sensitive to low level noise like that. I think that same company also makes some type of USB device to clean-up the power, before connecting to your DAC/amp.

Actually, here is the product page:http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/accessory-ipurifier/

 

[sergiuo]

I'm not too familiar with that model...is it powered by USB, or external power or battery? If it is powered by USB, depending on the power filtering in the iNano, there could still be some random noise coming through. Iems are generally a lot more sensitive to low level noise like that. I think that same company also makes some type of USB device to clean-up the power, before connecting to your DAC/amp.

Actually, here is the product page:http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/accessory-ipurifier/

You're right, while using it at my PC its powered by USB so yea that might be the issue, sadly the purifier is another 100 euros and I have no budget for that right now.
 
Do you think trying other usb slots might fix the problem? right now I'm using the front panel ones.
Also, I'm more concerned if this may damage the IEMs or even the dac/amp, I'm pretty sure I can learn to live with it since it happens just a few times per day at least until I can buy a usb "purifier".

 

[SDBiotek]

Trying different USB ports won't hurt (and it's free!) Possibly some ports will seem a bit quieter than others. There are other USB isolators or noise filter devices available that may cost less, I just remembered seeing the iFi model online recently. I'm not sure what is available where you live. I think there are even battery powered USB hubs, but I didn't immediately find any when I did a quick search online.
 
Sorry I can't help more, but maybe some members over in the computer audio threads can help.

 

[sergiuo]

  Trying different USB ports won't hurt (and it's free!) Possibly some ports will seem a bit quieter than others. There are other USB isolators or noise filter devices available that may cost less, I just remembered seeing the iFi model online recently. I'm not sure what is available where you live. I think there are even battery powered USB hubs, but I didn't immediately find any when I did a quick search online.
 
Sorry I can't help more, but maybe some members over in the computer audio threads can help.

Ok, thanks a lot for your help. I'll see if changing the usb port will help. Meantime if anyone else had such issues before I'd like to get some opinions on how to fix this.

 

[cel4145]

Hi mate,

thank you for your answer, but like I said same thing happens when I'm using IFI Nano IDSD which is an external amp/dac that's why I'm wondering where should I start to locate the problem and hopefully fix it.

Could be another process (application) on your computer causing the problem. Not sure how to diagnose that, though.