[Thomasr]

Something changed over the last ~week in my house, and I'm now noticing a steady mid/high pitched "chirp" sound when listening to music. It's worse in some headphones than others (no detectable noise with Monolith M1570s, very faint with Beyerdynamic DT-880/600, very noticeable and distracting with Audio-Technica ATH-MSR7b.) Putting my amp in high gain unsurprisingly makes it worse. Is this the type of thing that a power conditioner will clean up? If so any (affordable) recommendations?

Besides my headphone listening enjoyment, I think this is something I need to chase down: the same chirping noise seems to be coming from a couple light fixtures, and also from the microwave of all places. I even tried unplugging the microwave to see if it's the source but nope - it's a victim not a culprit

 

[Thomasr]

Replying to my own post as a public service...

I spent a while chasing gremlins trying to identify the source of this interference, and then one day I was out for a walk and as I passed a nearby "lawn box" (one of those green electrical boxes on a neighbour's front boulevard) I heard the exact same noise at the exact same frequency emanating from inside.

Okay, progress ... the problem wasn't inside my house, it was originating outside in the grid somewhere. Over the next while the noise became intermittent, and sure enough when it was quiet in my house (ahhh headphone bliss) I'd check on that lawn box and it'd be quiet too.

Then, as I was pondering who I need to contact, the noise went away, never to return.

A happy ending with zero effort on my part.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Something changed over the last ~week in my house, and I'm now noticing a steady mid/high pitched "chirp" sound when listening to music. It's worse in some headphones than others (no detectable noise with Monolith M1570s, very faint with Beyerdynamic DT-880/600, very noticeable and distracting with Audio-Technica ATH-MSR7b.) Putting my amp in high gain unsurprisingly makes it worse. Is this the type of thing that a power conditioner will clean up? If so any (affordable) recommendations?

Besides my headphone listening enjoyment, I think this is something I need to chase down: the same chirping noise seems to be coming from a couple light fixtures, and also from the microwave of all places. I even tried unplugging the microwave to see if it's the source but nope - it's a victim not a culprit

Look for a black van across the street. Inside will be guys with dark sunglasses, cheap suits, and no smiles.

Replying to my own post as a public service...

I spent a while chasing gremlins trying to identify the source of this interference, and then one day I was out for a walk and as I passed a nearby "lawn box" (one of those green electrical boxes on a neighbour's front boulevard) I heard the exact same noise at the exact same frequency emanating from inside.

Okay, progress ... the problem wasn't inside my house, it was originating outside in the grid somewhere. Over the next while the noise became intermittent, and sure enough when it was quiet in my house (ahhh headphone bliss) I'd check on that lawn box and it'd be quiet too.

Then, as I was pondering who I need to contact, the noise went away, never to return.

A happy ending with zero effort on my part.

The black van left the neighborhood