[Jalbert300]

Yeah, all 3 of my Vidar do this. It's only noticeable in my office system on the left channel, so I put the one with the lowest offset in there with a sys between the Saga + and Vidar set so that the pop is gone...

Also, I'm happy the thread is alive again!

Question, when you say "offset" what is that referring to? And is it the same "DC offset" that @33na3rd refers to?

Oh, and are you specifically saying your Vidar(s) do the thump when turning off, or do you also get the "pops" when switching source/mode/mute on Saga+ ?

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Unfortunately we are all quarantined these days, so taking to another house is not an option for foreseeable future.

Do you have a link to an “offset killer”, not sure what that is.

No thought on speaker thump when changing source, power off? Thats as bothersome if not more so than the hum to me.

https://www.pooraudiophile.com/2015/03/how-to-fix-dc-offset-and-transformer.html
There's much more. Cheaper and more expensive. I'd ask our resident electro-phd @Ableza to explain the principle.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Raspberry Pi + Volumio is waaaay better than Apple TV on redbook source. Especially on speakers
What's bad with Apple TV is it converts everything to 48kHz sampling rate, which destroys staging when playing 44.1kHz source.
(It won't be problem if you play 48kHz 16bit source, but it is not popular...)

I am using Raspberry Pi 4B + Volumio + Aluminum heatsink type casing.
However, in my case, the casing and insulator (the wooden block in my case as shown on photo) really affects the sound.
Three wooden blocks aren't good and just one block beneath was best in my trial.
Standard plastic casing sounds more open but more loose.
And the USB cable makes big difference as well. (I am now using audioquest USB Carbon and it made huge difference for me.)

If you install Audirvana in your mac, you can stream HiRes to Volumio via network using your iTunes library as well.
Volumio works as AirPlay receiver, but also works as a network receiver and you can use Audirvana as a network transport.

I am using
Apple TV (HDMI) to TV (Optical) to Bifrost 2
RaspberryPi+Volumio (USB) to Bifrost 2
in my living room setup.

I don't know about the SQ but I think it's a prize winning picture you made there.

 

[Licht]

I don't know about the SQ but I think it's a prize winning picture you made there.

Thank you Pietro!
It's my pleasure.
Photo shooting is my hobby as well.

 

[Jalbert300]

https://www.pooraudiophile.com/2015/03/how-to-fix-dc-offset-and-transformer.html
There's much more. Cheaper and more expensive. I'd ask our resident electro-phd @Ableza to explain the principle.

Great thanks! I'm off to the hardware store to get myself a multimeter and see if I can measure the DC offset on Amp. Then maybe purchase the CMX-2 ( https://emotiva.com/collections/accessories/products/cmx-2 ) depending on my results.

So reading that article it mentions any hum coming from speaker would be related to grounding issue. So in theory even if I have DC offset issue, and the CMX-2 effectively eliminates the Amp hum, I may still be left with speaker hum from some sort of "grounding issue"? When they say "grounding issue", are they specifically referring to ground loop, or are there other sorts of grounding issues that also cause speaker hum. Reason I ask is because I get the hum from speaker even if ONLY amp and speakers are connected, nothing else remotely close to being connected or plugged-in, and even with every other breaker turned off in house.

 

[33na3rd]

Thing I find interesting is that I only get the pops in speaker when using the Vidar to power passive speakers. I have a few diff pairs of powered speakers(no vidar in the chain) that do not exhibit the pop when switching inputs. I'm curious what the difference is that prevents the pops in powered speakers. Maybe because they are using class D amps I assume?

I'm going to guess that your powered speakers have coupling capacitors, which will block DC, but can color the signal. Vidar has no coupling caps.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Great thanks! I'm off to the hardware store to get myself a multimeter and see if I can measure the DC offset on Amp. Then maybe purchase the CMX-2 ( https://emotiva.com/collections/accessories/products/cmx-2 ) depending on my results.

So reading that article it mentions any hum coming from speaker would be related to grounding issue. So in theory even if I have DC offset issue, and the CMX-2 effectively eliminates the Amp hum, I may still be left with speaker hum from some sort of "grounding issue"? When they say "grounding issue", are they specifically referring to ground loop, or are there other sorts of grounding issues that also cause speaker hum. Reason I ask is because I get the hum from speaker even if ONLY amp and speakers are connected, nothing else remotely close to being connected or plugged-in, and even with every other breaker turned off in house.

I hope someone gives you an answer because my knowledge about this stops here.

 

[valiant66]

The only down side to using AppleTV as a streamer for Redbook material is it only offers HDMI (and in early models, optical S/PDIF) output. If this works for you then you are set.

Thanks!

Yes, my gen 2 App!e TV has an optical out, which I am using. In fact, my gen 3 HDMI goes to the projector and sends audio over Ethernet to the gen 2 plugged into the DAC. Works just as easily as sending audio from iTunes.
.

 

[EricDH]

The Flubared story is nice history telling but so extremely different from the European tale that I can only take it as a history lesson about the US.
Thanks Jason, for that.

Whether the discussed disruptions occurred (in the same way or magnitude) in parts of the world others live or not (I never experienced an earthquake anywhere near me for example), the basic lessons that can be learned are universally applicable I would say. So at least to me it is much more than "nice history telling".

 

[33na3rd]

Reason I ask is because I get the hum from speaker even if ONLY amp and speakers are connected, nothing else remotely close to being connected or plugged-in, and even with every other breaker turned off in house.

Another thing that might make a difference is your cable routing. Check to make sure that your speaker cables are not running parallel to your power cables. If they touch each other, it should be at 90 degree angles. Speaker cables are less prone to this kind of interference than interconnects, but can still pick up noise from unshielded power cords.

I realize that this isn't the same as your problem, but I briefly had a moderate hum that was solved by rerouting the interconnect from Saga to Vidar. The interconnect was picking up EMI from the power supply of a nearby component.

 

[Jalbert300]

Another thing that might make a difference is your cable routing. Check to make sure that your speaker cables are not running parallel to your power cables. If they touch each other, it should be at 90 degree angles. Speaker cables are less prone to this kind of interference than interconnects, but can still pick up noise from unshielded power cords.

I realize that this isn't the same as your problem, but I briefly had a moderate hum that was solved by rerouting the interconnect from Saga to Vidar. The interconnect was picking up EMI from the power supply of a nearby component.

I'll keep that mind, however my hum in speakers is present with nothing connected, no interconnects, just amp and speaker wire.

 

[davidflas]

Hello every one, I hope you're all keeping safe. I have a question for Ragnarok 2 owners: When the unit is in headphone mode, are the preamp outs also muted? I also sent an email to Schiit.

 

[valiant66]

Raspberry Pi + Volumio is waaaay better than Apple TV on redbook source. Especially on speakers
What's bad with Apple TV is it converts everything to 48kHz sampling rate, which destroys staging when playing 44.1kHz source.

Hmm. A contrasting opinion. I did not know about the upsampling, and yes, most of my music is 16/44 Redbook. I do have a few 16/48, but not enough to worry about.

If you install Audirvana in your mac, you can stream HiRes to Volumio via network using your iTunes library as well.
Volumio works as AirPlay receiver, but also works as a network receiver and you can use Audirvana as a network transport.

I did not know that about Audirvana, but since only about 1% of my music is HiRes being able to stream it is not worth the $96 to me, I would just use AirPlay.

That makes me wonder - you mentioned the Apple TV converts audio to 48kHz. Is that a hardware thing, or is that an AirPlay thing? In other words, does iTunes do the conversion before sending it to AirPlay so it doesn't matter what hardware I use, or does the Apple TV do the conversion when it receives the signal?

Thanks.

 

[valiant66]

I am using
Apple TV (HDMI) to TV (Optical) to Bifrost 2
RaspberryPi+Volumio (USB) to Bifrost 2
in my living room setup.

Also, I notice you are just using the Raspberry Pi 3 by itself. Why did you choose not to use a HAT?
.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Whether the discussed disruptions occurred (in the same way or magnitude) in parts of the world others live or not (I never experienced an earthquake anywhere near me for example), the basic lessons that can be learned are universally applicable I would say. So at least to me it is much more than "nice history telling".

good for you.