Schiit Magni + Modi - noise with nothing playing

[BrianPeppers]

I have noticed some kind of weird noise with my Schiit magni + modi combo used with DT770s. I hear some kind of quiet spooling up, spooling down electrical swoosh sound with these occasionally when there's nothing playing. I'm wondering whether this is normal, and what's causing this? Is it the amp or the DAC? It seems to happen more when I just start up the amp, so I thought maybe it's a capacitor charging up or something.

 

[stv014]

Does it happen even at 0 volume ?

 

[uncola]

try to isolate the sound, unplug the amp from the dac and see if it's still there.. if it is try unplugged the dac from your source..  or try a new usb port
also you could try a different power socket

 

[BrianPeppers]

I'm not exactly sure if I still hear it at 0 volume - I think I hear something, but that could just be my tinnitus. But as I turn it up just a little with nothing playing I hear the swooshing and it's pretty annoying.
 
I think I've isolated it to the DAC though. I plugged in my NI Audio 2 DJ interface and ran the output from that to the amp, and heard complete silence regardless of the volume. Note that I'm using the same USB cable and USB port for both the Audio 2 and the Modi. So, what the hell? I'm guessing it's not supposed to do that.

 

[BrianPeppers]

I have to rescind my last statement. The noise looks like it's coming from the USB cable to the DAC. When I plug in more USB devices I get more noise. When I plug in my MIDI controller there is a very obvious increase in noise. So I think there interference is coming from the USB cable. Can someone recommend a good, cheap, USB audio cable?

 

[Angelbelow]

I have the audio quest forest plugged into my wa7 and so far no complaints.

 

[LiteKirby]

Monoprice sells good quality cables at really low prices, I've never really had issues with any of their items

 

[65535]

It's not a cable issue, it could be a computer issue. I'm not sure the exact cause but I've heard of people hearing noise over USB I think it had something to do with too much strain on the bus and getting noise that travels through the dac.