Schiit Magni Producing Static Sporadically

[Christople]

 

 

   Every once and a while i will get a static coming out of my headphones, I don't see a pattern with it and here is my set up:
Grado SR80i
Schiit Magni
Schiit Modi
Macbook Air via usb
 
in that order from my head to computer. My question is if it is normal for a amp to do this or should I exchange it for a new one. Also are there any other points of failure that I could look into. Any help is appreciated, thank you! Also it is often on one side or the other, never both.

 

[Maxvla]

Could be a few things. It could be the jack of your headphones having wires coming loose, or even the connections inside the cans themselves, we'll hope it's not that. It could be the wiper of the potentiometer in the Magni having some problems, this is the most likely. There could be a solder joint failure somewhere along the line in any of the pieces, unlikely. Your USB cable may be defective, try another.

Try your headphones directly from the MBA for a while and see if it happens. If you happen to have a 1/8th to dual RCA cable try running that from the MBA to the Magni to the Grados. If you have another source, say a CD player, or even a cable/satellite box, try that in place of the Modi. If you have another amplifier, like a home theater receiver try that instead of the Magni using the MBA and Modi. Hopefully you can isolate it.

The best thing to do is to contact Schiit support and get their help. Tell them everything you've tried then see what suggestions they can offer.

 

[Christople]

SO the cans are fine out of the MBA and I noticed while texting/ using my phone, is when it happens. I only figured this out ny putting my iphone on airplane mode and the sounds stopped occurring, but as soon as i took my phone off of airplane mode, then the static came back. So maybe my phone produces some kind of wave or frequency that interferes with the schiit stack. 
 
It doesn't make the static sound directly out of the MBA so it must be the schiit stack, and I don't think it is the cable of the headphones, as they are less than a month old. 
 
Also, the further my phone is from the cable of the grados, then the quieter it is. I really appreciate you help, Thank you!

 

[Maxvla]

Ah, yes cellular interference. Hadn't considered that one. Not sure what to suggest as I don't have that problem. Distance sure works, though!

 

[davidsh]

If you want to find out where the problems come from, try to wrap the individual components in tin foil and see what happens. 
 
Sure the stack is grounded?

 

[Christople]

It definitely was my iphone, and I can't figure out if it is the magni or modi, as I can't use them separately. I really appreciate the help given, thank you.
 
I guess I'll just have to keep my phone further away. It hasn't happen since I have kept my phone on the other side of the desk.