[madwolfa]

  Yeah, line out from the SB card.  The PC and Asgard are plugged into the same APC surge protector but I attempted to unplug the Asgard and plugged it into a different outlet (in the same room) and that didn't help any.  It's not really "annoying", as I probably won't listen above 50% gain, but that's just music.  It's kinda annoying when I'm playing games and I can hear a constant low buzz when there's no ambient music going on in the game.

 
I would strongly recommend investing into a DAC, even the cheapest Modi 2 would be a noticeable improvement (or a Bifrost to make a nice stack). 

 

[ryry1]

   
I would strongly recommend investing into a DAC, even the cheapest Modi 2 would be a noticeable improvement (or a Bifrost to make a nice stack). 

Any recommendations on things I can do other than buying a DAC to find out if the soundblaster is at fault? 

 

[madwolfa]

  Any recommendations on things I can do other than buying a DAC to find out if the soundblaster is at fault? 

 
Hearing faint noise at 100% is absolutely normal, but having it at 25% or 50% just indicates a noisy source. It's a huge challenge to get the clean analog signal out of the PC.

 

[520RanchBro]

My A2 only gets noisy if I'm using my Mani and I have it cranked to like 2 O'Clock. Pretty much have to crank it all the way up to get noise when the Bifrost is the source.

 

[ryry1]

   
Hearing faint noise at 100% is absolutely normal, but having it at 25% or 50% just indicates a noisy source. It's a huge challenge to get the clean analog signal out of the PC.

Yeah, hmm.  I can definitely afford it, I just feel like I want to test some other possibilities before jumping straight to the most expensive conclusion.  If I moved to a Bifrost and still had the same issue I would be pissed.  When the headphones are plugged directly into the soundcard headphone jack there are no issues.  I'm not sure if it's considered "amplified" or not, though.  Are ground loop issues really common, and could Schiits recommendation of purchasing a Ebtech HumX possibly fix the issue or does it not sound like a ground loop issue at all?  And I guess I could always test another RCA cable, or get a RCA to 3.5 converter and use my ipod as a source and see if the buzzing is persistent on that.

 

[madwolfa]

It's not the A2 that is noisy in your case, but Mani.. which being a very high gain device (like any other phono preamp) has pretty high noise floor. Amplifying very weak signals to line levels makes it very sensitive, naturally.

 

[ryry1]

So if I were to ditch my X-Fi Titanium HD sound card (which is still more or less considered the "king" of internal sound cards) and switch to a Bifrost, besides reducing/eliminating the humming issue, is there really going to be an audible difference worth that kind of money?  I am looking at the Bifrost Multibit, I want one with a black finish to match the black finish Asgard 2 I got.  Sell me on this ****, $599 isn't cheap.

 

[Bonobo Loco]

I recently picked up the Lyr2 and need a DAC to go with it. For the Bifrost owners, is the multibit option a big deal or no? Thanks in advance.

 

[madwolfa]

  So if I were to ditch my X-Fi Titanium HD sound card (which is still more or less considered the "king" of internal sound cards) and switch to a Bifrost, besides reducing/eliminating the humming issue, is there really going to be an audible difference worth that kind of money?  I am looking at the Bifrost Multibit, I want one with a black finish to match the black finish Asgard 2 I got.  Sell me on this ****, $599 isn't cheap.

 
It's hard to say if YOU will notice a difference.. I love my Bimby. Schiit has the 15 days return policy in case you don't like it. By the way, someone's selling one for $500 in FS section at the moment... (it's probably not black, though, also no warranty for used schiit).

 

[madwolfa]

  I recently picked up the Lyr2 and need a DAC to go with it. For the Bifrost owners, is the multibit option a big deal or no? Thanks in advance.

 
I've heard regular Bifrost is really good, but I think I like mine more after Multibit upgrade (I had an Uber). 

 

[theveterans]

Multibit has better synergy with bright headphones while Delta Sigma is better with warmer headphones IMO.

 

[madwolfa]

  Multibit has better synergy with bright headphones while Delta Sigma is better with warmer headphones IMO.

 
Sounds magical with HD600, which is on a neutral-brightish side.

 

[crazychile]

 

So if I were to ditch my X-Fi Titanium HD sound card (which is still more or less considered the "king" of internal sound cards)

Not trying to offend, but king of internal sound cards is sort of like saying you have really nice rims on an '86 Caprice. It will never be a Ferrari no matter how much bling you slap on it. Internal sound cards are at a huge disadvantage from the very start.

is there really going to be an audible difference worth that kind of money?

That depends on your expectations and past experiences, but my experience has been that a decent external DAC gets you a lot closer to hearing the source the way it was meant to be heard. If you play mostly MP3s then a Modi is just fine. If you are using something lossless, the Bifrost is totally worth the money. Maybe consider the base Bifrost model. You can always have it upgraded to Multibit later.
 

I want one with a black finish to match the black finish Asgard 2 I got.

Good luck. You may have to wait a while because they don't come available very often.

 

[Paladin79]

  Not trying to offend, but king of internal sound cards is sort of like saying you have really nice rims on an '86 Caprice. It will never be a Ferrari no matter how much bling you slap on it. Internal sound cards are at a huge disadvantage from the very start.
That depends on your expectations and past experiences, but my experience has been that a decent external DAC gets you a lot closer to hearing the source the way it was meant to be heard. If you play mostly MP3s then a Modi is just fine. If you are using something lossless, the Bifrost is totally worth the money. Maybe consider the base Bifrost model. You can always have it upgraded to Multibit later.
 
Good luck. You may have to wait a while because they don't come available very often.

I know of a Bifrost Uber for sale but unfortunately it is in silver.

 

[ryry1]

So I have an update with my issue.  This morning I woke up and I unplugged the RCA from the source and turned the Asgard gain up.  There is still an audible buzzing with the RCA plugged into the Asgard, despite not being plugged into my source.  I can hear feedback get louder when I place my fingers on the gain knob, or the ends of the RCA cables.  I unplugged the Asgard and took it into the bathroom with my headphones and the RCA cable, plugged it into a newer outlet in there and BOOM, like 90% of the noise I was hearing is now gone.  Can we assume this is a ground loop issue? What should I purchase to eliminate this problem in my office?  Moving my entire office into the bathroom is not a possibility
 
That being said, I can also definitely here a different type of noise once the RCA is plugged into my PC.  So there is some noise coming from that as well.  I will have to go ahead and ditch the sound card.  I will say I previously had a Magni hooked up to my PC, different PC, same sound card, and I didn't experience this issue in the past.  I have since built a new PC and re-used ONLY the Titanium-HD sound card and I guess it's just not liking this new setup.