[Speakerphile]

Quote:

I've noticed that the USB input creates high frequency noise from my speakers. This doesn't happen with any of the other inputs, and I have a USB-AES converter (Musical Fidelity V-LINK 192) which I'm using instead right now. The noise isn't audible over the headphones, even if you max out the volume, so it only affects speakers. I assume this is computer noise somehow transferring over, because the noise is affected by what happens on screen, so if I open and close programs the noise is affected. So whatever their USB solution is it could be better.

 
 
May be a stupid question, but is this a desktop or laptop, and have you tried a different USB output?

 

[MelvinV]

Quote:

I've noticed that the USB input creates high frequency noise from my speakers. This doesn't happen with any of the other inputs, and I have a USB-AES converter (Musical Fidelity V-LINK 192) which I'm using instead right now. The noise isn't audible over the headphones, even if you max out the volume, so it only affects speakers. I assume this is computer noise somehow transferring over, because the noise is affected by what happens on screen, so if I open and close programs the noise is affected. So whatever their USB solution is it could be better.

 
I was going to laugh at first, seeing that HD 800s also handle high frequencies, but...
Does WASAPI or ASIO fix it? And which software "fixes" it?
"...But Seriously", sounds so stupid that I just can't believe it. Close FireFox for bettur sound!^%, use command line startup for the best possible sound!&%.
I suspect placebo or a broken HDVD 800.

 

[TheManko]

I've tried three USB ports, but this is on a desktop computer, so I suspect all the ports I tried are connected to the same USB hub on the motherboard.
 
This is only audible over the speakers that I have connected via the balanced outputs, it is NOT audible over the HD 800. When I turn the knob all the way up on the HDVD 800 it's dead quiet, no matter the input I'm using.
 
I made a recording of the sound so you can get an idea of what it's like. This was recorded with a webcam mic. The microphone is stationary, pointing directly at the tweeter and midrange drivers of my speakers, about 10cm away. What I do in the recording is to turn the volume on my speakers all the way up, and then lower it again. Right at the end you might be hearing some kind of grinding noise, and that's from the volume knob motor on the amp I'm using with my speakers. https://soundcloud.com/themanko/hdvd-800-speaker-noise

 

[GSARider]

I sent an email to Axel Grell @ Sennheiser to ask him about the XLR Cable...below is the reply chaps.
 
 
 
 
The cable itself is the same cable as the HD 800 cable with the 6.3mm plug. For each side there are 2 silver plated OFC conductors. They are shielded against electro-magnetical interference. In the 6.3 mm version the "minus" pole of each side is connected to ground, in the XLR version each of them is connected to an individual pole of the XLR plug. The signal transmission from the DAC or analog input is completely balanced (or symmetrical). The inverted signal is subtracted from the signal in the voice coil of the HD 800.
What we measure is: better signal separation, less distortion and less interference when the balanced amplifier and cable is used.
What we hear is: more detail and we listen more deeply into the room...
 
The XLR connector is the nicest XLR connector on the market (it is a matter of taste It matches perfectly with the surface of the HDVx amplifiers.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

I've tried three USB ports, but this is on a desktop computer, so I suspect all the ports I tried are connected to the same USB hub on the motherboard.
 
This is only audible over the speakers that I have connected via the balanced outputs, it is NOT audible over the HD 800. When I turn the knob all the way up on the HDVD 800 it's dead quiet, no matter the input I'm using.
 
I made a recording of the sound so you can get an idea of what it's like. This was recorded with a webcam mic. The microphone is stationary, pointing directly at the tweeter and midrange drivers of my speakers, about 10cm away. What I do in the recording is to turn the volume on my speakers all the way up, and then lower it again. Right at the end you might be hearing some kind of grinding noise, and that's from the volume knob motor on the amp I'm using with my speakers. https://soundcloud.com/themanko/hdvd-800-speaker-noise

USB Audio can be tricky. I always had ground loop noise with my older USB converters, the solution that worked for me was using Ebtech HumX on computer and amp. After moving to HiFace the problem seems to disappear (galvanic isolation design). iUSB Power sports IsoEarth feature that supposed to break ground loop in between computer and USB DAC. If you check Computer Audio section you can find a lot of threads dedicated to all these computer induced noises.

 

[LifeAspect]

background noise on the speakers...reason the more to keep my V800 dac for my speakersystem :x

 

[Frank I]

Quote:

I sent an email to Axel Grell @ Sennheiser to ask him about the XLR Cable...below is the reply chaps.
 
 
 
 
The cable itself is the same cable as the HD 800 cable with the 6.3mm plug. For each side there are 2 silver plated OFC conductors. They are shielded against electro-magnetical interference. In the 6.3 mm version the "minus" pole of each side is connected to ground, in the XLR version each of them is connected to an individual pole of the XLR plug. The signal transmission from the DAC or analog input is completely balanced (or symmetrical). The inverted signal is subtracted from the signal in the voice coil of the HD 800.
What we measure is: better signal separation, less distortion and less interference when the balanced amplifier and cable is used.
What we hear is: more detail and we listen more deeply into the room...
 
The XLR connector is the nicest XLR connector on the market (it is a matter of taste It matches perfectly with the surface of the HDVx amplifiers.

I asked for the cable to include with my amp review and was told the cable will not be available till July. They will send me one then for review updates on the hdvd800. I am still waiting on the spec. for my review. 

 

[GSARider]

XLR Cable is supposedly coming to the UK in June, but I hear it might be delayed via my friendly local dealer...

 

[ASOKA]

I connect my HDVD800 to my MM1 using XLR to 3.5mm cable and it sounds fantastic, no noise at all. and the cable is just a $7.99 cheap cable.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

 
Are you kidding me?
 
1) Sennheiser markets and hypes the **** out of their products.  Amperior, Momentum, HD700, this mystery Electrostat.  I think this hype machine thing has been a growing trend for all the brands including Sennheiser for a while now; a trend that I'm not too happy about but I don't work for any of them.
 
2) A cable is a cable, IMO they put money into designing that cable and it shows.  If someone abuses their cables or puts them through hard use the same can happen to any cable of any brand of any manufacture.  Softer metals can deform with wear, if you plug and unplug your connectors at the hd800 headphone end often enough they will loosen over time which can lead to connection problems.  This has happened since the hd580 days when it was just plastic and springs.
 
3) Beyer?  Are you serious?  They use off the shelf microphone cable and Neutrik connectors for the T1 not to mention the quality control issues and driver mismatch problems that are well documented and measured on this forum.

 
I agree this has become a really unfortunate trend of sennheiser. It's almost like some other company bought them and did a big restructure. I fear that they are going the way of AKG when Harman bought them. 

 

[TheManko]

Quote:

I connect my HDVD800 to my MM1 using XLR to 3.5mm cable and it sounds fantastic, no noise at all. and the cable is just a $7.99 cheap cable.

I'm going try some other USB ports and maybe unplugging some of the devices to see if I can get rid of the noise. I assume they missed this problem because it's a fringe issue only affecting some machine configurations.

 

[Speakerphile]

Quote:

I'm going try some other USB ports and maybe unplugging some of the devices to see if I can get rid of the noise. I assume they missed this problem because it's a fringe issue only affecting some machine configurations.

I suspect it has more to do with your machine and a power issue than it has to do with the amp. Have you tried any other USB-based audio sources with your computer?  

 

[Frank I]

Interesting observation I have going on with the hDVD800. I have the review sample which has been running for almost three weeks non stop and it is wide open sounding and the new one I just purchased from Sennheiser is so different form the burned in model. It is more congested and not as open. It is more of what i heard when I first got the review sample. So my friends there is a huge difference after about 150 hrs of running the amp. It will be considerably better when it hits the 150-200 hr mark. I will be running this in all night for the next week to help speed up the process and them will compare them again.  If at first you do not get the results your looking for just be patient . It sound so much better and worlds class after 200 hrs which is roughly where i am at with the review sample.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Interesting observation I have going on with the hDVD800. I have the review sample which has been running for almost three weeks non stop and it is wide open sounding and the new one I just purchased from Sennheiser is so different form the burned in model. It is more congested and not as open. It is more of what i heard when I first got the review sample. So my friends there is a huge difference after about 150 hrs of running the amp. It will be considerably better when it hits the 150-200 hr mark. I will be running this in all night for the next week to help speed up the process and them will compare them again.  If at first you do not get the results your looking for just be patient . It sound so much better and worlds class after 200 hrs which is roughly where i am at with the review sample.

Very interesting Frank. I've heard differences that I swear were there, but I've never had two on hand at the same time....one fully burned in and one right out of the box. Maybe I wasn't hearing things?

 

[Mambosenior]

Ditto! The observation above coming from someone who does a lot of critical listening.

Thanks for giving me hope that I'm not completely insane for hearing that some gear benefits from a certain amount of run-in ("burn-in," to me, just sounds a bit silly).