Setup irritating my ears after static shock. - what to do?

[Horatio]

Hey all.

first of all, the setup;
external hard drive -> laptop -> Echo Indigo DJ -> PAV2 -> Senn HD555

Over the last year or so, I've been quiet pleased with this setup considering I can't really afford to upgrade. Since getting the Echo Indigo, I've experimented with having the PAV2 inline with mixed results.

Usually I listen at work which means that there's a LOT of static electricity around. A few months ago, I managed to fry the left channel of the headphone output on the Indigo when a spark jumped from my ear to the headphones and I didn't happen to have the PAV inlnine at the time. (Echo was very good about repairing the Indigo under warranty). Recently the same thing happened again so obviously I need to sort out the issue of static before I go much farther in audio goodies at work.

My real problem is that my ears become irritated from even short periods of listening at low volumes. After they're irritated, just about any noise makes my ears twitch like a German Shephard's and it's extremely annoying. This seems to have started around the time that I first damaged my soundcard so I think it has something to do with damaged equipment.

Any ideas on what's causing the irritation?

Many thanks,
Greg

 

[Horatio]

thought I'd give this a bump....

 

[Killercrush]

I think you'll have to switch something in your setup...

 

[boomana]

Could you describe what you mean by irritation? Do you experience it at any other time?

 

[beerguy0]

The only thing that comes to mind is that you have possibly damaged, but not totally destroyed, an output device. This could cause distortion, which could be irritating. IC's usually have protection diodes internally, to help protect the part from ESD. You may have woofed one (or more) of these diodes, which can cause the outputs to struggle.

About the only thing you could do is replace the output devices and see if the problem goes away. Or, try another sound card.

 

[ken36]

Do you have friends that also have gear?

 

[Horatio]

good replies, thanks.

I don't really have any buddies with gear, unfortunatel;y. I did have a co-worker who's an audiophile (but not with headphones) have a listen and he found the HD555s "harsh" which I think might be a clue as they're normally described as "laid back" or "warm" if anything. I haven't found any really good shops around town that specialize in audiophile equipment that includes headphones; always home-theatre or loudspeakers and the like.

The irritation is that loud or normally "grating" sounds which I can normally tolerate become intolerable or downright painful within my inner ear and this irritation can last hours. I've never experienced this irritation at any other time including when I was using this same setup before the ESD shock.

I should've mentioned on my bump that I thought I'd try some Sennheiser CX300s in the meantime since it seemed my cans were bothering me and sure enough, I don't get any of the irritation with extended listening using
Laptop -> PAV2 -> CX300s

I get a little bit of irritation after about 30mins of listening using

Laptop ->Echo DJ -> PAV2 -> CX300

and definitely get irritataion after 10 mins in any setup using the HD555s but especially if the Echo DJ is in use. I should probably try the 'phones out on a regular stereo amp and possibly a different computer to see if I get different results.

I keep the PAV2 plugged in at all times now because if I manage to set another one of these static charges down the headphone cable, I don't want it travelling through the laptop.

I'd like to believe that there is some kind of filter out there or even an EQ that I could use to remove whatever is causing this (or limit it, at least) but that's probably a dream. I think I'm probably in for at least new 'phones and a new DAC....I can hear my wallet crying from the next room

Thanks all!

Greg