[Graphicism]

I have recently upgraded from a balanced PS Audio DLIII to a Sony TA-ZH1ES and RCA cables and I am hearing what I believe to be 'coil whine' to the extreme.

My current setup is this: PC > USB > TA-ZH1ES > RCA > Presonus Temblor T10 > XLR > Left & Right speaker.

And when watching a video, YouTube even, the coil whine is so loud it's distracting and overpowering. In fact if I play a video or something that uses my GPU (GTX 2080) and browse Chrome at the same time, I even get little whines just from hovering over links. That is how bad it is.

Now if I introduce an RCA to XLR converter and set the volume to 50% the coil whine is completely gone. In fact I can turn the speakers way beyond a comfortable level and they are dead silent.
(This one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MXC9HHW/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Coil whine free: PC > USB > TA-ZH1ES > RCA > XLR Converter set to 50% > XLR > Presonus Temblor T10 > XLR > Left & Right speaker.

What is going on?

Bitperfect output is always at 100% volume so adjusting my volume slider in Windows does nothing. Setting the volume to 50% on the XLR convertor fixes it completely. Why?

 

[Anaz]

I think you have a ground loop issue - watch this video below then try taping over the 5V pin on your USB cable or the iFi iDefender.

 

[PointyFox]

That's not coil whine. That's noise from your computer, probably EMI on the PCI bus due to some sort of grounding issue.

 

[Graphicism]

I think you have a ground loop issue - watch this video below then try taping over the 5V pin on your USB cable or the iFi iDefender.

Oh thank you I did not know this little device existed. I did recently buy XLR ground loop adapters which unfortunately did nothing. I might have to give this a try, although mine is considerably worse!

That's not coil whine. That's noise from your computer, probably EMI on the PCI bus due to some sort of grounding issue.

I can hear my hard drive through my speakers clear as day! Chirping along as it reads and more a jolt-chirp when I fast forward a few minutes. 4k videos are the worse, the noise gets even greater if I add up-scaling or sharpening.

I am using the same computer. Same USB cable. Same everything. The only part of my chain that I switched is the DAC. So is the DAC to blaim?--I don't think it can be?

I mean talk about hearing every little nuance in the music, I am even hearing the hard drive it is being read off. Amazing! I jest.

Cheers all!

 

[candlejack]

I know this is old at this point, but did you manage to fix the issue?

 

[Graphicism]

I know this is old at this point, but did you manage to fix the issue?

Kind of, but not totally...

I have my DAC set to 48kHz (down from 192) which helps to cut down on the noise considerably, and I have a line-level set to 50% which reduces everything by half.

I tried a couple other ground-related fixes and nothing worked.

Do you have a similar issue?

 

[PointyFox]

Get a cheap internal soundcard and use it as the output to your DAC.

 

[candlejack]

Kind of, but not totally...

I have my DAC set to 48kHz (down from 192) which helps to cut down on the noise considerably, and I have a line-level set to 50% which reduces everything by half.

I tried a couple other ground-related fixes and nothing worked.

Do you have a similar issue?

No, but I find yours fascinating. I have a TA coming in, so I'll be able to try to replicate the issue once it arrives.

I didn't know what coil whine is, so I looked it up. But since that is a mechanical noise, I can't see how it would explain the issue here, as it can't propagate to any other component. Perhaps there is some other kind of noise (EM noise) that could affect the Sony TA output.. You did say that this was the only change in your chain when the noise appeared, right? How are the components physically arranged?

 

[PointyFox]

This has nothing to do with coil whine.