Thanks in advance for those who read this and respond - I really appreciate it.....................................
So I have recently starting trying to move away from computer based audio - I study with a computer all day, plus the internet is too damned distracting. I'd like to step away from it in order to truly relax and listen. Also I have a tidy CD collection I've inherited and I'd like to play those in a comfortable chair without a screen staring at me.
I am hitting some major issues though.
Currently I happily run a Xonar Essence STX soundcard from my desktop --> Ack Dack! (older version, borrowing from my brother, its a non-upsampling battery-powered DAC for those unfamiliar) --> WA3 --> DT880/600's. This sounds great to my ears! And most importantly, it is
DEAD SILENT, I hear no tube noise (with the right tubes that is - many thanks to John), no hum, no hiss, no RFI, just beautiful music.
Before buying a decent cd player (which I am eyeing the marantz CD5004), I wanted to try out the hypothetical setup using just a basic DVD player as a transport. This sounded good in theory, but I get MAJOR hum/hiss/noise that I blame on the dvd players when I hook things up.
So, does it make sense that a source could cause a tremendous amount of hum? Perhaps I should not even call it hum, its just terribly loud noise that overwhelms the music, you can barely hear it. It increases with volume, and goes away when the source is unplugged (i/e its not a problem with my amp). Please read on, as I have already attempted a few things to resolve my issue....
So I think the dvd player is picking up then outputting an insane amount of hum/hiss/some kinda of awful noise.
I've never had any hum or noise when running my sound card as a source. From searching, I find little complaints of folks getting hum from their sources. I don't want to buy any sort of decent source if this may happen with it too. Has anyone ever heard of a source introducing immense hum?
I have tried different AC outlets, including the ones my computer uses (and my computer/soundcard is SILENT). Also, all of these cheap sources use two-pronged plugs, so using a cheater cable is not something I can try..
I have tried two cheap DVD players so far, both with the same horrid result: Panasonic DVD-S35 and Sony DVP-SR200P. I also tried a Sony Playstation 2 via optical out as well - same result!
I've tried both players this way:
Digital out (via coax on the Sony, optical on the Panasonic) --> DAC --> amp
as well as:
DVD player R/W analog out --> amp
I have tried multiple outlets all over my apartment, but the apartment is so small (850 square feet - Yay!) that
if RFI is the problem, there is no escaping it.
My best theory is this: There is a massive RFI problem in my apartment that these cheap components are picking up. I think my soundcard is well shielded - the Xonar STX advertises an RFI shield around the card, and thus explains why it is silent and the other cheap dvd players are not.
Is there a way to rule out RFI as an issue? Might I flip all my breakers but one and then have a listen? Make a tin-foil anti-alien helmet for my source? There are FOUR AC units right outside my house, perhaps I am just stuck in an RFI nightmare?
So my questions for you all -
1. what do you think of my theory? Any other theories of your own?
2. Is there anything that can be done? - I was thinking of eventually getting one of these if I liked the whole idea of cd's -
http://www.stereophile.com/content/marantz-cd5004-cd-player, but it would be unusable if it sounded remotely like these cheap dvd players. But perhaps the marantz will also have no problems like my soundcard?
3. Would flipping all breakers (but one, obviously) R/O the possibility of RFI? Or can this stuff penetrate through the walls from the neighbors, etc?
Thanks for the help,
Eric
