When I got my DSD (with Bridge II card), using High Volvume Level was fine, but recently I have got soo much noise in High that I cannot use it. It is not a “hum” but just white noise., I hear it clearly from the sofa 10f away. and the noise is at a onstant whatever volume is set. I have no noise at Low level, so I use that, often at maximum 106 volume level which is fine. But some material are mastered at a lower level, so I need to switch to High, but it is unbearable.I have used High before and dont remember hearing this noise. I think it is somthing that has come lately and I have done some troubleshooting but with no change.
I have the DSD connected directly to my Mcintosh MC501 monoblocks via XLR.
What I tried:
Changed power cable and outlet for the DSD
Changed XLR cables
Reset, re-loaded different firmwares on the DSD
Pulled every other cables from the DSD but the XLR for the testing
Any thoughts? I feel as if this issue has developed recently, because I have been using High previously and never once reflected on any noise.
Did you try better eor different Ethernet cable to the bridge 2 card. Or pulling and reseating the card ensuring itts stews a grounded back plate to chassis. Also ensure coax to router cable is in good condition and tight.
No difference with card pulled. I wonder if there’s any point in making a support ticket. It would be interesting to hear PS audio comment om this? Is this a known issue?
What you describe sounds very normal for this DAC with a direct connection to power amplifiers. Has anything else changed in the system which would allow you to hear the background hiss more readily? Do you have new speakers? Not being facetious, did you have your ears cleaned or otherwise treated in a way that would improve high frequency hearing?
(I’m not an electrical engineer but I’ve spent some time studying some of the basics… hopefully I’ve got the numeric part of what follows correct.)
The Mk1 DAC has an unusually high noise floor by modern standards. The high/low switch controls whether or not a resistor is connected between the output and ground. When it is connected, it creates a voltage divider. All the voltage changes seen by the amp – both the background noise and the audio waveforms recreated from your digital inputs – are reduced by 90% in amplitude. This corresponds to a 99% reduction in eventual power output aka -20dB. And human ears perceive this as reducing the loudness by about 3/4.
When you set the DAC to High you hear the noise floor about four times louder. This is one of main reasons that a majority of people end up using a pre-amp between the DAC and their power amps – myself included.
Nothing has changed in the setup, and I am not using the Bridge Card. I got the noise without anything connected but power cable and XLRs. Its strange, because I cant remember hearing this in the beginning of ownership. I might connect a pre-amp in the future.
I had this issue with the same DAC. My speakers (Goldenear Triton Reference) are on the high side of sensitivity (93 db), and I think that may have something to do with it. In the end my solution was 10 db attenuators at the amp inputs. It solved the issue for me, and I could not detect any degradation of SQ in doing so. If there is any, it’s beyond what I can hear!
Thanks for all the comments. It seems this is pretty normal then for the High level on the DSD. I have the Usher BE-10 speakers. I think sensitivity is quite high also. Spec says 89 db.
Sensitivity may or may not be the issue, but I run Pure Audio Project Trio 15 Classic Speakers driven by a Pass Labs XA-25, and Pass Labs XP-22 and have no noise issues what so ever. My DSD MkI is dead quite in this system with the speaker efficiency at 97 db. Just sharing my experience.
Do you have a WiFi router near your speakers? I remember folks on the Goldenear forum having noise issues and moving the router further away from the speakers helped. Apparently the internal amps of the speakers were reacting to the WiFi signal. I don’t recall what type of noise they were hearing.
So I just tried another pair of speakder cables. No difference, still very much white noise in High level. I have a netgear RJ45 switch nearby, I turned it off, made no difference either. I think I tried everything, time to contact support. This thing is bought in -21 though, so I doubt there is any warranty left.
