Noise in Headphone Jack

I just got a Sprout today, but my excitement was pretty quickly washed away when I noticed how much noise existed out of the headphone jack. I get an audible hum coming out of my headphones at virtually every level of volume. I’ve got several big-box store receivers and they only do that when driven past reference levels.

Is this by design?

If not, here’s some info:

  • I'm using low impedance headphones (Audio Technica AD900, M50x, M30x)
  • Noise is present on each pair
  • I've tried different power outlets with no change
  • Noise occurs even when disconnected from my computer
  • The pitch and volume of the noise changes as volume is increased. It gets louder and higher to about 90 degrees then gets much more quiet and very low
  • I've let the unit warm up and have played a few hours of music on it
  • Speakers have not been tested yet

That doesn’t sound right, especially the part about “at every level of volume”. I have seen some headphones so sensitive they have a problem at Sprout’s lowest gain settings, but not like this.

Can we get that back and have a look at it, or we’ll just replace it for you?

Thanks,. Paul. I wasn’t expecting such a fast reply. Much appreciated :slight_smile: I’ll reach out for more details.

Hi Josh, Scott McGowan here, thanks for your patience with my reply. This doesn’t sound quite right, and I hope all is well with the internal shielding. Would you like a replacement? Please reach out to jeremyb@psaudio.com (our customer service manager) or of course just call in and we can fix you up with an RMA. Thanks, and sorry for the issue.

866-406-8946

Cheers!

Scott

Got my new Sprout in the mail last week, and all I can say is WOW! What a great device! Thanks Paul/Scott/Duncan for getting this resolved for me. I’ll be putting up impressions soon :slight_smile:

Awesome!

Hi Sprout!

I’m experiencing the same symptoms as the original poster.

Whenever I plug in my headphones into the headphone jack regardless of volume I can hear a hum which raises with volume. You can imagine kills the experience :frowning:

My headphone: SennheiserHD598

Sprout: I’m one of the original Kickstarter Campaign backers.

Hope to hear a solution to the problem!

As we never again heard from Josh (the OP), I assume his replacement Sprout resolved the issue.

I suggest giving PS Audio service a call.