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fletchling
8
Mar 14, 2016
Hey guys, I just received my dacport slim and I'm able to hear the noise floor (quiet, but noticeable and annoying hiss) using IEM's and a gaming headset of which the highest impedance is 32 ohm and lowest of 16 ohm. I have some higher impedance headphones on the way (the reason why I purchased this DAC in the first place) but I would like to know if this is normal? and if i can expect to hear the noise floor on my new headphones (150 ohm) when they arrive? I was under the impression that you would not be able to hear a noise floor at all with this DAC regardless of impedance and sensitivity. Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide some insight.
SomeTechNoob
466
Mar 14, 2016
fletchlingMy Slim is from the very first drop, and it also has a noticeable noise floor. It gets quite loud when you set the Slim to high gain as well, but I only have 16ohm and 32ohm earbuds and headphones to test with. tbh I'm surprised that I haven't mentioned it here, despite how much I post.
A bit disappointing considering that my cheapo motherboard with a Realtek ALC892 has no background noise at all. IIRC Massdrop's original product page for the Slim advertised a "jet-black background", but I guess it's no longer advertised as such.
fletchling
8
Mar 14, 2016
SomeTechNoobYep, the higher gain setting makes the noise floor louder :( Well I feel somewhat better that I'm not alone with this issue. Sound quality is really nice otherwise. Thanks for the reply
fletchlingWith higher impedance headphones, there should be no problem at all and the noise floor should be in fact pitch black. With lower impedance IEMs you should really use the lower gain setting. If you use use the high gain setting the sound level would be unbearably loud and that is typically not what you would evaluate the noise floor against.
KMpr
30
Mar 14, 2016
fletchlingSo there's a perceivable noise floor on 32ohm phones even on the low gain setting? I'm sorry but that is a mass fail in its own right. I don't think I'll be getting this and people should be warned, despite the 1 ohm output impedance completely deceiving us that this would be good for low impedance phones.
Although, sometimes your source could be to blame... have you guys tried using different USB ports to see if there's less noise? Oftentimes, front panel USB ports are very poor quality and generate much more noise than your motherboard USBs and even USB 3/3.1.
rsnblmn
195
Mar 14, 2016
KMpr@KMpr has good advice. USB ports are notoriously inconsistent from computer to computer in my experience. My DACport Slim was dead quiet from my Macbook Pro with the standard cable, but on my high powered desktop Windows gaming PC, it was picking up a low-level hum if I had it at about 1/3 to 1/2 volume on quieter music.
The fix for me was using a heavier shielded ferrite core USB cable like this:
http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=5457
Cleaned the noise right up for me.
fletchling
8
Mar 14, 2016
KMprI've now tested the Slim on 2 laptops, my desktop and an android phone with both 32 ohm and 16 ohm phones and 3 different USB cables (nothing special here, just 2 different phone charger cables and the provided cable) on the low gain setting and I'm a bit sad to say that the noise floor is audible on every test. The noise floor volume doesn't change with the volume setting on either the Slim or the source, even when both are completely turned down. It's significantly louder on 16 ohm phones compared to the 32 ohm, however when playing music I personally cant hear it. On 32 ohm the floor is there but its very faint.
I currently do not have access to anything above 32 ohm to test on, but at a guess I'd say anything over 50 ohm would probably be enough to cancel out the noise floor (maybe). I don't think I will be able to test this before the end of the current drop but i will report on it when I can.
fletchling
8
Mar 14, 2016
CEntranceI was only using the high gain setting to test the noise floor. I had the volume all the way down for this and could still hear it at both high and low settings. For actual use I have only been using low gain ;)
Boomboommadafaka
32
Mar 14, 2016
fletchlingDamn this is so sad, my schiit fulla also have ground noise but as I turn down the volume those noise vanish. One of the reason why im buying this is to get a cleaner sound :(
Vexs
98
Mar 14, 2016
BoomboommadafakaI had some issues like this, but I found it was proximity to my phone that was causing it, as well as the mains cable that ran through the wall next to me. It seems to be really badly shielded, but when I tossed some ferrites on the cable and properly grounded the dac it all went away. I could also really only hear the noise floor on my IEMs, any headphones should be fine.
userfriendly
27
Mar 15, 2016
BoomboommadafakaYou could always put a short inline volume control or better yet an impedance adapter (maybe 75ohm adapter) between the slim and your headphones. That should be able to eliminate audible hiss, but purest will probably cringe at putting anything more between you and the signal path.
Honestly hiss from the slim with my sensitive IEMS seems to bother me less and less... or it has lessened for real from break-in.
Boomboommadafaka
32
Mar 15, 2016
VexsWould the noise vanish at listenning volume tho? As far as I know the reason why I hear noise from my Fulla is because the power to IEMs are too much (ear bleeding volume) but at normal volume the noise are almost inaudible. I think some one mentioned reducing the volume wont get rid of the noise and that would be troublesome for me.
Boomboommadafaka
32
Mar 15, 2016
userfriendlyWhat would happen if you put the Dacport into line out mode and plug IEMs into it ?
SomeTechNoob
466
Mar 15, 2016
BoomboommadafakaNoise is constant. It does not ramp up or down when the volume is changed, and I can hear it when no sound is playing on my 32Ohm earbuds and headphones.
And yes, it happens on both low(line-out) and high gain.
Boomboommadafaka
32
Mar 15, 2016
SomeTechNoobDamn it I guess I might have to drop out, I have grounding issue with the Fulla when i place my phone near it i can hear weird noise, I thought this Dacport would be the solution as they have low gain option but maybe I would save up for something else with proper shielding and lower gain switch.
SomeTechNoob
466
Mar 15, 2016
BoomboommadafakaI just tested it with a bunch of other cables on my desktop as well as on my Dell XPS 13, but from what I can tell it's all the same.
It's a constant and very light white noise in the background, and as a result noticeable on low impedance cans and iems.
What confuses me is that moedawg140 says "[He] did not detect any hiss or background noise when using the DACport and SE846 combination."
http://www.head-fi.org/t/778966/review-centrance-dacport-slim-dac-amp-combo
Yet I can hear it quite clearly on all my headphones and earbuds if I listen for it.
Boomboommadafaka
32
Mar 15, 2016
SomeTechNoobThat said the SE846 is more sensitive than my JVC Fx850, which IEMs did u use to test the noise? My Fulla produces noise only if I touch the volume knob or interfering it with other devices like my phone, If i keep the volume sets on listening level then they are perfectly fine. Is it because of the analog volume knob on the fulla actually adjust the gain level while the Dacport sets the gain level and uses digital volume control instead?
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