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Papieur
3
Nov 9, 2017
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What are people talking about when they mention the low sound floor making hissing noises? Shouldn't this dac/amp be able to drive highly-sensitive IEMs well because of its low output impedance (1 ohm)?
Nov 9, 2017
CEntrance
1151
Michael Goodman
Nov 9, 2017
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PapieurYes, plenty of output drive power. This product does well when you like to listen loud. But, if you bring the level down on the PC and then try to compensate by making the DACport louder, then you may hear the residual noise. That would happen with any such product. But that's not correct use of the amplifier. Correct use is to max the level at the PC and use the volume control on the DACport to adjust listening level per taste. This way, there would be no noise.
Nov 9, 2017
Papieur
3
Nov 10, 2017
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CEntranceOh I see. Does the same concept apply when using the DACportSlim with a smartphone (using an OTG cable)?
Nov 10, 2017
CEntrance
1151
Michael Goodman
Nov 10, 2017
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PapieurYes, correct. The way to run any audio system (and this includes home audio, car audio and concert sound) is to max the level on all components in the chain prior to the final amplifier, and only control the volume on the final amplifier. This way, the signal will be "hot" (loud) throughout every link in the chain, and the noise will continue to be at lowest levels. The problem with noise comes in when you lower the volume early down the line and then all subsequent components have to "struggle" to recover the signal from the noise, but it's too late - the noise is already present.
A simple example of this is the Bluetooth input on newer car stereos. If you minimize the volume on your phone and try to "recover" the volume with the amp in the car radio, that usually sounds bad -- too much noise. Instead, always max out the volume on the phone, and use the volume knob on the radio to control the playback volume. That way you will have lowest noise and highest quality.
Sorry if this was too long ;)
Nov 10, 2017
Uzuzu
1431
Nov 10, 2017
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CEntranceI guarantee you zero people are lowering the PC level volume, lol. That's a great way to twist his question. These people are experiencing audible noise floor when the source is maxed, because the noisefloor is noticeable with super sensitive equipment. Please don't give out answers where you create assumed/false contest.
Nov 10, 2017
CEntrance
1151
Michael Goodman
Nov 10, 2017
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UzuzuThere are two questions here:
1) Is there a noise floor? and 2) How to minimize it?
Theoretically, there is always a noise floor present, no matter what equipment you talk about -- ours, or someone else's. In practice, whether you hear this noise floor or not depends on a lot of things, such as your headphones (balanced armatures are most sensitive, overheads are not as bad), the amount of background noise (a quiet room will be most revealing, a moving train, the least) and any background noise in the recording itself. Some recordings have a surprising amount of background noise heard during quiet passages. When you hit "pause", the noise from the recording disappears and at that point you may or may not hear the noise generated in your equipment.
While we go to great lengths to minimize the residual noise in our products, it's up to the people to say whether they hear it or not. As you noticed, I'm not influencing that argument. But correct gain structure is always important, no matter whose gear you use. This equally applies to our competitors. Sadly, based on the amount of calls and emails we take on the subject, correct gain structure is not obvious to everyone and as evidenced by Papieur's comment, my explanation was useful to him. Yes, unfortunately, we see people mess up gain structures, unknowingly, quite often. And then they complain about too much noise and when we explain the procedure, they thank us.
And to your point -- even though I myself know the "correct procedure" I actually use the PC volume fader sometimes when I can't reach for the DACport's volume control knob (it's somewhat out of reach on my desk). I know it's not ideal, but sometimes its just more convenient, because the mouse is already in my hand and I just need to bring the volume down because the phone rang, or something. The important thing is to know what's correct in theory, then you decide for yourself what you do in practice, based on the circumstances.
Now that the theory is out of the way, you can share if you heard the background noise, what headphones you used, other conditions, etc. I'm sure it will be useful to people.
Nov 10, 2017
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