Thanks for your reply.
I have tried a piece or two of your suggestion(s), but I believe you are correct that I need to strip down to down to the most basic configuration to make any more progress. It seems to be the only way forward with what I have to work with.
I do hope the problem is with a ground loop, and not defective hardware.
Hi. I suffered the same problem with my NUC, but all noise disappeared after installing a galvanic usb filter from Intona between the NUC and my dacš
@Amir_Majidimehr has done a test of the Intona cleaner, and found it to be reasonable.
Though his solution would be the same as mine:
you do not need USB filters. The solution to Modi 2 Uber noise and distortion is to buy a DAC at the same price or lower that doesnāt have these issues. Schiit products seem to be sensitive to quality of USB power. Better designed DACs donāt have that problem.
Of course, if you already have a noisy DAC, thatās a different calculation.
Yes, I would prefer to find/fix the source of the problem, rather than covering up. I feel like I am covering up, with the groundless AC plug.
The Intona isolator is interesting, and if I think of using one, as just adding what the āinexpensiveā DAC left out, maybe not so bad.
I still need to try some things to restore the ground without the noise. Meanwhile Iām having a blast with Roon.
I have a Mytek Liberty, but still there was noise from ground loopsā¦have talked to engineers and pro musiciansā¦they all say you sometimes suffer this and it can be diff to find error. Easier to just break it with a filter. Coul be the nuc power supplyā¦could be inside the nucā¦coul be predispositions in my houseā¦can happen. One musician told me he could never be safe with his stage set up and always brough a batterypowered keyboard to avoid just in case it happened
Could it be as simple as inserting a 2 prong adapter between the power cord and power outlet?
Yes, the ātwo prong adapterā is what I am using to disconect the AC ground. (Post#1 paragraph 4)
As for ground loops, I thought they always sounded like a hum or buzz sound. What I am hearing is a crackling sound, like a very dirty vinyl record, plus the slow beeping. But I suppose a ground loop can have any sound character. The beeping really makes me think the source is the NUC, but the path must surely pass through ground. It is very audible through the less expensive DACs with the NUC ground connected.
I just finished setting up my NUC and also have the beeping and cracking sound. In my case the noise come from my amp as I donāt hear any noise when sending the output of my DAC directly into my speakers or when using the headphone jacks on my DAC. Still trying to figure out the cause of the noise though, since I didnāt have any issues when using my Mac as the core.
Thatās a little different. Iām curious as to what DAC you are using.
Iām using a Mytek Brooklyn. Also the noise has dissappeared (for now) after disconnecting and reconnecting the XLR cables between my DAC and my amp so I have no idea what happened.
Bad contact or internally broken XLR cable.
Before I changed to ethernet connection I used one of these in my NUC to DAC USB:
I also moved from a desktop win10 with roon to a intel nuc with EXACTLY the same problem as you.
The moment I connect USB from the nuc to the Marantz HDDAC1 i hear pink noise and a tick about every second through te speakers, even with volume at 0. I tried other usb port, other usb cable, very short usb cable.
Then is saw your post which solved the problem. I cut off the plug from the power cord and connect a new plug but did not connect the AC ground.
Hoera, problem solved. No more noise and ticking
Thanks for the post.
Hope this helps other people.
Thatās really interesting, because Marantz brags about that DAC that a built-in āground isolator for USB DAC mode operation eliminates noise from computer connection.ā
Another mystery in the domain of noise, loops, filtering, shielding, etcā¦
Anyway my whole AV setup is connected to a wall plug without AC ground. (house is from 1965)
The power distribution block has ground pin and some off my devices will have ground connected and the shielding of some cases might also be grounded. This problably created a loop. This is now broken by cutting the AC ground to the NUC
Thanks again.
PS : I am getting a new DAC. Cocktail Audio HA500H
Thanks for sharing your experience. It does seem a lot like the noise I had.
The Cocktail Audio unit looks nice. I wonder if it would be any more or less immune to noise than what you have now?
Iāve been quietly following this discussion as I had same issue. My set up Roon ROCK NUC8i7, AQ cinnamon to Mytek Brooklyn Bridge powered by Astron 35A linear power supply.
Only with high sensitivity IEM did I hear crackling, and ādataā type noise on the Mytek. I tried in vain to make it go away and even tried a AQ Jitterbug which did nothing. After some more internet research I learned that the NUC can run on 12-19v so I tried connecting the NUC to my Aston and BINGO. All noise gone! The problem was the power supply all along. Iām not to concerned about the 12v as the LPS can provide continuous 35A. With the 12v system Iām a happy camper, perhaps those who are still having issue may want to try an external LPS. Good luck!
I got this problem too. My setup is intel NUC FNH over Brooklyn Bridge.
Disconnecting USB cable solves the problem but USB is a must to have on the Brooklyn Bridge.
I have tried everything without success. Using filters, changing cables, ā¦
What i have not tried is replacing the PSU. Which PSU are you using?
I use a 12v Astron linear power supply I think the RS-35 is the model but it is very old and maybe an out of date model. This is the type of power supply used by Ham radio operators and not a switching type. They are cost effective and built like a tank. The other source besides power supply noise could be from the Ethernet. You may want to try connecting you Brooklyn to your network via WiFi and that may solve the issue. FWIW WiFi on my Brooklyn sounds better than hardwired usb input. Good luck.
I do not use Ethernet because Wifi is working very well in my network. However i need USB for remote control. I know there exist some sort of remote control using the net, for instance Roon uses it for volume level setting, but i could not figure out how it works, so I use USB. The other thing you get with USB is DSD256 but i do not own much music at this level.
I have realized that PCs that use battery, like laptops, do not cause the noise. So it is definitely related to psu.