Hi have sony vaio laptop arcam alpha amp used 3.5 jack to phono to connect the two and got alot of background noise used a £5.99 lead from maplins when i plug in my senheisser hd 480 headphones into laptop no backgrond noise is there any way around this the lead needs to be 3 metres long have tried every input on back of amp no differance thanks for any advise given p.s been reading these forums for along time this is my first post.
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idc
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manalishi:
Hi have sony vaio laptop arcam alpha amp used 3.5 jack to phono to connect the two and got alot of background noise used a £5.99 lead from maplins
I am not sure that I get your question. I could understand you using a toslink to connect digitally from laptop to a digital input on the amp, but not a phono input. Does the laptop have a soundcard which outputs an analogue signal? Can you say exactly what the what the Maplins cable is? I would guess at this point the poor sound quality and noise is down to a poor soundcard and cable. You should look at a DAC to connect laptop to amp to get the best sound and no noise. So either a digital or USB cable from laptop to DAC and then analogue (phono) cables to amp.
manalishi:
...when i plug in my senheisser hd 480 headphones into laptop no backgrond noise.....
I am suprised at this. When I connect my Sennheiser PX200s into the Dell laptop I get loads of noise!
manalishi:
... is there any way around this the lead needs to be 3 metres long have tried every input on back of amp no differance....
Do you mean that the amp and laptop are three metres apart? If so a 3 metre digital or USB cable to DAC with the DAC at the amp, so short analogue interconnects to the amp would be the cheaper route.
Hi have sony vaio laptop arcam alpha amp used 3.5 jack to phono to connect the two and got alot of background noise used a £5.99 lead from maplins
I am not sure that I get your question. I could understand you using a toslink to connect digitally from laptop to a digital input on the amp, but not a phono input. Does the laptop have a soundcard which outputs an analogue signal? Can you say exactly what the what the Maplins cable is? I would guess at this point the poor sound quality and noise is down to a poor soundcard and cable. You should look at a DAC to connect laptop to amp to get the best sound and no noise. So either a digital or USB cable from laptop to DAC and then analogue (phono) cables to amp.
manalishi:
...when i plug in my senheisser hd 480 headphones into laptop no backgrond noise.....
I am suprised at this. When I connect my Sennheiser PX200s into the Dell laptop I get loads of noise!
manalishi:
... is there any way around this the lead needs to be 3 metres long have tried every input on back of amp no differance....
Do you mean that the amp and laptop are three metres apart? If so a 3 metre digital or USB cable to DAC with the DAC at the amp, so short analogue interconnects to the amp would be the cheaper route.
I have a QED 3.5 to rca/phono for the odd occasion I hook my laptop or BB to my amp. I've never had issues with background noise. Have you "told" your laptop that its connected to external amplification and/or have you got the laptop volume too high for the input on your amp?
John Duncan
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Unplug the vaio from the mains and tell me whether the noise remains. I have a vaio which sounds horrible from the headphone socket plugged into the power supply but is fine from battery only. Solution to this is to take sound external - airport express being a straightforward way to do so (provided you use iTunes).
John Duncan
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And no music after 20 minutes, if my battery's anything to go by. As mentioned above, streaming to something like airport express or squeezebox will allow you to keep the lapotp plugged in with no interference. Not exactly cheap, though, obv...
try one of these, not the highest of fi, but for general and background stuff its plently good enough.
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/661/868/-/5180776/One-For-All-SV1740-USB-Wireless-Digital-Audio-Sender/Product.html?searchtype=genre
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/661/868/-/5180776/One-For-All-SV1740-USB-Wireless-Digital-Audio-Sender/Product.html?searchtype=genre
Hi Manalishi, Maplins do an audio sender for £15 does away with the cable from laptop to amp, I have one one my Vaio to Cyrus amp, it's not too bad. Just plug the dongle into usb on laptop, plug 2 decent rca leads into amp and receiver thing and away you go. Don't use the leads that come with the sender, they are rubbish. Try one they are definetly worth £15 or have a look at play.com, they do a sender for £17.
In a bit of a pickle here. I have got a QED jack to phono cable for imminent connection from my Vaio > Arcam Amp but am concerned by this background noise.
Seems a lot of different options to go with.. does anyone know conclusively if a DAC would eliminate this problem?
Not really interested in airport express or squeezebox as this sort of money would have been used for a DAC.
Not sure if the audio sender would do the trick either, and no point purchasing if I am going to get a DAC soon which may eliminate the problem anway...
Seems a lot of different options to go with.. does anyone know conclusively if a DAC would eliminate this problem?
Not really interested in airport express or squeezebox as this sort of money would have been used for a DAC.
Not sure if the audio sender would do the trick either, and no point purchasing if I am going to get a DAC soon which may eliminate the problem anway...
idc
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Yes, an external DAC will eliminate the background noise in the PC. That noise comes from all the other stuff going on in the PC and the soundcard where the digital to analogue conversion takes place to send the analogue signal to the headphone jack. If you put in a DAC the PC sends the digital signal to the DAC, a far 'quieter' place for the subsequent conversion to an analogue signal to take place.
Hey,
I know this would eliminate the background noise from the soundcard, but there also seems to be a seperate issue with noise coming from the PSU plugging into the laptop, which is only resolved when it is unplugged... the DAC would not likely solve this?
I know this would eliminate the background noise from the soundcard, but there also seems to be a seperate issue with noise coming from the PSU plugging into the laptop, which is only resolved when it is unplugged... the DAC would not likely solve this?
John Duncan
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Sorry AP, I've been promising to try this for a while but have only just got round to it.
Plugged my Vaio into my DACMagic tonight via USB and compared mains to battery use. When I turn volume up to about 60 on my amp (I normally listen between 15 and 20), it's clear that there is still interference when plugged into the mains, compared to battery. However, at normal listening levels, the interference is unnoticeable - even with ear to speaker - and it sounded really rather magnificent, tbh.
I can't find my jack-to-phono cable right this minute so can't do a direct comparison of volume levels to see where noise becomes an issue direct through the headphone socket, but I can state categorically that the external DAC makes the Vaio eminently usable as a hifi source...
Plugged my Vaio into my DACMagic tonight via USB and compared mains to battery use. When I turn volume up to about 60 on my amp (I normally listen between 15 and 20), it's clear that there is still interference when plugged into the mains, compared to battery. However, at normal listening levels, the interference is unnoticeable - even with ear to speaker - and it sounded really rather magnificent, tbh.
I can't find my jack-to-phono cable right this minute so can't do a direct comparison of volume levels to see where noise becomes an issue direct through the headphone socket, but I can state categorically that the external DAC makes the Vaio eminently usable as a hifi source...
JohnDuncan:Plugged my Vaio into my DACMagic tonight via USB and compared mains to battery use. When I turn volume up to about 60 on my amp (I normally listen between 15 and 20), it's clear that there is still interference when plugged into the mains, compared to battery. However, at normal listening levels, the interference is unnoticeable - even with ear to speaker - and it sounded really rather magnificent, tbh.
Interesting - where do you think it comes from to begin with? USB has 4 wires + shield. See http://www.bealecorner.org/best/measure/USB/USB-cable-wiring.png
What would happen, for instance, if you do not feed the 5V to the DAC?
Another question: my usb (powered) scanner with USB A/B has these little extra cylinders in the cable - I assume something is in it, but what? Any idea?
Interesting - where do you think it comes from to begin with? USB has 4 wires + shield. See http://www.bealecorner.org/best/measure/USB/USB-cable-wiring.png
What would happen, for instance, if you do not feed the 5V to the DAC?
Another question: my usb (powered) scanner with USB A/B has these little extra cylinders in the cable - I assume something is in it, but what? Any idea?
idc
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The cylinders are ferrite cores and you find them on many PC cables as they help to reduce EMI .... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrite_core.
Pete10:
Interesting - where do you think it comes from to begin with? USB has 4 wires + shield. See http://www.bealecorner.org/best/measure/USB/USB-cable-wiring.png
What would happen, for instance, if you do not feed the 5V to the DAC?
Another question: my usb (powered) scanner with USB A/B has these little extra cylinders in the cable - I assume something is in it, but what? Any idea?
The noise will come via the power wires. But I do wonder if something like the DAC Magic, which has its own power supply, bothers to use these wires? This USB connection also has the potential to create ground loops.
If I was having problems with noise via USB, I'd make my own cable omitting the power wires to see if that cured the problem. The parts are cheap and available from Maplins.
Interesting - where do you think it comes from to begin with? USB has 4 wires + shield. See http://www.bealecorner.org/best/measure/USB/USB-cable-wiring.png
What would happen, for instance, if you do not feed the 5V to the DAC?
Another question: my usb (powered) scanner with USB A/B has these little extra cylinders in the cable - I assume something is in it, but what? Any idea?
The noise will come via the power wires. But I do wonder if something like the DAC Magic, which has its own power supply, bothers to use these wires? This USB connection also has the potential to create ground loops.
If I was having problems with noise via USB, I'd make my own cable omitting the power wires to see if that cured the problem. The parts are cheap and available from Maplins.
Can someone tell me how I can connect my laptop to the DACMagic? I would assume it would be be a 3.5mm jack and red and white phono cables to the RCA connections on the back of the DAC......but they say 'out'? Assuming that works I'd then connect via digital means between my DAC and amp.
I would be grateful if someone could confirm I've got this right or put me right!
Sorry to bump this thread, but I thought it was better than starting a new one.
Thanks.
I would be grateful if someone could confirm I've got this right or put me right!
Sorry to bump this thread, but I thought it was better than starting a new one.
Thanks.
chebby
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SACripps:Can someone tell me how I can connect my laptop to the DACMagic? I would assume it would be be a 3.5mm jack and red and white phono cables to the RCA connections on the back of the DAC......but they say 'out'? Assuming that works I'd then connect via digital means between my DAC and amp.
Connect the DacMagic to your laptop using a USB cable (or a TosLink optical cable if your laptop has optical out).
The analogue output (RCA phono) on the back of the DacMagic is for connection to your amp.
Connect the DacMagic to your laptop using a USB cable (or a TosLink optical cable if your laptop has optical out).
The analogue output (RCA phono) on the back of the DacMagic is for connection to your amp.
chebby
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SACripps:However, what I'm particularly interested in doing is listening to FLAC 24/96 files, which I understand isn't possible via the USB connection.
That's right. So you will need to use an optical digital cable between your laptop and the DacMagic if your laptop has the necessary optical output. (All Macs and Macbooks do, but you will need to check your laptop specs for this if you are not sure.)
If you don't have an optical mini jack on your laptop then....
...I think I am right in saying that an M-Audio Transit will plug into the USB on a laptop and has an optical (TosLink) connection to pass through 24/96 direct to your DacMagic. It is very small and costs about £60 or so.
Hopefully someone who uses this sort of set-up can confirm.
That's right. So you will need to use an optical digital cable between your laptop and the DacMagic if your laptop has the necessary optical output. (All Macs and Macbooks do, but you will need to check your laptop specs for this if you are not sure.)
If you don't have an optical mini jack on your laptop then....
...I think I am right in saying that an M-Audio Transit will plug into the USB on a laptop and has an optical (TosLink) connection to pass through 24/96 direct to your DacMagic. It is very small and costs about £60 or so.
Hopefully someone who uses this sort of set-up can confirm.
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