I'm currently listening to music with my SXFI amp. Sometimes, at random, I can hear very tiny (static) crackling. It is difficult to describe, but I can often hear it during 'atmospheric' sounds, like the sound you hear when changing the volume in Windows on the bottom right corner of the screen.
Does anyone know how this kind of distortion is called and what this sound distortion is? Does this mean that this is one of those DACs that poorly handles input (the SXFI amp was put on the recommended list by Amir)? Can it indeed be caused by my (cheap and 1 meter long) USB-C to USB-A cable from my PC going through cable management until reaching the DAC? I don't think Amir has tested whether other electricity cables can cause any interference. Perhaps the problem is (also) caused by Windows itself?
Anyhow, I tested some stuff, even though I don't have another USB cable laying around to connect the DAC to my pc. Once I connect the DAC to my Android phone with the supplied (10 centimeter) USB-C to C cable (and USB-C to USB-B micro adapter), I do notice that there is (less/no) crackling during the same songs on spotify (played from my mobile phone). Thus, I do think that the cable itself does have somekind of influence on end sound. The next question is whether I can use a similar length higher quality cable (through my cable management setup) to get rid of the crackling (or however you guys call it).
Also, I don't hear this kind of distortion with my headphone output on the (supposedly) much lower quality Behringer UCA 222 (also tested by Amir).
EDIT:
It appears I'm getting the same kind of distortion with the SXFI amp when only using the 10 centimeter USB-C to C cable for my laptop. Thus, perhaps the problem lies with the usb ports on the PC/laptop (and the SXFI amp not being able to handle that really well).
EDIT:
I put the same long cheap USB-C to A cable in my monitor's USB port (which port functions by another upstream cable connected with the PC). I think all distortion is gone now. I actually did not expect that using an USB hub would help, but apparently it did.