Hypex Nilai500DIY Amplifier Review

[antcollinet]

That's what it should do, yes, in theory.
Yet we have a thread every once in a while exactly about this conditions.

Theory is sound about balanced connections coming from true balanced gear, real -life conditions though (and actual gear) do not meet the standards all the time (obviously, by the bulk of the threads alone) .

Not sure Ive seen a thread where noise identifeid as ground noise has existed audibly together with balanced connections. Plenty that have done with unbalanced.

Though to be fair - if I had done, I'd probably assume - in the absence of other evidence - the noise is not ground noise - so a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy

 

[Sokel]

Not sure Ive seen a thread where noise identifeid as ground noise has existed audibly together with balanced connections. Plenty that have done with unbalanced.

Though to be fair - if I had done, I'd probably assume - in the absence of other evidence - the noise is not ground noise - so a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy

I didn't say "ground noise" but "noise" , only.
We can't talk our way out of it.

And there comes the misunderstanding and disappointment of those who think that a balanced connection can cure all.
Ground noise is far less of a problem these days except from people mixing Class I and Class II gear or cheap subs.

Never had a problem with either balanced or unbalanced gear but I do take care not to mix I and II and keep noisy stuff at different lines along with good grounding.

 

[Salt]

Ground loops should be detectable by multiples of net frequency, other disturbance by some different ones, not?

 

[EJ3]

I just hopped into the thread to say the same thing: I too have never had EMI/RF noise getting into my signal chain from RCA interconnects, but I have had ground loops that balanced cables suppressed. In fact, one time I had a ground loop situation and one of the components in the chain only had unbalanced connectors, and even in that case when I swapped my RCA-to-RCA cables for XLR-to-RCA (and RCA-to-XLR) cables, the noise was not eliminated but it was quite noticeably attenuated.

Personally the thing I like about XLR connectors is that they lock so they tend not to get loose over time.

I've never (since 1971: when I started doing audio/video) had an RCA connector come loose for no apparent reason.
I have had the opposite happen and had a Hell'uv a time getting them loose after them sitting a few years.
I'll attribute that to living less than 150 feet away from the ocean & the salt that's in the air.
But, yes, a solid connection that absolutely will not accidentally disconnect, there is a lot of good in that.

 

[tmtomh]

I've never (since 1971: when I started doing audio/video) had an RCA connector come loose for no apparent reason.
I have had the opposite happen and had a Hell'uv a time getting them loose after them sitting a few years.
I'll attribute that to living less than 150 feet away from the ocean & the salt that's in the air.
But, yes, a solid connection that absolutely will not accidentally disconnect, there is a lot of good in that.

Interesting! I hadn’t thought about climate but that makes sense. I’ve had some RCAs become slightly loose, although they was over a period of years (rather than, say, weeks or months).

 

[Labjr]

That's what it should do, yes, in theory.
Yet we have a thread every once in a while exactly about this conditions.

Theory is sound about balanced connections coming from true balanced gear, real -life conditions though (and actual gear) do not meet the standards all the time (obviously, by the bulk of the threads alone) .

Yeah, the designer has to know what they're doing. Not everyone does. I don't understand the theory behind currents, voltages & impedances etc. I think Bill Whitlock wrote about Balanced with non-differential signals.

 

[antcollinet]

I didn't say "ground noise" but "noise" , only.

Whereas I have consistently referred to ground (conducted) noise - but balanced interconnect should help with *any* common mode noise.

Ground noise is far less of a problem these days except from people mixing Class I and Class II gear or cheap subs.

Yet is (again based on my personal experience) by far the most common reason for audible noise in home audio. I think mixing class I and II gear is pretty common. Most? (at least pretty much all with a wallwart PSU) Dacs are Class II - many amps and PC's are class I. But ground loops cant be discounted even for non mixed set ups

I think Bill Whitlock wrote about Balanced with non-differential signals.

As has Putzyes in "The G Word" Balancing is primarily about impedance balancing, not differential signalling. It's why pseudo balanced RCA to XLR connections can (mostly) work.

 

[EJ3]

Interesting! I hadn’t thought about climate but that makes sense. I’ve had some RCAs become slightly loose, although they was over a period of years (rather than, say, weeks or months).

My stereo lived in the same place from 1972-2001.
I had other gear at other places between 1978-2001.
As, after 2001, the majority of my gear traveled by ship with me to various new locations around the world.
Until I decided to come back to my origins.
Which is how I ended up shipping seven 68LB. boxes of stereo gear from GUAM back to my place of origin [James Island, SC]), in 2018.
Now some RCA plugs loosened up when I was traveling a lot & plugging & unplugging them more frequently.
The fix was easy: shrink the metal a bit by squeezing it tighter before pushing it on (or: replace with new ones).

 

[Thecaptain3737]

Just wanted to post an update in case it helps anybody else. So I did get balanced cables, as suggested by buckeye amps, and when plugged in just on the amp side I do NOT get the popping sounds. My buddy then brought over his benchmark dac3 and we connected that up and no popping or any other unwanted noise. So I guess it is just the RCA to xlr cables I was trying. For some reason my amps didn't like them (even with the suggested wiring). I haven't come across anybody else having the same issue which is why I reached out, but I guess there could be an issue using these types of converter cables.

Thank you again everyone for the replies! Appreciate all the info and troubleshooting help!

Another update. I purchased a Henry THE MATCHBOX HD to eliminate the RCA to xlr cable. This takes RCA in and then outputs xlr. Well, the popping is back when using this setup. I unplugged the same cables from this box and back into the benchmark dac3 analogue input and xlr output and it's dead silent.

Not sure what this means, but it seems the benchmark is helping overcome something in the connection. Maybe there is an issue with the nilai amps, but the benchmark corrects it? Anyway, I continue to be confused.

 

[EJ3]

Another update. I purchased a Henry THE MATCHBOX HD to eliminate the RCA to xlr cable. This takes RCA in and then outputs xlr. Well, the popping is back when using this setup. I unplugged the same cables from this box and back into the benchmark dac3 analogue input and xlr output and it's dead silent.

Not sure what this means, but it seems the benchmark is helping overcome something in the connection. Maybe there is an issue with the nilai amps, but the benchmark corrects it? Anyway, I continue to be confused.

If it is working well, it seems to me that it is time to leave it alone and not worry about it anymore.

 

[Thecaptain3737]

If it is working well, it seems to me that it is time to leave it alone and not worry about it anymore.

Haha! Yes, very true. The problem is that the benchmark isn't mine. I'm only borrowing it. I guess I have to buy my own.

 

[EJ3]

Haha! Yes, very true. The problem is that the benchmark isn't mine. I'm only borrowing it. I guess I have to buy my own.

While I like what I have quite well (2 APT/Holman Pre-Amplifiers, 6 NAD 2200's, 2 NAD 2100's and 1 PROTON D1200),
I could be talked into selling the NAD's and replacing them with 2 or 3 Benchmark AHB2 amps (running the PROTON on the subs (due to it having meters).
But, it's such a hassle to change everything out...