Recommendations for USB noise filtering product

[Jinjuku]

No amazon where I live so I would have to find something similar in the local market.

Thanks for the suggestion!

What is the nearest major city/urban center to you? If you can get a Jitterbug I'm sure getting an XLR hum eliminator won't be any problem.

 

[A800]

His issue isn't USB for pete's sake.

Probably not but he was looking for "Recommendations for USB noise filtering product"

 

[Jinjuku]

Probably not but he was looking for "Recommendations for USB noise filtering product"

I understand but the possibility that he's asking for the wrong thing shouldn't be precluded.

 

[drummerdimitri]

What is the nearest major city/urban center to you? If you can get a Jitterbug I'm sure getting an XLR hum eliminator won't be any problem.

I live in Beirut and bought the Jitterbug while I was studying abroad. Only issue is shipping costs so I will have to order something in the hundreds of dollars for it to make sense to pay 40-60$ for shipping in most cases unless I can find it on Aliexpress.

Sucks to live in a third world country

 

[Jinjuku]

Any of these an option:

 

[Jinjuku]

Sucks to live in a third world country

I recall Beirut was once called Paris of the MidEast...

 

[tdastrup]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...c-and-headphone-amp.4967/page-237#post-373016

My issue was fixed with the iFi iDefender+. @Jinjuku do you think I should have done something different to fix the root cause?

 

[Jinjuku]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...c-and-headphone-amp.4967/page-237#post-373016

My issue was fixed with the iFi iDefender+. @Jinjuku do you think I should have done something different to fix the root cause?

My concern is defeating safety grounds to solve the issue. Sometimes outputs on equipment aren't implemented properly and makes this incredibly hard to sort out short of sending it back for refund.

 

[tdastrup]

My concern is defeating safety grounds to solve the issue. Sometimes outputs on equipment aren't implemented properly and makes this incredibly hard to sort out short of sending it back for refund.

I see, so me using the iDefender is ok since I haven't removed ground from my computer.

 

[Jinjuku]

I see, so me using the iDefender is ok since I haven't removed ground from my computer.

It's certainly better that way... Single Ended (RCA) can be difficult to solve. A USB cable with just data and no power line would have worked also if the 5v external supply supersedes the USB bus power.

 

[drummerdimitri]

I recall Beirut was once called Paris of the MidEast...

It used to be, now it has fallen way behind thanks to our corrupt politicians who brought us to the brink of extinction.

I will see if the local shops have something similar to what you showed me. Only issue now is that all shops are close due to our lockdown.

Hopefully things will get back to normal soon enough so I can move around and check many shops for this item.

 

[tdastrup]

It's certainly better that way... Single Ended (RCA) can be difficult to solve. A USB cable with just data and no power line would have worked also if the 5v external supply supersedes the USB bus power.

Yeah, that would be ideal, but it seems the DX3 Pro I'm using needs the 5v over USB, even though it has it's own power supply.

 

[mansr]

It used to be, now it has fallen way behind thanks to our corrupt politicians who brought us to the brink of extinction.

I will see if the local shops have something similar to what you showed me. Only issue now is that all shops are close due to our lockdown.

Hopefully things will get back to normal soon enough so I can move around and check many shops for this item.

Wouldn't simply disconnecting pin 1 at one end of the XLR cable do the job without needing to purchase anything? The connectors are usually easy to unscrew.

 

[mansr]

Yeah, that would be ideal, but it seems the DX3 Pro I'm using needs the 5v over USB, even though it has it's own power supply.

That's a USB spec requirement. Don't ask me why.

 

[drummerdimitri]

Wouldn't simply disconnecting pin 1 at one end of XLR cable do the job without needing to purchase anything? The connectors are usually easy to unscrew.

I thought about doing that and I've read that should be done but I'm not sure on what side (male or female) this has to be done.

 

[someAudioDude]

So, I bought a Questyle CMA600i and while it sounds stellar I'm getting tortured by the same noise issues as soon as I connect it via USB with my PC. When connected to my notebook it's completely silent. Now I've invested multiple hours already browsing and trying to understand what the issue is exactly. For now I'm using it via optical but I want to use USB. I still don't get it:

- some say it's an XLR issue because the manufacturer isn't capable of properly implementing XLR (wtf?)
- some say it's a USB ground loop issue (other modern DACs I've tried, do not produce any noise via USB to my PC) (wtf again)
- I'm not really looking to buy 3 xlr adapters to fix this cause I'm also using headphones via XLR and it would look super ugly with an adapter
- some say you can isolate or cut something in the usb cable (but then I've read that the ground is needed for handshake)
- some say that you can isolate an XLR-pin (which looks like a viable solution although I don't understand which pin.
- some say you can buy an idefender (that's probably what I'm going to do although I would rather not do it cause I feel that all this ifi usb purifier magic degrades the sound)

So, what in the end? *big sigh*

 

[somebodyelse]

Jensen Transformers have a number of application notes that should help you. I think AN007 covers tracking down and treating ground loop issues most thoroughly, covering both balanced and unbalanced elements. It shouldn't be an issue with balanced interconnects, but 15 years since the AES48 standard was published there are manufacturers not following it. If you need to break a loop via USB the correct way is to use a USB isolator which will make sure the signalling happens properly. They may need an external 5V supply, or use an isolating DC-DC converter which may limit the power they can supply. You can get both USB2 and USB3 versions, often sold for industrial or medical use, starting at around $15 and going up as isolation voltage increases (which you don't need), or if medical certification is included. Or if anyone mentions 'audiophile'. The various cables that break the 5V and/or ground in an otherwise ordinary USB cable don't comply with the standard, so may or may not work depending on the device.

 

[someAudioDude]

So, the ifi idefender+ removes the noise entirely however, contrary to what they write on their website, I need to also connect the idefender to an external power supply. It's strange cause they say it's only necessary if your DAC is USB powered and the questyle is clearly not usb powered as it has a dedicated power supply. If I just plug it in there is no effect. This is confusing, I wish I could understand what the hell is happening on the physical level.

 

[somebodyelse]

Without knowing the internals of the Questyle it's impossible to say exactly what's going on. The Khadas Tone Board has published schematics so I can use it as an example of the sort of thing that can happen - it can be powered by a separate 5V supply so doesn't necessarily need 5V as power from the USB. However it uses the 5V on the USB cable to flip the internal 'switch' that selects the USB input so, even though it isn't needed for power, the USB input won't operate without it. Questyle may be doing something similar.

Proper isolation devices comply with the USB standards, so should Just Work(tm) with any DAC - unless the DAC itself isn't actually compliant. The iDefender and various y-cables etc. break the standards in ways that often work, but sometimes don't. In the past this at least hasn't been damaging...usually...but with USB Power Delivery it can break devices and in extreme cases cause fires.

 

[Jimbob54]

I'm having issues connecting my USB dac to my computer as I get random hissing and popping noises due to noise from my motherboard's USB.

I'm currently using a TOSLINK cable to connect to my DAC and the issue seems to have disappeared but I'd rather use USB as I can play higher bitrate and sample rates as well as DSD through that which can sometimes be useful.

Unfortunately, my desktop has a mini-ITX board (never again) so I have no pci-e slots to put in an "audiophile grade" USB card so I'm not sure what product I would need to get rid of my issue.

iFi audio makes a lot of USB noise filtering products but what if I have a ground loop instead of a noise issue or vice versa? Not sure how to diagnose the problem I'm having.

Would be great if someone could put me on the right track thanks!

Guessing youre not in the UK? If you were I could loan you one of my Audioquest Jitter bugs- I cant say I've ever noticed any benefits , saw Amirs review here after buying (Does nothing for most set ups) but worth a try!

Anecdotally, where there is audible USB noise, some report improvement from jitterbug- but I wouldnt spend £45 to discover it does nothing in the majority of uses!