experiment with isolation??

There's plenty of power products out there that isolate equipment from other components, digital or otherwise. For digital, you can use something like a JPS Digital AC power cord that helps prevent noise generated from the component from getting back in to the AC to degrade the sound of other components. Couple that with a line conditioner that isolates the outlets and you have a pretty effective solution. I know PS Audio is a popular choice for this. If you call Cable Company they will be able to give you a lot of ideas as to what's available at all price levels. They'll also send it to you so that you can try it in your system first before you make a purchase.

I use a PS Audio P3 ac regenerator with spectacular results. Each outlet of the P3 is isolated from one another. The benefits of providing consistent, clean power cannot be understated.

I've used a few different products. I had good success using an Acoustic Revive RST-38 board under my Ayon CD-5s. The sound become more natural, liquid and lively. I've also used Wally feet (similar to Harmonix tuning feet) which are quite good. When I set up my system soon I will be placing my cd player on a Taoc SCB-RS50G board on factory spikes/cups on top of the top shelf of my Taoc rack. Next year I will probably replace the top shelf of my rack with the heavy Taoc iso board & place my player on a set of 4 Stillpoints Ultra 5's. Stillpoints are really the best iso feet you can buy if you have the money.

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First step to problem solution is problem identification ... I think your missing two thirds of the issues that need to be addressed

In addition to injecting noise back into the power line ..

RF or airborne noise is ballooned into the surrounding area where it can re-couple to your equipment regardless of what type of filter you have on the power cord .. this airborne noise is created by the normal operation of your digital components and after your power cord conditioner

A third type of interference is high frequency noise that is created by your digital component’s normal operation and couples to the analog signal through the power supply and is output to your preamp

Some possible solutions ...

For your power cord/line you need a good quality Bi-directional filter that will filter the current coming in from the wall and also filter the current on the return cycle/leg so it is not injected back into the circuit ... this is alternating current that travels in both direction through one cycle through your power supply

I’ve used the MIT Iso Z and found it very effective .. the improvement it brought was immediate and far from subtle ... but it couldn’t deal with the other two issues

I currently use two Foundation Research LC1’s , which are bi-direction filters that are not transformer based like the MIT Iso Z ... the LC1’s are a combination power cord and filter so it’s was easier to use them instead of using up rack space

The LC1’s seem just as effective and are more convenient in my set up ... I’m sure there are other digital solution .. you have to do some shopping on the net

I read one of your other posts where Steve was speaking of the importance of filtering the ground through an isolation transformer to help ... if you take a look under the hood of your CD player .. Dac .. Flat screen and/or cable box/DVR box ... you’ll notice that there is no wire connected to the safety ground lug on the power IEC inlet ... they use double insulated power supplies with no ground wire ... they contain the fault with in the power supply ... if there is no ground wire going from the IEC to the component’s power supply ... do we still need to filter the ground wire .. ?????

Next is airborne noise .. this noise is created from the chips switching on and off at high frequencies .. you can cover the chips with RF blocking tape to help reduce their emission (I’ve done this ) .. or a more effective method I now employ is installing an Audio Magic Next Gen Plus module inside the player/dac ... the Gen Plus generates a signal that is the same frequency and amplitude as the offending noise but is 180 degrees out of phase with the noise so it cancels it by being equal and out of phase ... it’s like a sponge soaking up the RF before it can balloon any further

The last place to look for interference is on the analog IC’s .. high frequency noise will couple through the component’s power supply to the analog signal and be carried forward to the next component on the ICs were it will be amplified by the next stage

In the past I've used a product from the Great Northern Sound Company (GNSC) called a PASI (Passive Audio Sound Isolator ) .. basically a circuit built around two Jenson Isolation transformers which captured the high frequency noise riding on the analog signal

In my system I found that addressing the power in both direction and treating the airborne RF greatly reduced the noise the Cd player (Ayre D1ex) developed and the PASI had little to no effect and was removed and sold

I think you can now see the problem with noise created by are digital components is of a broader scope than you might have initially thought

“Experience is what you receive when you didn’t get what you Expected” .. ;-)

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Thanks zd. I will look inti cable company offerings.

Thanks Tboooe.
Do you have both analog and digital on your PS Audio P3?

Elizabeth, Have you tried swapping the conditioners? Results?

Ptss, I have my entire system plugged into my P3 which never draws more than 109watts. I have the digital and analog plugged into different outlets of the P3. Absolutely no complaints. I am very very pleased with the results.

Thx Tboooe.. I'll check into the P3.

davehrab. How about that fiber thats supposed to block
hi frequencies. Any good? Best way to use?

Ptss .. once again a simple question has a complex answer that requires looking at the problem before applying a solution

How about that fiber that's supposed to block
hi frequencies. Any good? Best way to use?

...

There are many types of shielding tapes used for various purposes ... without knowing which one you are referring to I can’t comment or speculate on it’s effectiveness

Some of the problem stems from the audiophile’s perception of the word ... Noise... or maybe my it’s just my interpretation of it

I prefer the word ... Interference ... as it is two fold .. electrical and magnetic

I define “Noise” as the additional voltage that is added to the original signal and rides on top of it where it is carried forward to the next stage and it and the original signal are amplified and reproduced

The other side of the equation is the ... Magnetic interference that hardly anyone talks about ... it distorts the signal bending it out of shape

You need two different type of traps to capture each .. so addressing the “Noise Issue” in my mind only treats the noise riding on the original signal and does nothing for the Magnetic interference that distorts the signal reducing it’s efficiency

It takes 3 elements for Interference ... (electrical noise and magnetic distortion)... to propagate

You need a emitter or transmitter that sends or transmits the offending frequencies ... a conduit to carry the signal and interference ... and a receiver that will accept and reproduce this interference

If you eliminate any one of these 3 elements .. the problem goes away

Interference can be “Conducted” or that which is already coupled to the signal and riding on the conductor and ... “Coupled” .. or Airborne that which couples to the conductor which is behaving like an antenna and receiving the interference

Dissipating Airborne interference (noise and distortion) starts with blocking the emitters/transmitters ... digital chips spew RF in the Gigahertz range so you need a tape that will block and deflect at those frequencies

A word of caution .. when applying a tape to block the emitting chip it needs to be perforated so heat is allow to pass through and not build up in the chip ... trapped heat can over heat the chip causing it to fail

This only deals with the Noise/Electrical side of the interference issues ... transformers emit a stray magnetic field (Airborne) which can couple back into our components ... here RF blocking tape will not work as you need to use a Permeable material that will absorb the stray magnetic fields and dissipate them ... Magnetic interference must be absorbed and dissipated not blocked like RF ... most magnetic interference is in the 100Khz range I believe

I’m sure you’ve seen components with copper clad chassis .. the copper is a Permeable Material that absorbs the stray magnetic fields generated by the components transformer and dissipates them so that they can not couple back into the component ... I’m not sure about copper’s ability to block RF in the Ghz region but it definitely absorbs and dissipates the stray magnetic field from the transformer

Once you’ve blocked the interference caused by the emitter/transmitters .. you can “Shield” sensitive components from these interferences in the same manor ... for electrical noise a sheet of RF blocking aluminum can be position in top or cover of your components ... this will deflect or reflect away or block airborne electrical noise from entering your components and not allowing it to couple to your sensitive equipment and power supplies

To block the Magnetic Airborne interference (stray magnetic fields) you again need a permeable material that will absorb and dissipate the stray magnetic field ... stray magnetic fields can not be blocked and reflected ... they must be absorbed and dissipated ... so you need more than one type of trap to complete the job

I mentioned a third alternative in my original post ... the Audio Magic Next Gen Plus ( I use two of them ) when placed inside your component will act as a sponge absorbing both electrical and magnetic interference by transmitting a signal that is equal in frequency and amplitude but opposite in phase

As you can see it’s a complex series of issues that needs to be looked at from many different angles and treated in various way

Sorry I can’t help you with the Fabric your looking at ... my best advice is ...

Fix what you can and manage the rest
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Davehrab, thanks for the detailed insight. It has given me hope for improvement in more than just my digital components.
I am curious to learn how the "Audio Magic Next Gen Plus" detects the precise "frequency and amplitude" of the generated noise while simultaneously generating a precise inverse to null noise. I don't need "trade secret" info- however a device of this value (and I see its benefits in countless applications) but I would expect this "device/process" to be protected by patent. Can you advise the patent number?

I am curious to learn how the "Audio Magic Next Gen Plus" detects the precise "frequency and amplitude

Ptss ... I doubt it detects or senses the Interference and then implements an opposite and equal signal

I’m sure Jerry has measured the emissions and knows exactly what the offending frequencies are and how strong their amplitude is
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My guess is to cover the Magnetic interference (power transformer) as well as the Electrical interference (clocks dacs diodes) he needs to generate a signal from 100Mhz to up in the Ghz region to cover everything ... also knowing the interference's relative strength/amplitude ... he can custom tailor the output of the signal and just create it 180 degrees out of phase

Not sure on the Patent .. just may be his intellectual property as it’s his design

I think this device is most effective inside a digital component like a CD player, Dacs, Computer server, Cable TV box where a great deal of interference is created

The main purpose appears to be soaking up the interference generated by the digital component before it can recouple back in to the same component ...

Analog devices like preamps, tuners, class A and A/B amps do not have chips and clocks so they generate less hi frequency interference ... here the Gen Plus will be less effective .. although everything in it has a transformer so there are Magnetic fields

Hopefully you now see that there is more than one perpetrator ... the Noise of the electrical interference and the Distortion of the Magnetic fields ... so you need more than one solution