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I need an Audio Detective

Hello AG I have a unique situation with my audio system that I have no answer for. Here’s the deal. I was playing my Magnum Dynalab tuner and noticed my Denafrips Terminator 2 DAC standby light was not on. The power cord had come loose from the back so I snugged it up and the light came on. For whatever reason I hit the on button on the DAC and when I did it crushed the signal on my tuner. I cut DAC off and signal came back. I tried another tuner same result. Any ideas as to what is going on?

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Showing 4 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,801 posts
 

Whether gear sounds better left on or not is very much dependent on the gear. My Luxman sounds great even after a minimal warmup. My previous Class D amps needed 2-4 days to sound their best again.

If you don’t hear any benefit to leaving your DAC off, I don’t understand the problem. It may be worth trying a different AC circuit though, if that fixes your problem the noise is being transmitted through AC and a Furman with LiFT and SMP will fix you right up.

erik_squires
15,801 posts
 

I don’t keep the DAC on but you will have to admit this is a head scratcher

Um, no it isn't!!

Anything with a computer or DAC generates some RF.  Your particular situation is just more noisy than others.   I'm not sure why this is a puzzle, really. What's probably happening is that the RF from the DAC is broadly across the channels you are trying to tune, and it's lowering the quality of the signal lock.

erik_squires
15,801 posts
 

Sounds like RF interference. 

I want to point out though that this isn't much of a problem unless you like to keep your gear warmed up.  Distance, shielded interconnects and shielded power cables are the usual solutions.

erik_squires
15,801 posts
 

What do you mean it crushed the signal on the tuner?

 

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