hypex ncore

[Julf]

Originally Posted by robbbby

Hey guys, ever since I fixed my DC problem and have been spending more time listening i've noticed another problem (probably not ncore related). It seems like I have a lot of static noise on my tweeters. It is fairly audible and changes depending how much volume I have set on the pre

The fact that it depends on the volume on the preamp makes it pretty likely it's not a ncore issue. So do you actually have a preamp between your DAC and the ncores, or is it a DAC with built-in preamp. How much do you usually have to turn up the volume for normal listening? Is the "static" really white noise (hiss), or more like good old-fashioned radio static (so more spiking/sparking than pure white noise)?

[robbbby]

No preamp here. Dac has built in volume control if you choose to use it, or can be bypassed to use a regular pre.

It's what you describe as white noise, very consistent sound, not random and spikey.

[Julf]

Originally Posted by robbbby

No preamp here. Dac has built in volume control if you choose to use it, or can be bypassed to use a regular pre.

Seems it has a combination of digital and analog volume control. Are you bypassing the analog control or not? What level is your "normal" listening volume? Do you still get the hiss if you mute the DAC?

[robbbby]

that dac has 3 control options, bypass for when you have a real pre to control volume, then is has either analog or digital attenuation. I've tried both and get the same.
What do you mean by "mute" the dac?

[Julf]

Originally Posted by robbbby

What do you mean by "mute" the dac?

Seems one of the programmable buttons can be assigned to be a "mute" button.

I am also interested in how much you have to turn up the volume for "normal" listening levels.

[robbbby]

Ah, ok. Just programmed a button to mute. Static still there when muted, but music still plays very faintly through the tweeter when muted.
Not sure how the volume display on the dac relates to true full scale dB, but usually just normal on the couch listening is around -46. Obviously that varies depending on the recording but I would say that is about average.

[avr300]

Pretty easy to rule out the NC's. Switch off your DAC - and power up the NC.

Still white noise ?

[robbbby]

No. I was never blaming the ncores, knew it had nothing to do with them, was just posting to get some advice.

[Julf]

[QUOTE=robbbby;2985113]Ah, ok. Just programmed a button to mute. Static still there when muted, but music still plays very faintly through the tweeter when muted.[QUOTE]

Hmm. Either the mute is badly designed, or designed that way on purpose.

Not sure how the volume display on the dac relates to true full scale dB, but usually just normal on the couch listening is around -46. Obviously that varies depending on the recording but I would say that is about average.

OK, a possible issue is that the nc400 is fairly sensitive (or has a fair bit of gain, depending on how you want to look at it). Great in that works even with weak, unbalanced consumer grade signals, but a proper balanced XLR stage is much "hotter", so you are actually giving away a fair bit of signal-to-noise ratio by having the volume turned down that low. If your normal listening level is somewhere around 75 dB, your "full volume" would be 121 dB.... I assume you haven't ever tried playing at full volume?

Sounds you could easily lower the gain by 10 dB (lowering the HF hiss by the same amount) and instead turn up the volume by 10 dB., but that involves the R141 surgery that I right now can't recommend to anyone... :/

[Julf]

Originally Posted by robbbby

No. I was never blaming the ncores, knew it had nothing to do with them, was just posting to get some advice.

I don't think anyone was thinking you were blaming the ncores, but it is still good practice to rule them out as a source of the noise.