DeBilbao

After a long time away from my Icon Audio HP8 MK II, I've come from holidays and realized that the weird noise problem hasn't gone away. But during holidays I've read quite a few articles about electrical noise and my conclusion has been that the inducted noise is being "captured" by the RCA interconnect cables that act as antennas. So with this diagnosis in mind, I've come to my usual electrical shop and asked for a filter to resolve the issue. This cheap MONACOR FGA-40MF has removed all the noise and now the background is completely silent. It doesn't seem to be an audiophile choice, but it does the work. http://www.monacor.de/index.php?id=4343793&L=3 Now I'm enjoying the fabulous Icon Audio HP8 MKII, with Jupiter Yellow Capacitors, the powerful and mellow Shu Guang CV181-Z 50 Years Treasures and the extraordinary PSvane 12AX7. I'm loving the combination with the Sennheiser HD 650 headphones. Now the problem origin is located, I think it's time not only to begin enjoying music, but to try resolving the problem. My guess is that the power supply unit is coming to its end of life cycle. It's been working faultlessly since 2007 and maybe it's time to switch to another one. My actual PSU is a modular Seasonic M12 (500W) and I'm thinking about the same brand but a more modern model like the X-650 that can can control the fan and use it only when real power is needed. I will try to change and reorganize the internal cabling, maybe this helps too. Any suggestions on a good quality PSU for a Windows PC that minimize audio interferences?

That's exacty what I'm saying and trying to resolve.

Thanks for your answer, esldude. I'll share with you my advances on this annoying issue: Yesterday night I performed a test that in my opinion offer a definitive diagnostic: noise is generated by my Windows PC and captured by the amplifier by some kind of induction. The test couldn't be easier, power off and disconnect the iFi iDSD micro from the line input of the Icon Audio HP8 MKII amplifier and connect to it my Denon DVD-2910 multiformat player. This is what I got: With the PC turned on, noise is present. With the PC turned off, absolute silence, even with the pot at 100%. After this conclusive test, I performed another and took the Icon Audio HP8 MKII amplifier and the iFi iDSD micro DAC to another room in the house, but instead of connecting it to the Windows PC, I plugged the DAC to my MacBook with the same Audioquest Pearl USB A/B cable. This is what I got: Absolute silence, even with the pot at 100%. I must point out that I performed the same test yesterday, but with the MacBook in the same room than the Windows PC, and in this case I heard the noise. So being the Windows PC the culprit, I tried opened it and tried to identify if any position change affected the noise, or if touching any cable using myself as a ground the noise was altered in any form. I also decided to deep clean the computer, removing every piece of dust with a vacuum cleaner and make a general revision of the cabling. The result? I'm still experiencing noise, but at a much lower level. So low that at quarter of the pot I barerly notice it and this is the maximum SPL I can listen at with normal recordings. But if the passage is near silent and I try finding it, I can still identify it as a sound associated with the activity of the computer. Another disconcerting news is the fact that now noise isn't associated to a single channel. If I disconnect the RCA cable either from the right or left channel, noise is present. A bit baffled with this change. One more observation is that if I shutdown my Windows PC and put on my headphones with the pot at 100%, noise doesn't come out until the Windows logo appears on screen. During POST BIOS processing noise isn't audible. I've tried booting the computer from a Linux USB stick and noise is still present, so I discarded Windows as the faulty componente, but this also baffled me again. It seems that only when hard drives begin with their activity noise appears, and the noise seem shaped with hard drive activity. With this new discovering, I opened the computer again and started disconnecting the hard drives one at a time until only the system hard drive was present, but noise was present. I didn't try without the system hard drive or changing the SATA port because it's an SSD unit without mechanical parts. Yesterday I was really tired and went no further. Tonight I'll try changing tubes in the amplifier and follow some of your advices. I'll keep you updated. It's a long run but with your help I'm sure I'll fix it.

pooger, thank you very much for such a detailed answer. I've noticed that my signature wasn't updated and I can try your first suggestion with my Bowers & Wilkins P7, much more sensitive than the Sennheiser HD 650, or even with the planar-magnetic HiFiMAN HE-400i. I'll try with my Etymotics but the HP8 MKII is really powerful. I can't go further than a quarter of the ALPS knob. I will definately try swapping the Shu Guang CV181-Z 50 Years Treasures power tubes. If the problem goes from left to right channel, they can be the culprit. I also have a pair of Tung-SOL tubes that I can use in the power section. Regarding the pre-amp tube, I also own a JJ Electronics ECC83 (12AX7 equivalent) and I can try swaping them and see the result. I'll try my best and report back as soon as possible with some pictures to share.

I'm really satisfied with my Icon Audio HP8 MKII headphone amplifier, but I'm experience a weird problem that is driving me crazy. Until recently, I've been using different solid state headphone amplifiers and have been a great Burson Audio fan, but even the Burson Conductor can compare with the musical experience I'm getting from this great tube amplifier. My current setup includes two Shu Guang CV181-Z 50 Years Treasures drive tubes and one PSvane 12AX7 preamp tube. But I'm having a problem that's driving me nuts. The HP8 MKII is "capturing" noise from my desktop Windows 8.1 Pro PC through the left channel RCA input. It's not a continuous hiss but instead is some kind of sizzling noise. My current audio route is the following: Windows PC Windows > Audioquest Pearl USB A-B cable > iFi iDSD micro > 2x RCA Audioquest G-Snake cable > Icon Audio HP8 MK II > Sennheiser HD 650 and I've made the following tests: Disconnecting the left channel RCA cable, noise dissapears. Rotating the left channel RCA cable conector, noise changes and there's a point where it is less noticeable but I want it out. Interchanging left and right RCA cables or crossing them, noise persists. Reversing the direction of the RCA cables, noise persists. Changing the RCA cables with another Wireworld Solstice pair I have, noise persists. Unplugging the USB cable from the PC and plugging it to a MacBook, noise is still present if the PC is turned on. Shutting down the PC, noise persists. Using another source component via RCA input, noise dissapears. Connecting the headphones to the iFi iDSD micro as an amplifier, and the noise is absolutely absent. Any suggestions? I'm really close to sound heaven, but this noise is driving me crazy. Thanks in advance,

Today I want to share with you this fabulous live piano session with Barry Harris leading a trio with bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes. Read my review and listen @ Barry Harris: Barry Harris at the Jazz Workshop (1960, Riverside)

Thank you John. My proposal for today is quite different. Louis Prima's The Wildest! is Jazz but it will show up the influences of Jazz music in more modern music styles like Rock & Roll. This will make you move your feet for sure... Check it at Louis Prima: The Wildest! (1956, Capitol)

My last album review has been dedicated to the marvelous encounter of Gerry Mulligan and Johnny Hodges in 1959. Ultra High Quality music in a very high quality recording, enjoyable by both audiophiles and Jazz music fans. Yo can read it while listening to it at Gerry Mulligan & Johnny Hodges: Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges (1959, Verve) :)

Although I'm not a frequent participant of Computer Audiophile, I would like to share with you my project JazzBai. I've thought that maybe you'll find some good music to enjoy with your audio gear. DeBilbao: The Author DeBilbao has always been my nickname because it talks about my hometown, Bilbao, located in the Basque Country in the north of Spain. It literally means "from Bilbao" and I've been proudly using it for years in many online communities like this one, sharing with people from all around the world many kind of hobbies: from technology to photography, from cinema to music. I can not imagine life without music, and though I like all genres, I've evolved with Jazz into a more intimate relationship with music through the magic of improvisation, this key characteristic of Jazz that gives absolute freedom to the interpreters while keeping the coherence of the whole. It fascinates me. JazzBai: The Project JazzBai is the name of a personal project that I've recently launched with only one goal in mind: sharing with others my thoughts and feelings after listening to those wonderful Jazz music records that I love, giving users a tool to listen to them online using the Spotify miniplayer. For music lovers, Spotify has been just a dream come true and I've been enjoying it since their very beginning. JazzBai arises from the union of two words: Jazz from the music genre and Bai from the word we use to say yes in euskara, an ancient language spoken in the Basque Country. So you can think of JazzBai as a form of affirmation, saying yes to Jazz while giving a hint of my homeland. JazzBai Although I love euskara, I speak in spanish and that's the language JazzBai is written in. I have considered translating my reviews into english, but I haven't done it yet and to be honest, I doubt I will in the near future. If I publish this in english is because I think that anyone can enjoy my record selection and listen to them, but it would be a hard work to rewrite everything. JazzBai can be easily translated using Google Translate. Just click on the following URL and you will get a fully functional website. And the translation is quite good. JazzBai translated by Google Translate I've highlighted the word sharing because I sincerely believe that sharing, for the sole purpose of doing it, is really rewarding. You give a little and you'll get a lot in return. It has always been this way for me, and I feel we're loosing the concept because all of these new social stuff tend to promote a faster consumption of music. It has almost loose its name as now people call music just media. And I hate this. I love writing too, and when I write a review about a record listening session, I like to approach myself to the historical moment of the recording and the personal circumstances of the artists. Jazz is full of stories, some joyful and many other sad, but all have something in common: intensity. Many of them lived dangerously, but almost all of them lived intensely. Jazz won't let you indifferent: you'll love it or you will hate it. It isn't a genre for large audiences, but being so large I'm convinced there's some kind of Jazz for each of us, waiting to be discovered and it takes only some time and a some willing to find it. And if JazzBai helps you discovering it I'll feel great, because once you discover it, it will go to the bottom of your soul and you'll notice that something magic just happened. This day, if you get it, will be the first day of your new life with music. Don't expect from JazzBai any kind of negative opinions. I only publish reviews about the albums that I've liked, so if I write about it, I've really enjoyed it. JazzBai doesn't begin with a blank page and a few posts. I've waited until having something I consider interesting and you'll get more than a hundred selected albums that will show up my music taste for sure. I like saying that my style is like the famous Duke's Ellington In a Mellow Tone, a really mellow, soft and gentle tone. Far away from the free, electronic or avant-garde sounds that can be fascinating to others, but not for me. You can definately call me a classic Jazz fan. I especially like the period that goes from mid-50's to the mid-60's when the Hard Bop flourished, but I also like the early Jazz years or the contemporary Jazz. There's a lot of good stuff cookin' in now and I love discovering it. I've never been a fan of compilations, greatest hits albums or playlists. In my opinion a record is some kind of art that must be listened in the way the artist thought about it, so I always listen to the whole album with the original tracklist order. I've also categorized each review and you will find them as options in the menu bar. So you can easily search for Classical Jazz > Hard Bop reviews, or get some Cool Jazz records with some West-Coast style, or look for sime Contemporary Jazz or Vocal Jazz, either classical or current. As an added bonus, I've also inclued a video section to share some of the many hidden jewels in Youtube, complete concerts, short performances or movie scenes, and also a reading section to share some books that will help us understand better Jazz music and the life of the artists that made it possible. If you want to take a look to my project, go to JazzBai and if you want to follow its evolution, you'll find there direct links to my Twitter channel, the Facebook page or even the RSS feed for your favourite reader. Thank you very much for your reading and greetings from Bilbao, Joserra