Tranquility DAC

[bhobba]

Hi, is the Craig Connor dac a commercial offering? How does it compare to the pdx?

Mike also heard the Terra Dac and while he didn't specifically mention it when we heard the latest base grade PDX fresh off the first production run last Saturday Mike did feel only the Killer can at this stage best the PDX.  Then again you probably will probably quite a bit more for the PDX than a modded Terra Dac.

Still having a bit of a problem with a slight buzz/hum in my Tranquility Signature - I thought it went away two nights ago but it is now back.  If anyone has any ideas let me know.  Want to get it into Mike's reference system again to see if it is something peculiar to my system.  If it is in the DAC I am sure Eric will replace it - but it is still annoying.

Thanks
Bill

[bhobba]

What an idiot I am 

Did a bit of experimenting on the buzz/hum issue.  Tried all sorts of stuff to isolate it.  In the end turned everything off and just connected Mikes Ribbon Tec cables - and it still was there.  Then I remembered (thats the idiot part) Mikes cables are unshielded - duh.  Rang up Mike who confirmed it but he was a bit busy to discuss the solution - which probably is to go to some kind of balanced set up.  Of course I could go for shielded cables - but they simply don't sound as good.

Thanks
Bill 

[Hens]

haha, Bill, seems liek with all the time you are spending there, you should just take a mattress and camp at Mike's.

I was going to say that I was quite interested to see the mods done to the terradac, but after seeing the video posted by Mario, it seems that the terra with mods esculates costs more than a little.

[treblid]

Did a bit of experimenting on the buzz/hum issue.  Tried all sorts of stuff to isolate it. 

What kind of hum, A/C hum from power, or noise from a computer? Is it a ground loop issue or something else?

[bhobba]

What kind of hum, A/C hum from power, or noise from a computer? Is it a ground loop issue or something else?

Its a buzz - I suspect from a device that chews a bit of juice and has some kind of contoller on it that radiates a bit - I have tracked similar stuff down before to for example an air coditioner - when it was running it caused havoc with my TV reception - got rid of it by switching to Foxtel.  I susepect this is something similar.  Staying up a bit late tonight to see if it goes away which may give a clue to where it is comming from - so far it hasn't.  The reason I know its not mains hum, loops or anything like that is I switched everthing off except my amp and left the leads plugged in but the other end not plugged into anything and got it.  Popped in some dirt cheap leads and it went away.  Went down to a local Hi Fi place and got some medium quality leads they lent me to try out and they had exactly the same oproblem.  I suspect I will need some heavily shielded stuff.  I was thinking of this stuff:
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/LC1-design-notes.htm

Thanks
Bill

[kajak12]

What kind of hum, A/C hum from power, or noise from a computer? Is it a ground loop issue or something else?

Its a buzz - I suspect from a device that chews a bit of juice and has some kind of contoller on it that radiates a bit - I have tracked similar stuff down before to for example an air coditioner - when it was running it caused havoc with my TV reception - got rid of it by switching to Foxtel.  I susepect this is something similar.  Staying up a bit late tonight to see if it goes away which may give a clue to where it is comming from - so far it hasn't.  The rerason I know its not mains hum, loops or anything like that is I switched everthing off except my amp and left the leads plugged in but the other end not plugged into anything and got it.  Popped in some dirt cheap leads and it went away.  Went down to a local Hi Fi place and got some medium quality leads they lent me to try out and they had exactly the same oproblem.  I suspect I will need some heavily shielded stuff.  I was thinking of this stuff:
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/LC1-design-notes.htm

Thanks
Bill

bill borrow 2x digital cables of mike and see if that solves your problem they have top class shielding

[treblid]

bill borrow 2x digital cables of mike and see if that solves your problem they have top class shielding

+1..

Sounds like you live in a dangerous place... Ever try getting one of those gauss meters and check for EMF? At least with that you may be able to identify the source. (I'm assuming buzz comes from the component and not the speakers, and it's not transformer buzz)..

With quality shielded leads some of them have shields grounded and the other not. My colleague said this is not a good idea because it acts as an antenna and will capture radiating noises and send it down to the receiving end.. And said when the shield is grounded both ends it acts as a sort of faraday cage rejecting environmental noise. (something like that, I'm para-phrasing so may not get the things right).