XSP-1 and my Buzz

[novisnick]

Jul 13, 2015 21:38:42 GMT -5 wizardofoz said:

Hum and buzz is almost always caused buy stray signals or voltages between grounds

I haven't read the whole thread but have you tried yet with nothing but the xsp connected to the yamaha ... No tv no cable box no other inputs connected...just a power cable and output to the xsp? If you still get hum then I might consider buying a multimeter or borrowing one and messing the the av/DC voltages between the interconnects etc and ground/earth connections.

Also have you tried connecting the 2 chassis together with a run of wire from 2 of the case screws.

Yes, I've tried with nothing connected but the Yamaha and the XSP-1 and of course the amps and speakers, nothing else and the buzz continues. I've also connected a copper wire to the two units with no joy.

how would I mess with the av/DC voltages between the interconnects?

[mgbpuff]

But order the Jensen PI-2RX instead of the PC-2XR because you are going from RCA to XLR.

[novisnick]

Jul 13, 2015 21:45:23 GMT -5 mgbpuff said:

But order the PI-2RX instead of the PC-2XR because you are going from RCA to XLR.

Yes, you are correct. 

[Gary Cook]

I think the wizard meant "measure", not "messing", autocorrect gets me every time.

So I think what he was suggesting was for you to "measure the AC and DC voltages between the earths/shields on the interconnects and the actual chassis/earth of the processor, pre amp and power amp." Fundamentally there should not be any voltage, if there is voltage that's what's causing your buzz. My view was that since you have a buzz that there must be a voltage, but if you have a multimeter finding where the voltage is present is more important than actually measuring it.

Cheers
Gary

[wizardofoz]

Yes measure and AC and DC, and also measure on the signal pins to ground and signal out to signal in. One would hope that there would be no DC coupling but AC can make its way into the system.

Do you get the buzz on the headphone out too?

[Gary Cook]

Nope, Nick says it's only there with power amplifiers and speakers.

Cheers
Gary

[wizardofoz]

So should also measure voltages etc between the xsp-1 and the amps too...with and without the yamaha connected. Be careful but you should only be measuring outputs to the amps and look for any signal especially AC ...it should be nothing but even a few mV can be a problem.

I wonder does the buzz get louder when you turn up the pre? Or is it only happening in bypass mode?

Don't do this with your good speakers if you can help it

[novisnick]

Jul 14, 2015 10:06:03 GMT -5 wizardofoz said:

So should also measure voltages etc between the xsp-1 and the amps too...with and without the yamaha connected. Be careful but you should only be measuring outputs to the amps and look for any signal especially AC ...it should be nothing but even a few mV can be a problem.

I wonder does the buzz get louder when you turn up the pre? Or is it only happening in bypass mode?

Don't do this with your good speakers if you can help it

"Good speaker",,,,ha,,,,,ha,,,,ha,,,,,,,isn't that one that works? Naw, I know what you mean. Just having fun,,,,,,,as usual!

everything is dead quiet and happy,,,,,,,until I depress the HT Bypass button!!,,,,,and I mean , depressed,,,    

Untill a signal goes from the Yamaha through the HT Bypass circuit all is good.
running amps directly from the Yamaha, all is good.
running amps directly from XSP-1 , all is good.

running through HT Bypass, there is the buzz, it's unaffected by the volume level unless I go to zero or mute, then it is a little less buzz but never gone in HT Bypass mode.

[wizardofoz]

Sounds like there is probably some voltage potential between the Yamaha and the XSP a set of balanced transformers or isolation transformers would probably remove it too. Ill be interested to see what it measures if you can manage it.

[JoshInOhio]

novisnick, I had the EXACT same issue! Everything was dead silent, until I put the XPS into HT bypass mode, and then there was this awful hum. I tried everything I think you have done, powered off everything, unplugged my Marantz, removed the grounding wires, nothing was fixing this problem - UNTIL, I removed the interconnect from the Marantz front two channels, to the input of the XPS. As soon as I pulled that from the Marantz (which was also unplugged, so I really have no idea how that was happening or how there was a signal going from that into the XPS, but that did the trick. I replaced the interconnect, and suddenly, I had dead, glorious, silence.

I checked the cable and don't see any issue with that... It's a cheaper audioquest RCA stereo cable, but replaced it with a second one I had and the problem is gone. I think that you mentioned you had tried this already, but it might be worth trying a different, even a new interconnect cable and making sure that it isn't touching anything else. This at least worked for me.... and it solved this issue (which again, was SO strange because there was no power to the Marantz and it was unplugged when I did this.)

Good luck to you,

Josh

[odedia]

Figured I'd resurrect this post since it seems like I have the EXACT same issue with my XSP-1, only connected to the Onkyo TX-RZ50.

After a weekend of removing cables and playing with different interconnects, I've isolated the problem into a single occurrence:

The loud buzzzzz only occurs when my PS Audio NuWave DSD player is also connected. When I say connected, I mean it has to be physically connected to the outlet, turning the off switch on the back does not help.

The PS Audio is connected with XLRs to the XSP-1. It sounds glorious, and dead silent.
I also have a turntable connected to the XSP-1, and it, too is dead slient, although it is connected with RCA cables.

It is *only* when the PS Audio is connected with XLRs and in the power outlet that the other HT Bypass input is noisy.
In the past, I was trying to connect an Intel NUC to my receiver it is was SO NOISY over HDMI, I could hear every click and mouse move like Keith mentioned in previous posts. I was sure it was the NUC itself and even replaced its power outlet until I gave up. Now that I figured out the noise is because of the PS Audio DSD player, I reconnected the NUC and it is dead silent as well.

Here's a recording of the buzzing sound when literally nothing is connected to the Onkyo except the preouts to the XSP-1. Sound is playing through the Onkyo's Airplay receiver.

youtube.com/shorts/Plai-vzX6UY

If I disconnect the PS Audio DSD player from the power outlet - it sounds perfect.

So, the question is - now what? I currently physically disconnect the PS Audio while watching movies but this is absurd, there has to be a better way. Before finding this thread I was sure my DSD player was defective but perhaps it's just a grounding issue. Note that I live in Israel (European voltage) but the DSD player was shipped from Australia. Perhaps that's related somehow? I have no idea.

[brutiarti]

Feb 18, 2023 9:50:34 GMT -5 odedia said:

Figured I'd resurrect this post since it seems like I have the EXACT same issue with my XSP-1, only connected to the Onkyo TX-RZ50.

After a weekend of removing cables and playing with different interconnects, I've isolated the problem into a single occurrence:

The loud buzzzzz only occurs when my PS Audio NuWave DSD player is also connected. When I say connected, I mean it has to be physically connected to the outlet, turning the off switch on the back does not help.

The PS Audio is connected with XLRs to the XSP-1. It sounds glorious, and dead silent.
I also have a turntable connected to the XSP-1, and it, too is dead slient, although it is connected with RCA cables.

It is *only* when the PS Audio is connected with XLRs and in the power outlet that the other HT Bypass input is noisy.
In the past, I was trying to connect an Intel NUC to my receiver it is was SO NOISY over HDMI, I could hear every click and mouse move like Keith mentioned in previous posts. I was sure it was the NUC itself and even replaced its power outlet until I gave up. Now that I figured out the noise is because of the PS Audio DSD player, I reconnected the NUC and it is dead silent as well.

Here's a recording of the buzzing sound when literally nothing is connected to the Onkyo except the preouts to the XSP-1. Sound is playing through the Onkyo's Airplay receiver.

youtube.com/shorts/Plai-vzX6UY

If I disconnect the PS Audio DSD player from the power outlet - it sounds perfect.

So, the question is - now what? I currently physically disconnect the PS Audio while watching movies but this is absurd, there has to be a better way. Before finding this thread I was sure my DSD player was defective but perhaps it's just a grounding issue. Note that I live in Israel (European voltage) but the DSD player was shipped from Australia. Perhaps that's related somehow? I have no idea.

Did you try a cheater plug on the PS audio player?
Also a chassis ground connection between the PS audio and the XSP-1 can work

[odedia]

Haven't tried anything concrete yet, I did try to put receiver, preamp and DSD player on the same outlet but the noise is still there. Forgot to mention - the DSD player is connected via XLR cables.

Not sure what I cheater plug is, Google it and found some options for the U.S. market only. I did find this recommended on YouTube (great video BTW www.youtube.com/watch?v=einxGsiuwso&ab_channel=FireWalk), any thoughts on this iFi plug? amzn.eu/d/9zxlEtQ

Another option I'm considering is an RCA to XLR converter/eliminator. I wonder if this will help in any way? amzn.eu/d/bU4oQRD

Can you share a video or an explanation on what it means to connect the chassis ground between the PS Audio and the XSP-1? Is it simply a wire touching both?

[odedia]

Well, tried to connect the grounds of the XSP-1 to the PS Audio. No clue if I did this correctly. I used a speaker cable and connected the Phono Ground screw to a screw on the back of the PS Audio. Also tried with just a regular screw on the XSP-1. Neither solved the issue.

I also connected an old XDA-2 to the same XLR cables and power source of the PS Audio, and there was no buzzing sound, so the issue is 100% with the PS Audio device and nothing else.

[odedia]

Any clue which item makes more sense in my case? There’s a DC Blocker amzn.eu/d/fEDuGFd and a GND Blocker amzn.eu/d/ceaVP3S.
Perhaps this one makes more sense? amzn.eu/d/0HsSWcf

[Boomzilla]

I haven’t read this whole thread - so this may have been cussed and discussed before but…

Do you by chance have a cable modem anywhere in your system? Cable companies use their own “grounds” that are almost never at the same electrical potential as your house ground.

And before you say “no,” think about it. In my system, the cable box was grounded to the incoming coaxial cable -
the cable box was grounded to the TV by HDMI -
the TV was grounded to the Blu-Ray player by HDMI-ARC -
the Blu-Ray player was grounded to the preamp by the analog RCA-cable shields -

and it ALL hummed.

I found a surge suppressor with a coaxial in-out that broke the ground loop.

Good luck with the noise!

Boom

[odedia]

Feb 18, 2023 17:32:35 GMT -5 Boomzilla said:

I haven’t read this whole thread - so this may have been cussed and discussed before but…

Do you by chance have a cable modem anywhere in your system? Cable companies use their own “grounds” that are almost never at the same electrical potential as your house ground.

Boom

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have a cable box, I am using optical fiber for internet. All viewing is done via Apple TV. I do have a COAX cable outlet from years past but nothing is connected to it.