parasound zDac owners - quick question


Hello,

Im demo'ing a zDac. It has a really obnoxious transformer hum. My 2 zamp v3's have the same hum, so Im afraid this is universal for z products :(

Do any other owners of these have the same experience? I tried it with and without a power conditioner, in different outlets, and with different power cables. I even powered it on in a different room away from other audio equipment to eliminate potential field effects. No help.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
lightspeed240
I just took delivery of a ZDac to replace a MuFi VDacII. The ZDac is dead quiet, but I might also be "cheating."

I'm running Balanced AQ interconnects, and have the ZDac plugged into a Transparent PIMM (that's also providing the power to my CDP). The power line itself is running audio only; no dimmers; no computers; and no video monitors.

Have you tried running the ZDac isolated? That is, by itself, away from other equipment, and without anything hooked-up to it. If not, consider plugging it into a quality surge protector/conditioner and, in turn, power that through an outlet that's on a line that isn't being shared by anything.

If the ZDac still hums after you've "quarantined" it on a clean line and by itself, then it's likely the unit is the source for the hum. If you do get a hum, try repeating the quarantine on a clean line at a friend's house. If the repeat trial also generates a hum, then you know it's very likely the unit itself.
Hello Courant,

Thanks for the input. Ive tried it totally isolated, in a power conditioner alone, in a separate room, on a different circuit on the breaker box than anything else. Same effect. I havent tried a different house; maybe I will. Again though, both of my zamp's hum, but none of my other toroid-powered devices hum.
Im probably going to exchange it and see if the new one does the same thing. If so, Ill have to decide if I can deal with it for the long term. It would be a shame to get rid of it after all this time.
Hello Lightspeed, I have the parasound 5250 amp. I had the same hum Fixed the problem w/HumX plug adapter.