2. amps-preamps
  3. 1236409165

Strange ground loop...?

Hey,

I just hooked up a new amp and I'm having a strange noise issue. Only in my right channel, I get this high-pitched whine... maybe around 2khz. My left channel is dead silent.

The problem seems to be an interaction between my DAC and my amp. If the DAC is off, the amp is silent.

The amp is an 84' yamaha, so the cord has no ground. There is a ground screw, though, and I have connected that to my power conditioner, hoping this would solve it... nope.

I've tried plugging the amp straight into the same outlet that the power conditioner is plugged into (into which the DAC is plugged in). That actually did work... but I don't want to run my amp straight into the wall.

I suspect I just need to find a proper place to run that ground wire...

Any ideas?
djembeplay
djembeplay OP
179 posts
 
I just wanted to add... the cable would only slide down about half way of the connector post on my DAC. At that point the connector would stop because it was hitting the plastic at the back of the space between the outter ring and the inner rod of the RCA connector.

Even if this was it, it still doesn't make sense to me why it would be fine when I run directly to my amp... something to do with not having 2 different signal wires running different amplitudes maybe?
djembeplay OP
179 posts
 
It really doesn't sound like the DAC is defective, does it? It seems more like something silly like an incompatible RCA connector...
djembeplay OP
179 posts
 
I contacted BlueJeans and they told me that this has happened with a few other people as well. As silly as it sounds, he/she told me that I just needed to 'push harder'. There are these 'tension fingers' that form a tight lock on the RCA connector. These can cause the connector to feel like it is on all the way when really it has a little ways to go.

Unfortunately I sent my cables back... so I have now ordered some new LC-1s to see if this is indeed the solution. Crazy.
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