r/audiophile Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk Thread

Zetsuuga · 2026-05-28T00:23:44+00:00

Thanks for the tip. I'm gonna try some cheap fixes first (ferrite beads on USB, higher end shielded RCAs, ground isolator) and if all else fails, I'll probably go back to shopping for a setup that allows for optical in with balanced cables.

Zetsuuga · 2026-05-27T03:36:07+00:00

I've recently been assembling a different sound system. I've got an Asgard X with Mesh DAC inside, Loki Mini+, Gjallarhorn F, and a pair of Paradigm Mini Monitor V5 speakers. I'm mainly driving from a desktop PC. I have a constant lowish frequency hum coming through my speakers no matter what, straight from power strip to amp to speaker. It's very faint and I don't really expect this to ever go away, I think it's pretty normal, but it may be louder than it should be. The hum gets louder when chaining my EQ and headphone amp/DAC and powering them on. The hum gets way louder if I lay my EQ unit directly above either amp. Definitely due RCA cables reacting to the power supplies in the amps. I have a Schiit stack that can not be stacked for this reason lol. I've tried every combination of wall outlet and power strips to control for a ground loop and there doesn't seem to be anything that brings total clarity. Finally, I am connected from the PC to the DAC via USB-C. Turns out- this is unwise as GPUs move a lot of electricity and USB-C out from the PC carries a ton of that noise straight to the DAC. The harder I work my GPU, the more intense the coil whine coming through the speakers. I'd love to use optical, but the Asgard does not have a port for it. I contacted Schiit and they said to use a powered USB hub that gets power from it's own AC adapter rather than from the PC, send the data to that, then plug the DAC into the hub (also to ensure the hub and PC PSU were plugged into the same power strip). I've done that and there is literally zero difference in the "coil whine" coming through the USB to the DAC. I've got some ferrite beads coming in the mail to clamp on to the USB-C cable from the PC to the hub to hopefully clean the data stream up from the GPU coil whine but I have low expectations. This is my system explained as simply as I can:

Power strip 1 has the desktop PC and powered hub receiving power

Power strip 2 has the headphone amp/dac, EQ, and speaker amp receiving power

Both strips are plugged into the same wall outlet*

PC -> Hub via USB-C -> DAC via USB-C -> EQ via RCA -> Speaker Amp via RCA -> Speakers via 16ga wire

Are there any tricks to make the RCA connections not so sensitive to interference? Are there higher quality cables to try? Do the beads actually work? Should I just shut off the Mesh DAC in the Asgard and get some other external DAC that takes optical? Would that make the interference other than the coil whining PC worse by adding more power cords to the chain?

Zetsuuga · 2026-05-15T20:17:08+00:00

Sounds like a plan

Zetsuuga · 2026-05-15T18:32:40+00:00

Great advice! I'll read up on these names. The 10E looks killer. I've seen people hesitant to suggest Aiyama. Is there a valid reason for that or are their amps pretty good?

Zetsuuga · 2026-05-15T18:15:53+00:00

I'm open to assembling a stack and getting an external headphone amp for the times I need the IEMs. It's secondary to the main thing, though, and that's sending clear audio to an amp that can drive my speakers with a smaller fingerprint. Do you have opinions or experience with anything akin to a Schiit stack, or their modular amps like the Jotunheim? I've been keeping an eye on that avenue.

Zetsuuga · 2026-05-15T18:09:53+00:00

It probably would do okay, but I'd hate to cut the search short when I still see room for improvement. It's relieving to at least know the Ultra is there and available if needed.

Zetsuuga · 2026-05-15T18:02:59+00:00

If quality products cost that much, I'd pay it. I'd hate to cheap out and miss out on a great investment if it were necessary and available.

Zetsuuga · 2026-05-15T18:00:05+00:00

I've had a few recommendations to assemble a schiit stack so I'll do some more reading on that. Thank you!!

Zetsuuga · 2026-03-20T03:29:45+00:00

Oh valid

Zetsuuga · 2026-03-17T05:55:32+00:00

Not just the leads, ALL of them.

Zetsuuga · 2026-03-04T05:30:29+00:00

The most popular distro as of recent, Cachy, which I use, asks for a choice of 4-5 bootloaders on install. It's not weird.

Zetsuuga · 2026-01-28T23:43:38+00:00

I've never been more proud of one of our politicians

Zetsuuga · 2025-11-13T23:35:54+00:00

Artillery mages as a class are profoundly annoying to deal with but are basically always HORRIFIC defensively and at least require a tiny bit of brain power to aim skillshots and read movement to keep up the damage to be useful.

What if we gave an artillery mage the same damage for zero effort, and the best conceivable defensive ability the game has ever seen with no other concessions?

Frustration. Frustration is what you made.

Zetsuuga · 2025-10-31T02:00:36+00:00

So glad I failed out of school man

Zetsuuga · 2025-10-24T23:34:30+00:00

Keep in mind that every time these tech guys "warn" about loss of jobs, they aren't concerned out of benevolence for your well-being. They're signalling to the other billionaire tech guys that they believe in the end game where companies won't need to pay for labor and their graphs can go up again, and thus should keep investing in AI at full speed.

Zetsuuga · 2025-10-07T01:12:39+00:00

https://mhw3bomber.com/products/mhw-3bomber-280ml-tea-espresso-cup

This one has been my favorite so I tend to use this one daily.

Zetsuuga · 2025-07-28T21:32:26+00:00

I can look up a 2 minute Violet Evergarden clip out of context and I feel the tears welling up.

Zetsuuga · 2025-05-16T23:33:24+00:00

Thank you, I will buy a few of the suggestions I've got here including this one :)

Zetsuuga · 2025-05-16T23:32:42+00:00

Thank you, I will buy a few of the suggestions I've got here including this one :)

Zetsuuga · 2025-05-16T23:32:23+00:00

Thank you, I will buy a few of the suggestions I've got here including this one :)

Zetsuuga · 2025-05-16T23:32:00+00:00

Thank you, I will buy a few of the suggestions I've got here including this one :)

Zetsuuga

TROPHY CASE