Electronic Noise/Interference

[slawson]

I've been playing with the i7 for a week now and overall I've very happy with it. I bought it with a view to replace my D2 because of smaller size, more internal memory and better battery life & I don't really use the video features of the D2.

The i7 is exactly what I was after, and as far as sound quality is concerned matches the D2 in all areas except for one real annoyance, electronic noise. Admittedly, I'm using very sensitive phones but when ever there is a silent passage in music, or no music playing at all I can hear some sort of interference which changes depending on what the player is doing. It takes me back to the days when I could hear the hdd working on my iriver h320. When transferring tracks from my PC, it's as if I can hear what its doing.

The problem is, I know the noise is in the background when playing tracks and this is ruining my listening pleasure.

Anybody else experiencing this?

[GSV3MiaC]

Some people have complained about background noise from the display (when it is on) but not just general background noise. I certainly can't hear any at max volume on my (32 ohm) PX100s, so maybe you have a defective unit .

[slawson]

Thanks for the reply GSV3MiaC. I was using the Shure SE530. I think these must be a bit to sensitive. I've just tried my old Shure E4's and I can't hear the same noise. I'll use the SE530 on my M5L [smile] and sell the D2 to start recouping some of the cash I've lost buying all these DAPs.

[Mario G]

the noise you hear is probably generated in your earphones....

a wrong or right cable lenght and it acts like an antanna for some frequencies

try to abridge you earphone cable..

mfg

Mario

[iOlivier]

With my CX300 (16 ohms) i hear a little noise even if no music is playing (when paused), and it is increasing with sound level.

I noticed with firmware 1.10 that there was a little whistling when screen is on.
Since i've put the firmware 1.13 : this whistle has disappeared when screen on, but has reappeared when screen off !
Did anybody notice that ?

This is not to much annoying, but i'm looking for earphones with higher impedance... but i don't find good intras with low price like CX300s. Can you give me some advice ?

[slawson]

Thanks for your replies Mario & iOlivier.

The Shure SE530 come with a cable extender so I removed this and tried again. unfortunately I get the same interference. Your right Mario, it is the earphones. They are just too good for this device.[sad]. I don't have the same problem on the Cowon M5L or D2.

Hopefully, this can be fixed via firmware. It sounds like something happened on the last firmware update. I'll try and report it to Cowon.

[adr]

I hear interference as well with a pair of Shure E3C's and with a pair of CX300's. It can be quite annoying, so I hope it is fixable in firmware.

[Mario G]

today i got my i7... and my Sony MDR-EX90LP

no noise with the cowon earphones
but with the sony i can hear that noise too....

at the moment i have no idea what i can do aganist :(

Mario

[knubbsal]

Yeah, I have this background noise too with a pair of Ultimate Ears super.fi 3 (13 ohms) :(
I can't hear any interference with the headphones while using my stereo or MD-player. Just like others noted the noise isn't heard while using cheaper earphones.

[NwAVGuy]

The issue isn't the impedance (i.e. 32 ohm, etc.) of the headphones, it's the SENSITIVITY. It's usually expressed in dB/mW or decibels per milliwatt. And it varies over quite a wide range between different phones. Cheap headphones use weak magnets which tend to provide lower sensitivty. Expensive headphones use expensive magnets and can have much higher sensitivity.

The good news is the more sensitive your headphones are, the less likely you are to turn up your player until the output amplifier distorts. So they often mean much cleaner sound with portable players (at least if you like to listen at louder levels).

But the bad news is every 3dB increase in the sensitivity of your headphones is the same as doubling the noise (in volts) put out by your player. You can't adjust the volume of the background noise produced by the player's output circuitry--it's usually fixed. So as the headphones become more sensitive the noise will be louder.

Anyway, this is one of the trade offs of efficient headphones. The most sensitive headphones I have are the Super.Fi Pro 5's. They tend to reveal noise on players that's completely inaudible with typical headphones like the Sony EX-71s.

It is too bad the i7 has a noise issue with sensitive phones. It seems nobody is making a small nicely featured flash based player with good audio specs?

[iOlivier]

GSV3MiaC with PX100 does not hear any noise :
impedance: 32 Ohms
sensitivity : 114 dB/mW

But I, with CX300, I can hear one :
impedance: 16 Ohms
sensitivity : 112 dB/mW

I wouldlike believe you NwAVGuy, but what you said on sensitivity doesn't work with this two products :
Indeed, my CX300 are less sensitive than his PX100, but noise is only audible on CX300.

And here, the difference can be explained by impedance. Moreother, your hearphone have a 21 ohms' impedance, lower than PX100 and E3C (26 Ohms).

[numtemnick]

Hi, this post makes me worry.

I'm a newbie and poor audiophile, and I am thinking in make a "portable" system with a Iaudio 7 + a PA2V2 Headphone amplifier + a Seenheiser HD 555.
After read this post I don't know if this is a good idea...

Anyone can help me out of this mess?

PA2V2 Amp page> http://www.electric-avenues.com/audio8.html

Seenheiser HD 555 specs page> http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/productspecs.asp?transid=newHD-2

[iOlivier]

According to me, with this headphone you won't hear interference (since impedance is 120 ohms), but i don't know what effect can have the PA2V2 Amp on this (maybe none).

[slawson]

numtemnick

Interestingly, I've just tried my HD650 through an amp on the i7 and I cannot hear the noise interference. I don't know if this info helps you though there is a difference between the HD650 & HD555.

[nielsdg]

The iAUDIO included earphones are perfectly noiseless, I even like them more than my Sennheiser MX500!

[numtemnick]

Thanks for the answers, I'm more calm now [thumbsup]

Now I'll wait for the Iaudio 7 16gb [confused] soon I hope...

[n8chavez]

The iAUDIO included earphones are perfectly noiseless, I even like them more than my Sennheiser MX500!

I have this headphoes. I must say I like these better than the ones supplies by iAudio . However, I am getting a lot of noise, as others have mentioned here, when the tracks switch.

[me7]

However, I am getting a lot of noise, as others have mentioned here, when the tracks switch.

I have a pair of Shure SE310 which should be affected by the issue as well and I was planing to get a iAudio7 16 GB.

So the noise is very audible during the track change, but how is it while the music is playing? Is it always noticable or do you have to listen for it?