Forums - Bizarre noise

Dominick

Seasoned Member

Still like that old
time Rock and Roll!!

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Bizarre noise
03/28/25 at 00:48:09

I was playing my system this afternoon and heard the most bizarre noise that I’ve never encountered. I was playing my Torii MKIV with the following components attached….ZBIT, ZROCK2, CSP2+, Schiit Bifrost 2, and streaming Roon with my core coming a PC, and the Roon bridge coming from my Raspberri Pi 4B+. Everything was warmed up and playing music for at least 1/2 hour. Out of nowhere I heard this loud crackling electrical noise that was reminiscent of like an bug zapper. I didn’t observe any tubes flashing as I started to power everything down by first lowering the volume on the Torii and then the CSP. I then stopped the song in Roon that was playing. The noise was still playing through the speakers at this point. The Torii was shut down first, then the DAC, then finally the CSP2.

First off…any insight as to what may have caused that? The tubes in the Torii are fairly new. The CSP tubes are a bit older. My inkling it that the Decware Rectifer in the CSP may be the culprit.

Now the fun part is the troubleshooting? I could use some help on the process on where to start, and the sequence of a how to isolate the components the get to the bottom of the bug zapping sound.

Thanks in advance.

Dom

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Rasp. Pi 4 [Roon], Schiit Bifrost True Multibit DAC, ZBIT, ZROCK2, My Audio Cables Ultra Silver+, ZSB, CSP2+ 25th, DAG Cables, DHC1, Torii MKIV 25th /2 White Zen SE84C+ 25th mono’s, Rega P2 Turntable, White top ZP3, Velodyne Dual Firing Sub, ERR’s [Bubbinga Wood]

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CAJames

Seasoned Member

"I've run every
red light on memory
lane."

Posts: 2376

Re: Bizarre noise
Reply #1 - 03/28/25 at 01:40:04

My first guess is it is a tube. My first guess is always a tube. Specifically a power tube in the Torii.

I'd start by powering up just the Torii. If you hear something start swapping tubes, I'd start with the power tubes. If you don't hear anything for ~10 minutes than power up the CSP. If you hear something power off the CSP to determine if the noise is in the amp or the pre. Then start swapping tubes.

If you still haven't heard anything then power everything else up and listen to music. Once is an anomaly, twice is a trend. If it happens again power off the CSP to see if you can isolate it to the Torii. Also look at the meters and see if one (or more) has a funny reading.

There is a small but finite chance the issue is with your source, but that seems unlikely if you heard the noise with the volume all the way off.

Keep us posted.

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[FOOBAR2000 | Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia
Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Mapletree Phono 3E
STR-1002 -> Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos
Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-XC

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Dominick

Seasoned Member

Still like that old
time Rock and Roll!!

Posts: 1386

Re: Bizarre noise
Reply #2 - Yesterday at 20:37:24

Thanks James! So after some testing yesterday, it seems as though the CSP is the problem. I put several rectifiers (1 new) and several new input and output tubes into the CSP, and I was getting a low constant hum coming through my headphones, even with the main gain on the CSP all the down.

Today I’m going to bypass the CSP in the signal chain to see if the weird buzzing goes away. I plan to setup a phone conversation with Steve this week, and probably have the unit sent in for an evaluation. I’ll probably then do a warranty transfer on the unit with a new tube set.

I’ll report back later after I do some more testing.

Dom

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Rasp. Pi 4 [Roon], Schiit Bifrost True Multibit DAC, ZBIT, ZROCK2, My Audio Cables Ultra Silver+, ZSB, CSP2+ 25th, DAG Cables, DHC1, Torii MKIV 25th /2 White Zen SE84C+ 25th mono’s, Rega P2 Turntable, White top ZP3, Velodyne Dual Firing Sub, ERR’s [Bubbinga Wood]

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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 2376	Re: Bizarre noise Reply #3 - Yesterday at 21:46:05 You're very welcome Dom. Steve is way smarter than I am so I'll defer to him if there is anything else to test, but I sounds like the original loud noise is gone and that is good news. Hopefully it was just a fluke. And hopefully you can get the CSP fixed up quickly.
Back to top	[FOOBAR2000 \| Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Mapletree Phono 3E STR-1002 -> Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-XC IP Logged

Dominick

Seasoned Member

Still like that old
time Rock and Roll!!

Posts: 1386

Re: Bizarre noise
Reply #4 - Today at 01:53:55

Well I jumped the gun….I started to isolate components and the noise came back. When I removed the CSP from the signal chain, I was still getting the noise.

I then bypassed my Bifrost2 DAC and utilized my Audioquest Dragon Red DAC, and the noise was still present. I then isolated my ZROCK2 and removed it from the signal chain and so far everything is quiet. This component was the least susceptible since I refreshed that tube only two months ago.

Edit: Well a funny thing happened as I was playing with the ZROCK2…. I powered it down to remove the tube and then I started hearing the noise again. Now it looks like the culprit may be a bad set of cables somewhere in the signal chain. That’s tomorrow’s project but at least I am making headway.

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Rasp. Pi 4 [Roon], Schiit Bifrost True Multibit DAC, ZBIT, ZROCK2, My Audio Cables Ultra Silver+, ZSB, CSP2+ 25th, DAG Cables, DHC1, Torii MKIV 25th /2 White Zen SE84C+ 25th mono’s, Rega P2 Turntable, White top ZP3, Velodyne Dual Firing Sub, ERR’s [Bubbinga Wood]

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