Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2015 16:38:41 GMT
Hoping for some input on a problem I'm experiencing with my iCAN.
It's been boxed up for a while but I decided to dig it out last night for a comparison with the Mojo.
As soon as I plugged it it was apparent there was a noticeable hum through my headphones. Holding a finger on the headphone jack eliminated it. Touching one of the dip switches resulted in a louder buzzing noise and touching the other switch gave a slight static-like click. Swapping 'phones, disconnecting the RCA cables or trying a different mains outlet didn't help which pointed to the amp itself.
Whilst I haven't experienced a ground loop issue before that was my initial thought. Either that or an problem with the amp's jack socket which from new has felt slightly loose with some lateral movement evident when inserting a headphone jack, but speaking to other owners this seems normal for the iCAN (I think because the metal enclosure is fractionally wider than the jack socket).
However, whilst unplugging the amp I noticed that one of the prongs on the power supply's 3 pin mains plug was a bit squint looking. On closer examination the plastic surrounding the base of the prong also had a 2-3mm hairline crack on it. Whilst trying to straighten the prong it broke off (minimal pressure used) so the power supply is now toast.
Not sure how or when the prong got knocked off so a bit loathe to drop £40 on a replacement power supply if it's unlikely to solve the problem.
Any thoughts are much appreciated!
Thanks,
Mark
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solderdude
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measureutternutter
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Post by solderdude on Nov 6, 2015 16:55:29 GMT
Hi Mark,
You could ship the amp + power supply to me and I will look at it/fix it if needed.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 6, 2015 17:19:49 GMT
I looked at both of my Ifi amps Mark, and you're right, the headphone sockets do move slightly. Almost like the rubber surround is a 'cushion'. Moving the jack plug doesn't produce noise though.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2015 23:31:02 GMT
Hi Mark, You could ship the amp + power supply to me and I will look at it/fix it if needed. Hi Frans, That's incredibly kind of you to offer. I'd have very gratefully accepted had I not disposed of the power supply at the local recycling centre earlier today. Being 2 mins away has it's upsides but not this time it seems......even worse the prong that broke off is actually still sitting on my desk mocking me I'm thinking with the timing of both things it's perhaps too much to put it down to co-incidence so I might pick up a replacement power supply in the hope that'll eliminate the hum. If it doesn't then I may still take you up on that offer! Thanks again. I looked at both of my Ifi amps Mark, and you're right, the headphone sockets do move slightly. Almost like the rubber surround is a 'cushion'. Moving the jack plug doesn't produce noise though. Appreciate you checking for me Ian. It's not something that had previously worried me as like you say it feels like the socket is designed that way. Not a lot of movement and it feels like the surround is there to dampen things. I noticed no noise moving my jack plug either and it wasn't so much moving the jack that affected things yesterday so much as the lightest of touches. Which eliminated the noise. The socket feels no different than it did before so no obvious sign of a problem there.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 7, 2015 11:51:23 GMT
Sounds like earthing. Those things are really annoying.
Thing is, if the old power supply had one of those plastic legs for the earth, then it's not earthed through the mains. What a pain.
I hope it's something daft like you dropped the power supply or something like that.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2015 15:18:14 GMT
The old power supply did have one of those plastic legs and generally felt really cheaply made. Similar to the Chinese imports you can buy on ebay for 2 or 3 quid. I hope it is something daft too and it's a nice easy fix. The thing is the power supply hasn't at any point been dropped or manhandled so completely stumped. The rather brittle feeling plastic was cracked though so perhaps it's just the result of normal wear & tear from plugging and unplugging from the wall. Looks like the new iPower power supply which I'd likely need to buy has the plastic earth pin too. I really hope for £40 it's better built though as the general consensus is that it offers zero audible improvements despite what iFI's marketing blurb may claim. My BS detector started ringing when I saw the pic of a fighter plane and all the talk of military radar tech in the product page. I've never been keen on their marketing tbh. it's got planes. It must be good.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 7, 2015 20:28:49 GMT
I don't suppose you have any power supplies that might work in the house?
You know, originally, I thought those amps were battery powered. Previous owner could have banged it I guess. Power supplies do tend to get easily dropped!!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2015 1:08:50 GMT
I don't think so Ian. It uses a 9v supply and I don't seem to have anything that's rated the same.
I initially also assumed the iCAN would be battery powered like the iDSD but it's just the nano version that is I think (I have the micro). Although I bought it privately it was sold as new and unused so don't think it'd really been out the box other than to take some pics. Rubber feet hadn't even been applied and all accessories were still sealed. It's a strange one for sure as I applied minimal pressure when trying to straighten the pin and it literally fell off in my hand. Applying a lot more pressure to the right pin to see if they were naturally loose and it wouldn't budge in the least so something wasn't right. One of life's mysteries I guess.
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