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Strangest HiFi Issue I've Ever Seen


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Hi Guys, this is the strangest issue I've ever seen in HiFi and I'm looking for some opinions about what's going on. I honestly have no idea. 

 

Background: My audio system is connected to its own sub-panel for power, that is wired down to the main house panel. I also use two fantastic transformers. Everything else in the house is wired to the main panel. Connected to my listening room (not electrically) is a bathroom with two light switches and a switch for the fan in the ceiling. 

 

Issue: When I turn off the fan, audio in my system pauses for a brief second. If I slowly flip the switch to the off position, Audi in my system will completely stop, requiring a reboot of one specific component. 

 

I don't want to name this component right now because I've reached out to the manufacturer and I don't know what's going on, so I don't want to place blame where it may not belong. 

 

Question: How in the world does the bathroom fan switch cause this issue in my audio system, when the two are wired so separately?

 

 

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And the bathroom's supplied by the main panel?

 

Try disconnecting the wiring at the fan and operating the switch, if there is still a problem, replace the switch. If the problem goes away replace the fan or install a surge suppressor.

 

I was once a member of the IBEW but I am not an electrician.

SSH

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2 minutes ago, ssh said:

And the bathroom's supplied by the main panel?

 

Try disconnecting the wiring at the fan and operating the switch, if there is still a problem, replace the switch. If the problem goes away replace the fan or install a surge suppressor.

 

I was once a member of the IBEW but I am not an electrician.

Yeah, power to that is supplied by the main panel, not the Audi sub-panel.

 

Do you think this is airborne or sent all the way through house electrical wires?

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44 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I don't want to name this component right now because I've reached out to the manufacturer and I don't know what's going on, so I don't want to place blame where it may not belong. 


I bet I know the cause (particular chip) if you are reviewing the component I think you are (not ours).  I’ll send you a PM with my guess.

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Was everything fine until it wasn’t?  Did this just start one day out of the blue?

 

Is there an arc fault breaker in the branch that powers the fan and/or the sub panel?
 

Did it start after you made any change in anything else - home appliance, audio system component, cable, TV, toaster, car......anything at all even if you can’t imagine that there could be a connection (no pun intended)?
 

Is the offending switch a standard SPST mechanical, or is it electronic? Is the fan a simple AC motor or a fancy yuppie device?

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Activating the switch’s probably worn contacts causes a burst of RF that’s conducted through the whole house wiring.

The isolation transformers are rated for surge of high amounts of 50/60 Hz voltage, not RF, that’s why that chip stops.

Replace the switch with a new one and install an EMC filter on the front end of the ‘VW subsidiary’ panel to trap any spikes of conducted RF.

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Yep, it will be the sparking, inside the switch, that by wire, or air borne, injects enough of an interference signal into the vulnerable component - which reacts in this case by going into an error mode. As good an example as any of how insidious this problem of isolating a system completely from noise generators is; and that inserting some sort of electrical barrier may be quite ineffective - unless one completely understands what's going on, or does quite a bit of experimenting with various approaches until an adequate solution is found.

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I have something very odd happening suddenly also (although not actually suddenly since I just added an JS-2 yesterday into my system). 
Per @Superdad suggestion, I have output 1 powering my Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ And output 2 powering by USB reclocking chain (ISORegen->ifi iUSB 3.0-> DAC). 
Twice last night (once when I turned my Plasma TV on and once when I turned another power supply on which is plugged into an entirely different AC line (not just different outlet) my music suddenly stopped, and my Aurender’s display showed “USB Error Detected”

I have never seen or experienced anything like this before and neither the Plasma TV or the other Power Supply are connected to my Aurrender or DAC and the other power supply even on a completely different AC circuit? 
Anyone have any thoughts on how and why this could be happening? 
I am assuming it has some relationship to the common ground of the two outputs on the JS2 and perhaps some ground type thing traveling back via USB ?? 

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49 minutes ago, fas42 said:

As good an example as any of how insidious this problem of isolating a system completely from noise generators is; and that inserting some sort of electrical barrier may be quite ineffective - unless one completely understands what's going on, or does quite a bit of experimenting with various approaches until an adequate solution is found.

Too general and gleaned from tinkerer’s experience.

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17 minutes ago, One and a half said:

Too general and gleaned from tinkerer’s experience.

 

A curious response ... in general, the audio world is rife with solutions which address a very specific, perceived issue in what is heard; which evolves, step by step, into a strange distortion of what is on the recordings - until, one day, in a moment of great clarity the whole edifice is ditched - and is replaced by a far simpler system, which reverts the SQ back to something more sane.

 

I've seen this story told on numerous occasions ... and have certainly heard many of strange spaces that setups manage to get themselves into.

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29 minutes ago, agladstone said:

I have something very odd happening suddenly also (although not actually suddenly since I just added an JS-2 yesterday into my system). 
Per @Superdad suggestion, I have output 1 powering my Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ And output 2 powering by USB reclocking chain (ISORegen->ifi iUSB 3.0-> DAC). 
Twice last night (once when I turned my Plasma TV on and once when I turned another power supply on which is plugged into an entirely different AC line (not just different outlet) my music suddenly stopped, and my Aurender’s display showed “USB Error Detected”

I have never seen or experienced anything like this before and neither the Plasma TV or the other Power Supply are connected to my Aurrender or DAC and the other power supply even on a completely different AC circuit? 
Anyone have any thoughts on how and why this could be happening? 
I am assuming it has some relationship to the common ground of the two outputs on the JS2 and perhaps some ground type thing traveling back via USB ?? 

Wow. No listening tests needed here. Plasma TV do take a bit of power to start working, a power amplifier can go considerably more but it’s frequency spectrum is no where near as rich a TV SMPS.
 

Try taking out the ISORegen with bypassing it altogether, then start the TV.

 

If the problem persists, then the ifi needs a look at. Try using the bog standard ifi power supply instead of the Js2, try the TV. 

 

If the fault goes away, then it’s over to @Superdad with the JS2. If the fault persists then it’s the ifi.

 

I’m using the micro USB 3 for several years now and haven’t had any trouble with them.

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2 minutes ago, fas42 said:

 

A curious response ... in general, the audio world is rife with solutions which address a very specific, perceived issue in what is heard; which evolves, step by step, into a strange distortion of what is on the recordings - until, one day, in a moment of great clarity the whole edifice is ditched - and is replaced by a far simpler system, which reverts the SQ back to something more sane.

 

I've seen this story told on numerous occasions ... and have certainly heard many of strange spaces that setups manage to get themselves into.

In this case it’s a hardware fault, nothing to do with SQ. Emissions and sensitivity. Copy and pasted from your library?

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5 minutes ago, One and a half said:

In this case it’s a hardware fault, nothing to do with SQ. Emissions and sensitivity. Copy and pasted from your library?

 

The "hardware fault" carried through to obviously impact the system - many houses have such, or equivalent "faults" in the devices running off mains power - which may have a resoundingly clear impact - a classic is the fridge cycling sending a Click! to the speakers ... or be far more subtle - a general lack of sparkle, and life in the playback.

 

It's nice to think there is always a plug 'n' play fix for these things - but IME the higher the standard of the playback, the more one has to concern oneself with addressing these areas - if one wants, best sound.

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35 minutes ago, One and a half said:

Wow. No listening tests needed here. Plasma TV do take a bit of power to start working, a power amplifier can go considerably more but it’s frequency spectrum is no where near as rich a TV SMPS.
 

Try taking out the ISORegen with bypassing it altogether, then start the TV.

 

If the problem persists, then the ifi needs a look at. Try using the bog standard ifi power supply instead of the Js2, try the TV. 

 

If the fault goes away, then it’s over to @Superdad with the JS2. If the fault persists then it’s the ifi.

 

I’m using the micro USB 3 for several years now and haven’t had any trouble with them.

I never experienced this situation before yesterday when I added the JS2 and then also used both outputs of JS2 (1 output to USB chain, the other to DAC) and I know both these outputs share a common ground. 
Prior to yesterday, I had an LPS 1.2 powering the USB chain, and a Vinnie Rossi Pure DC4EVER ultracap power supply for the DAC. 
However, it’s still boggling me, how turning on or off the power of two different devices is effecting my 2channel playback chain? 
The Plasma TV is connected to an AVR Pre/Pro and the DAC has RCA cables in and out from the AVR Pre/Pro through my DAC’s HomeTheater Bypass, so I understand how’s there is some way an electrical event could lead back. The other power supply in my rack that is on a different AC circuit did not even have anything connected to it at the time and it created the same exact event, that’s what really has me scratching my head??? 
Any ideas @Superdad ?? 

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59 minutes ago, agladstone said:

I never experienced this situation before yesterday when I added the JS2 and then also used both outputs of JS2 (1 output to USB chain, the other to DAC) and I know both these outputs share a common ground. 
Prior to yesterday, I had an LPS 1.2 powering the USB chain, and a Vinnie Rossi Pure DC4EVER ultracap power supply for the DAC. 
However, it’s still boggling me, how turning on or off the power of two different devices is effecting my 2channel playback chain? 
The Plasma TV is connected to an AVR Pre/Pro and the DAC has RCA cables in and out from the AVR Pre/Pro through my DAC’s HomeTheater Bypass, so I understand how’s there is some way an electrical event could lead back. The other power supply in my rack that is on a different AC circuit did not even have anything connected to it at the time and it created the same exact event, that’s what really has me scratching my head??? 
Any ideas @Superdad ?? 

Just watch the current draw on the ifi micro, it’s 2A at 9V. The JS2 has dual outputs and they are not connected at the 0V together if I understand from memory. That can cause a difference in the above ground voltages. Hmm, maybe.

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12 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Issue: When I turn off the fan, audio in my system pauses for a brief second.

 

When the fan is winding down, it will act as a generator ...

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