Noisy Schiit Mani - Please Help

Luis.correia

Well-Known Member
Hi guys.

Need the help of the oracle (audio karma) :)

I have a schiit mani for about 4 months. Has been working fine until yesterday.

It has been sitting in the same place... and now it started doing some strange noise. At first I thought it was from the amplifier. But if I connect my other preamp (DJ PRE) it's absolutely fine. If I connect the turntable directly to the phono input, it's also fine.

Today I even plugged in another amp that I've got, and the same problem.

So, I think I narrowed it down to the schitt mani. If I use it on the aux input or tunner inuput it's absolutly the same. Tried moving it around.. grounding.. nothing. The noise is always there.

Can it be the Schiit Mani ... just went schiit???

Here's a video I did. This is with the amp volume at max. I really can't hear it when playing music at normal volume... but.. still.

 
Sounds like the power supply might be going bad. Does it use a plug in transformer for power? If so and you unplug the transformer from the preamp do you still get the noise?
 
Sounds like the power supply might be going bad. Does it use a plug in transformer for power? If so and you unplug the transformer from the preamp do you still get the noise?
It used a wall wart. If i unplug it, the schiit stops working, so yes, the noise stops.
 
Tried switching cables, even tried a different wall wart from the other preamp (12v instead of 16)..but same noise...

The gain and loading settings from the mani are the same..
 
Hei... I think this just makes me appreciate, even more, the DRJ Pre Art II. rocking solid for two years now.. and sounding great...

bhahh... some schiit...
 
Just did this test. If I disconnect the cables from the turntable to the Schiit Mani (with no music playing) I DO NOT get the buzzing sound.

As soon as I connect them, after some 5 seconds, I start to get the buzz. I messed around with the earth cables.. but nothing works..


What does it mean?
 
Anything new in the environment?

New TV, satellite TV or cable box? Even a new router for your home wi-fi?

I have one integrated amp that does not like to be proximate to my DirecTV set-up.

When I connect my TT to that amp I get a hum, but if I swap the integrated with s different amp, no issue.
 
OK... GOT IT!

Found out the cause. Just don't know how to solve it.

Last week I had the cable tv company come in and install a new setup box for a new TV in my kids bedroom. Because it wasnt possible to pass a cable to their room, they installed a contraption that propagates the signal through the electrical network inside the house.

When I disconnected it... the buzz went away.

Schiit!!!!

now.. how can I solve it without disconnecting the TV on my kids room? :) Between the schii mani and having some peace and quiet... the schiit will loose :)

Maybe some sort f filtered power outlet?
 
OK... GOT IT!

Found out the cause. Just don't know how to solve it.

Last week I had the cable tv company come in and install a new setup box for a new TV in my kids bedroom. Because it wasnt possible to pass a cable to their room, they installed a contraption that propagates the signal through the electrical network inside the house.

When I disconnected it... the buzz went away.

Schiit!!!!

now.. how can I solve it without disconnecting the TV on my kids room? :) Between the schii mani and having some peace and quiet... the schiit will loose :)

Maybe some sort f filtered power outlet?
glad you figured it out!, i also noticed while setting the dip switches on the bottom, they are very "touchy"so i moved mine back and forth 3 or 4 times to make sure the chosen gain stage stays locked in, i almost think it doesnt hurt to work the bottom switches every so often. I like my Schiit Mani!
 
It is remarkable how ART supplied a 100%-bs-free power circuit in the DJPre that takes DC or AC and gets the amplification circutry isolsted from the em noise that might come from the psu. And for $35... sigh.. and not only that - killed the psu upgrade path - what were they thinking? They think money grows on trees? Just adding $0.50 worth of capacitors and diodes to rectify the power noise is so irresponsible. After all, what are they? A psu company or an audiophile company? They should focus on sound and placebo and it is the client who should be responsible to feed their stuff pure DC power (rectified! Hello!!) and be at fault when fails that duty, sacred duty (sorry).
 
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The sound is good. But definitely has problems with the isolation. That's why in any forum when someone asks for a recommendation of a preamp below 120.... I always say the Art Dj
 
A few years back they released a headphone amp called Assgüård (or something like that) that was shooting DC on startup because it lacked DC blocking relays. They kept dismissing the complaints as a non issue. It was above 10x what manufacturers like AKG specfied as the max DC current their cans can handle without being damaged. People noticed it because they saw the diaphragm getting sucked in violently or pushed out. At the end they reluctantly said they would add the relays.
Somehow they managed to make people skip on that point, aided by the very proactive moderators at head-fi. Blah.
I guess they can come up with interesting designs but I have no curiosity in their direction.

About the buzz, you might want to try to create a battery powered power supply with rechargeable batteries.
 
A few years back they released a headphone amp called Assgüård (or something like that) that was shooting DC on startup because it lacked DC blocking relays. They kept dismissing the complaints as a non issue. It was above 10x what manufacturers like AKG specfied as the max DC current their cans can handle without being damaged. People noticed it because they saw the diaphragm getting sucked in violently or pushed out. At the end they reluctantly said they would add the relays.
Somehow they managed to make people skip on that point, aided by the very proactive moderators at head-fi. Blah.
I guess they can come up with interesting designs but I have no curiosity in their direction.

About the buzz, you might want to try to create a battery powered power supply with rechargeable batteries.
I have one but it's 12v. The schiit mani uses 16v. I tried it once and works, but don't know if it will do any damage with extended use
 
Did it sounds good on 12v?
If you are worried you could email the maker and ask to be sure, maybe they would offer an idea about the buzzing.
If you do, let us know what they said.
 
Did it sounds good on 12v?
If you are worried you could email the maker and ask to be sure, maybe they would offer an idea about the buzzing.
If you do, let us know what they said.

Yes sounds good with 12v.

But I posted somewhere this question at the time, and had someone advising me not to do it. That the internal components where designed to work at a given voltage, and that long term usage could degrade them...

oh well....
 
Voltage too high - yes, I can see that being a problem. Not so much about too low, and would be curious to get an educated explanation why.
 
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