Squelching....

[mardale]

Brand new rockbox user....

I have an iPod 5 80Gb and E17 amp/DAC. They are connected using the Fiio LOD cable. I'm using Grado SR225i headphones. I've just rockboxed the iPod and transferred REM's Monster album across as FLAC files.

The sound quality is great, but there's a digital squelching noise which is quite audible across all tracks but in the quiet parts of tracks like the introduction to Strange Currencies its awful.

Its no different whether I use the LOD or headphone socket. Rockbox settings are all at the installed defaults.

Any thoughts on what's going on are gratefully received!!

Matt

[saratoga]

What is squelching?

[mardale]

OK, good point!

Squelching is the sound your boots make on muddy ground. That's the best way I can describe it. Imagine that, but as digital noise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squelch

Matt

[saratoga]

Do you mean clipping?

[mardale]

No, I mean squelching.

Clipping is caused by over driving amps. This isn't the case as you'll see from my first post. The noise is happening in quiet sections of track and it is happening through both the internal amp (via headphones) and external amp (via LOD). The rockbox settings are at fresh install defaults as it is a brand new installation. The problem didn't occur before rockboxing so I'm pretty sure it is the cause of the problem.

Matt

[mardale]

Any thoughts on what might be the problem here?

I'd hate to have to go back to the original iPod software...

 

Thanks,

Matt

[AlexP]

It'd be interesting to see an actual comparison of the outputs.  Most people here aren't audiophiles.