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Crackle/Fuzz Distortion with Gizmo 1.0M

1443 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  alphaiii
Hi.

I recently purchased the Gizmo for use as an amp for my PC desktop setup. It's driving a pair of Energy CB-5s coupled with an Energy eXL:S8 subwoofer.

Now, for the most part it sounds great, except I can hear a bit of what I can only describe as a crackle or fuzzy distortion at certain times. I read through a few threads, and I'm wondering if it might be related to the issue with the voltage being input to the Gizmo? I'm feeding the Gizmo via my internal soundcard, an HT Omega Striker 7.1. I have no idea what the output voltage is with that card.

Is there any other cause I should be looking at? Should I look at some external DACs rather than using the internal soundcard?

Edit: Also, unrelated, it seems like the bass is a bit too loud. Unfortunately, on the eXL:S8, the input that bypasses the sub's internal crossover also bypasses the sub's volume control (weirdly), so I can't adjust the volume on the sub itself. The sub's crossover tops out at 100Hz, the same frequency the Gizmo's fixed crossover operates at, and I assume it would be sub-optimal to have two different crossover operating at the same frequency? Would the bass control on the Gizmo be a good way to address this? Should I just EQ it via software on the computer?
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I'm using Monoprice cables: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021804&p_id=5596&seq=1&format=2

I'll try keeping the PC's volume as well as iTunes volume around midway and see if that helps.

alphaiii: How does the Nuforce DAC work with the Gizmo? I was thinking of picking that up.
Well, leaving the PC's volume (as well as iTunes or whatever program I'm using if it has a volume control) around midway gets me good volume with the Gizmo's volume at around 24 and I haven't been hearing the fuzziness/crackling, so I guess that was all it was. Thanks for the help.

I'm still not sure what to do about the issue of the sub volume. I plugged it into the input that goes through the sub's xover. I think it still blends with the bookshelves alright, but not really as well as when I'm bypassing the sub's xover (except that I can get it at a better sound level of course). I may just be imagining the difference though...
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