[NoahH]

Folks - I am getting weirdness I can't explain. I am getting little static pops on my NX-tremes. It happens worse on some songs than others, and I don't see anything common to the songs on that. It does seem to happen more if I pause the music and resume.

No idle static or pops. MiniDSP SHD as DAC and MC275 amp l, and I have used both in other configurations without issue.

Both speakers have the issue.

My only hypothesis is that I currently have the crossovers connected to the speakers with pigtails capped with twist caps, and something bad is happening there. I was going to hard-solder those shortly, but if the issue was likely to be elsewhere, having those removable might be helpful so I wanted to ask here first.

 

[Hobbsmeerkat]

It's likely from a poor connection.
When we're doing driver testing, or crossover designing, any time we move the main clips around we get a similar popping sound, even with no sound passing through the amp.
So its likely that as they're playing those connections are bouncing around creating that same static. And with how effecient the tweeters are i can see it being more noticeable.

That should disappear once you have a more solid connection in place

[NoahH]

Great - thanks Hobbs. I guess I have some soldering ahead of me.

[NoahH]

No joy.

I soldered the connections on one side and am still getting the effect. I also swapped amps and it was not that.

The really weird thing I realized is this did not happen when I first started using them. It was actually around when they had 100 hours that I started hearing it.

Any diagnostic suggestions? My best idea was jiggling everything I could (crossover parts, cables, etc) to see if anything caused more or less popping and nothing jumped out.

[NoahH]

I pulled every cable, used compressed air on every connection, redid everything and it is fine.

I am now order gallons of contact enhancer...

[jjphoto]

I had something similar, ie random clicks and pops, which turned out to be cause by one of those networking adapters which you connect to the power line (ie plug into the wall power outlets) to create a network connection to another one of the adapters. This happened with a tube MC preamp which I originally thought might have been cause by old capacitors but once I removed the network adapters the problem never came back. Just sying in case there is something similar in your situation, putting crap on power lines.

[NoahH]

... the pops just started coming back.

Jjphoto - I had an instinct that it might be something like that too. There is something about the outlet these are using that does make me nervous.

Were the pops you heard there even without music playing?

[jjphoto]

... the pops just started coming back.

Jjphoto - I had an instinct that it might be something like that too. There is something about the outlet these are using that does make me nervous.

Were the pops you heard there even without music playing?

Yes, even without music. As I said I was using a MC preamp which was amplifying very low level signals so maybe my issue was different to yours but it's an avenue worth considering, just in case.

[NoahH]

Sorry for spamming this thread.

I think I have it isolated. MiniDSP SHD has a little wifi dongle, and when that is used, I get the pops. Other inputs don't. Problem resolved for now, but leaving here for posterity.

[E-Zee]

It sounds like you may have resolved the issue, if it is related to your wifi device.   I've had similar experiences with newer wifi and Bluetooth connected devices.  Many of the new connectivity standards will allow connectivity of multiple devices. This is where I have seen the symptoms that you describe, including when no music is playing.  The popping or intermittent static can be caused by multiple wifi or Bluetooth connections occurring simultaneously.

It's even possible for a single output device to attempt to duplicate its Bluetooth connection, with a single input device, particularly when awaking from a sleep state with no input playing.  As it wakes up or as input begins, the device attempts a second connection.  If that sounds possible in your situation, easiest solution I've found is to reset the device that is transmitting.  Either full reset, or just turn Bluetooth or wifi off and back on again.

Good luck.

[Danny Richie]

A NX-Treme with a MiniSDP on it? Ugh, that upsets my stomach a little.

[NoahH]

Have you listened to the newer SHD models? I dislike the A/D/A models but the SHD is solid DAC on its own (I A/B'ed heavily against my Chord Qutest in my other system earlier). Early SHD had a weak output stage but they had Tom from Neurochrome redo it in the newer ones. I use DIRAC in some settings but am not using it on the NX-tremes. I have it in place as I am going to use it to crossover the bass before the subs.

Now the fact that I was getting static from the included wifi adapter does undermine my supportive statements. Point taken there...

[Danny Richie]

Please try a real DAC the the NX-Treme's will reward you.