Audio Out Hiss/White Noise

5 Moons
1

Been really enjoying all the sonic avenues I can travel with 5 Moons, but there was one thing I’ve notice that I hope someone could help shed some light on

I’ve noticed if I plug headphones directly into the audio out of 5 Moons I get some audible hiss/white noise, even with the volume knob turned all the way down. The instructions recommend running audio out through speakers or an amp, but doesn’t say anything about headphones, so I was curious if it wasn’t designed to handle the audio this way. It’s most pronounced through my in ear studio monitors

If I run the audio through my passive mixer this hiss/white noise goes away.

Also, I’m fairly new to music making and audio gear so any advice is greatly appreciated

2

Using headphones shouldn’t be a problem. The audio outputs are designed to work with headphones, and it should be a clean signal. How are you powering the 5 Moons?

3

It’s currently plugged into a usb hub using the cable that came with the 5 moons. The usb hub is plugged into a usb wall adapter that is connected to an extension chord running into a surge protector. So a bit of a daisy chain :sweat_smile: It’s an old apartment with few outlets.

4

I don’t have any noise when powering from a power bank or from a wall socket. I always use ‘studio’ headphones like you (Beyerdynamics DT770 36 ohm).

I would test if it’s better with a wall plug. USB noise can be terrible when using laptop USB, so i maybe a USB hub can inject noise as well

1 Like
5

Thanks for the suggestions.

I’ll see how it sounds with a power bank then try minimizing the number of connections from my outlet.

A friend of mine said it could also be a grounding issue with the outlet. I know sometimes the outlets in older bldgs aren’t always grounded as they should be, even if the outlet shows a ground connection