Low-level buzz from C2a as a preamp

[larcenasb]

Hello all. I used to think my vintage Yamaha CR-1020 receiver was the source of the buzz, but feeding my DAC directly to the Yammie is very quiet. With the Crackatwoa, there is a low-level buzz that increases with the volume. If I set the volume low enough, there is no buzz, but just wanting to have as clean a signal as I can.

Would adding a ground wire from the C2a to the Yammie be advisable? The two are quite far away from each other with lots of wires around the edges of my room....would that be a problem for the ground wire? Thanks!

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Which DAC are you using? 

https://forum.bottlehead.com/index.php?topic=11676.0

This mod may be helpful, but it is very dependent on which DAC you're using and the kind of noise it eliminates isn't exactly what I would refer to as buzz.

 

[larcenasb]

I have two DACs going into the C2a, a Musical Fidelity V-DAC and an AudioQuest DragonFly Red. As an aside, I like the V-DAC much better because of its spaciousness and tone. The V-DAC is connected by optical, and with headphones there is zero buzz. So, it seems to be an interaction with the Yammie? Because the C2a with headphones is noise free, and the DACs straight to the Yamaha are noise free. Thanks for your help yet again, Paul.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

The Dragonfly will probably make some noise with the C2A without the modification I linked to.