You should be listening in the dark anyway!
Audio drops out when I hit a light switch
I have a really frustrating problem. I've just moved into a new house and am experiencing audio dropouts whenever I hit a light switch in the house (many of the lights are fluorescent). The problem only affects my Bel Canto DAC2.
The dropouts only happen when listening to two-channel stereo. I'm using the coax digital output of an Arcam DV79 dvd player to the Bel Canto, then to an Arcam AVP700 pre/pro and on the CIAudio D-100 monoblocks. The dropouts never occur when just watching a DVD (I use the Arcam DV79's optical output for that) nor when watching cable tv. That is, the problem does not occur with either of the Arcam units.
Watching the Bel Canto, I can see the green 'signal accepted' light flick momentarily to a red 'no signal' light whenever I flick a light switch. The Bel Canto is the unit affected by the lights.
I've tried using a couple of different coax cables and an optical cable but it's made no difference. Does anyone have any idea what is going on and how to fix it? Would a high-grade power conditioner help (I'm currently using a mid-range Belkin surge protector/filter)?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The dropouts only happen when listening to two-channel stereo. I'm using the coax digital output of an Arcam DV79 dvd player to the Bel Canto, then to an Arcam AVP700 pre/pro and on the CIAudio D-100 monoblocks. The dropouts never occur when just watching a DVD (I use the Arcam DV79's optical output for that) nor when watching cable tv. That is, the problem does not occur with either of the Arcam units.
Watching the Bel Canto, I can see the green 'signal accepted' light flick momentarily to a red 'no signal' light whenever I flick a light switch. The Bel Canto is the unit affected by the lights.
I've tried using a couple of different coax cables and an optical cable but it's made no difference. Does anyone have any idea what is going on and how to fix it? Would a high-grade power conditioner help (I'm currently using a mid-range Belkin surge protector/filter)?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Thanks for the replies. Good to know mine isn't the only the only DAC2 affected! I'm actually only going to be living in this house for about 18 months (I'm renting, so I can't really go the whole re-wiring route) so maybe I'll just grin and bear it. Listening to music in the dark is not too bad in any case! |
I had exactly same issue with the DAC2. When I hit a light switch the music drops out. It happened with several digital cables. It's the dac. I called Bel Canto with this question and they said it's normal and happens because the dac is on the same circuit as the light switch. But I can tell which digital cables you can use that sound very good and the dac is not affected when you use these cables: Acoustic Zen Silver Bytes, Virtual Dynamics NiteII and Virtual Dynamics Master. With the VD cables it never happened. With optical cables, it happens almost every time the lights are turned on or off. But in any case, do not worry about it, it's annoying but nothing serious. |
You could install a dedicated power line for the system. They also make UPS devices for audio, similar to the ones that keep your computer from going down when the power blinks. http://www.apc.com/products/apcav/ Do not use a computer UPS. Different power needs. |
