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2400wattman
Senior Member
Username: 2400wattman

Post Number: 501
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Friday, January 25, 2008 - 11:13 pm:   Edit Post

Long story short, I've isolated my DS-5R to discover that it is the source for some buzzing through my amp and when I try to use my Series 2 the noise is magnified! Totally unusable however , I can use my bass without the power supply and no noise at all. Please help Mica. Thanks
dfung60
Advanced Member
Username: dfung60

Post Number: 301
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 1:37 am:   Edit Post

There's a couple of different problems that can cause a buzz from the DS-5. Here's a couple suggestions of things to look at, sort of in order of easiest first.

Check all your cables. You may have a bad cable between the DS-5 and the amp, which is easy to test. Harder to test, but another thing to check is to see if there's a problem with the 5-pin cable. In the grand scheme of things, cables are almost always to blame!

You may have a ground loop between the DS-5 and your amp. Usually you can solve this by making sure that both pieces of equipment are plugged into the same outlet, and that that outlet is properly wired. If you have a voltmeter, you can test this by seeing if you read an AC voltage with one probe touching the DS-5 and the other touching your amp (faceplates in both cases).

Second, you can be getting noise induced into the preamp if it's near another piece of equipment's power supply. Try moving the DS-5 physically out of your rack and away from anything else and see if there's a reduction of noise.

If it's neither of those problems, then you may have a failure of the filter caps in your DS-5 power supply. When they go bad, 60Hz from the AC power will be induced into the audio.

Another thing to look at inside the case is whether a shield wire is loose somewhere inside.

The audio splitting in the DS-5 box is totally passive, so there's no interaction between the audio output from the bass and the power supply in this box.

I'd be willing to bet that you have a bad cable somewhere in the chain. If the 1/4" cable between DS-5 and amp isn't it, you'll need to figure out some way to test the 5-pin cable.

Good luck,

David Fung
kilowatt
Member
Username: kilowatt

Post Number: 72
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 6:18 am:   Edit Post

David is right on with his diagnosis. If you isolate the problem back to the 5-pin cable, try running a continuity test between the pins on the cable. I believe you should read "open" between each terminal. You can also check each conductor by testing "end to end". You should read continuity on all 5 pins in this fashion.

I hope this helps to fix your trouble.


Regards,
Pete
georgie_boy
Advanced Member
Username: georgie_boy

Post Number: 331
Registered: 8-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 11:25 am:   Edit Post

Check the last fot of your cable.
I had a similar problem, and got a foot cut of my Beldon lead-------Result----------Great!!

G
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 5091
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 11:28 am:   Edit Post

If your DS-5R needs servicing, send it on in for servicing. Include a note inside with your return shipping address, phone number/email for contact and a description of the problem you're experiencing.

No charge to test - just return freight. If there is a problem discovered on the test bench, we'll proceed with up to $50 in repairs without further authorization. In the even the repair is major and would exceed that $50 limit, we'd contact you before doing the work.
2400wattman
Senior Member
Username: 2400wattman

Post Number: 502
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Friday, February 01, 2008 - 4:53 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks Mica, I opened it up myself as heard something loose inside after I pulled it from my rack. What was loose was a stray piece of wire and the problem is that a wire coming out of a filter cap broke. I spoke with Mary and she sent out 2 new caps to me. Thanks again you guys are the best!!

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