Brent Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 I have an EA5 that has developed a hum out of both stereo audio out 1 and 2 to any of the 8 zones on the Control4 Amp that I stream digital audio (Spotify and TuneIn) to. The hum is particularly noticeable when listening to talk radio stations and less noticeable when listening to music. It is very obvious when you initiate a digital audio stream for the first few seconds until the content starts coming through but still can be heard once the audio starts playing. It is only noticeable when the volume in a room is above 50%. The output volume for these 2 outputs is set at 100% on the EA5 and reducing it does not solve the problem. The hum does not occur on any of the other sources that are plugged directly into the Control4 amp so I'm pretty sure the problem is related to the EA5. I've tried unplugging the EA5 for an hour, the Control4 amp for several hours, plugging the EA5 into a different power outlet and changing the RCA cables going from the EA5 to the Control4 amp (they are not touching any power cords) and none resolve this issue. The EA5 is only 6 months old and I do not recall noticing this issue previously, ie. it appears to have started in the past few weeks. Is this normal for audio streamed from an EA5 over RCA cables? Is there anything else I should try to resolve this issue? Thanks in advance for any suggestions or help you can provide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Did you mean to attach that spreadsheet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 31 minutes ago, zaphod said: Did you mean to attach that spreadsheet? No the image of the spreadsheet was attached in error. Please ignore. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekki70 Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 1st thing i would try is replacing the audio cables, 2nd thing would be to buy an adapter for the electical cord that that takes out the ground. a lot of hum issues can be resolved with ground lifters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Köhler Medientechnik Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Please do not remove ground from electrical connections (and advice others to do so) - it´s there for a reason. msgreenf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 I resolved the problem from reading some other posts on this forum about hum. I plugged both the EA5 and the Control4 amplifier into the same surge protector so they are plugged into the same wall outlet and that completely eliminated the hum. Köhler Medientechnik and msgreenf 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 So it was ground loop hum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 4 hours ago, zaphod said: So it was ground loop hum? Yes I’m presuming it was a ground loop hum based on how it was described and the solution that worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Köhler Medientechnik Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 If plugging devices to the same circuit removes hum, then you have a problem with different electrical potential between circuits. Besides hum, you might have noticed electrical voltage or even small sparks when touchung the end of data wires (HDMI, satellite, LAN, etc. We do plan all of our installs to include equipotential bonding (not sure if that´s the right term in englisch) to prevent this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 I had to buy a gound loop isolator several years back to be able to use my iPod to play songs in my car when physically connected to both the car stereo's audio input and the cig lighter for power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitali Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 interesting, I though if there is any problem with ground, hum will be everywhere, because ground is common on all amp connections. if one is affected, all of them should be affected. may be Im wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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