Hi. I'm very new at this audio appreciation thing and now my view on the world of sound has changed, currently for the better 
. I splashed out on a Sennheiser hd800 and Ifi micro ican se. This is after owning the audio technica ad700x for a couple of years. What a screw**kin difference. Wow. Its almost like going from sd to hd. Also the comfort is just outstanding, not a fan of the Hd800 michael bay inspired look but I can live with that.
I do not have an external dac and connect the ican amp from the inline output from my macpro. And there is this hum pass 12o'clock on the volume nob. The hum gets louder the more I turn. At full volume its not a loud hum, but nonetheless clear. I would also pick up fm radio at full volume intermittently. The sales person and Ifi support ticket said to get the ifi groundhog which I did, but did not work! This is starting to feel disheartening. The sales person said hums are normal at full volume but this does not feel right. Should I learn to live with it or is there a solution. There is this thing called the ground loop isolator, is that something I should be looking at?
Also I tried switching out the cable the connects the mac to the ican amp. I used the 3.5mm cable supplied by ican and a elecom $5usd japanese branded 3.5mm-rca. The elecom cable has noticeably less hum although not by much. I'm thinking if it a problem with shielding? Is the monoprice cable with shielding a possible problem solver or is this a problem with all amps and I should just live with it and not turn the volume knob more than 12o'clock.
I'm also disappointed that Ifi support said to get the ifi groundhog which is not cheap! and makes no difference at all! I'm sort of getting the bit about snake oil and this hobby. I like the Ican for the xbass and 3d crossfeed sound but I dont think all their products are as reliable or of any use.
Would love to know if what I'm going through is part of the highend audio experience.
. I splashed out on a Sennheiser hd800 and Ifi micro ican se. This is after owning the audio technica ad700x for a couple of years. What a screw**kin difference. Wow. Its almost like going from sd to hd. Also the comfort is just outstanding, not a fan of the Hd800 michael bay inspired look but I can live with that.I do not have an external dac and connect the ican amp from the inline output from my macpro. And there is this hum pass 12o'clock on the volume nob. The hum gets louder the more I turn. At full volume its not a loud hum, but nonetheless clear. I would also pick up fm radio at full volume intermittently. The sales person and Ifi support ticket said to get the ifi groundhog which I did, but did not work! This is starting to feel disheartening. The sales person said hums are normal at full volume but this does not feel right. Should I learn to live with it or is there a solution. There is this thing called the ground loop isolator, is that something I should be looking at?
Also I tried switching out the cable the connects the mac to the ican amp. I used the 3.5mm cable supplied by ican and a elecom $5usd japanese branded 3.5mm-rca. The elecom cable has noticeably less hum although not by much. I'm thinking if it a problem with shielding? Is the monoprice cable with shielding a possible problem solver or is this a problem with all amps and I should just live with it and not turn the volume knob more than 12o'clock.
I'm also disappointed that Ifi support said to get the ifi groundhog which is not cheap! and makes no difference at all! I'm sort of getting the bit about snake oil and this hobby. I like the Ican for the xbass and 3d crossfeed sound but I dont think all their products are as reliable or of any use.
Would love to know if what I'm going through is part of the highend audio experience.
