Portacapture X8 high noise from lineout\headphones

[darkingdoom]

Hey,
I have received my X8 lately and was playing with it for recording, when I connect something to the lineout or headphones, I am hearing high noise that I can not explain.
I am attaching video and sound sample, the noise exist even if there is no recording or similar, would be glad to know how to solve it Tried different cables, modes, I did factory reset to the unit, the unit has FW 2.01, the noise is there and not able to get rid of it, the recorded sound is clear, but the output having noise as attached in the videos and audio sample

temp - Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[Phil Tipping]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Great idea to post example recordings as words alone are often ambiguous - my wife still calls a hiss a buzz
I don't own an X8 so can only offer general pointers. The noise sounds like background electronic/thermal hiss associated with high gain settings. The device appears to be very complex and there are several places where gain can be adjusted, and/or effects applied, so this is one place to start; searching for 'gain-staging' may help.
Your videos show lots of cables connected, and it's not clear what the signal path actually is, so if you could provide a simple sketch of the signal flow, it may help pinpoint the problem. The block diagram may help with this.
If you want to diagnose it yourself, I would start with a clean slate; reset all settings and remove all cables except headphones (direct connection only, no bluetooth or other complications), and then methodically work through the settings one by one until you find something which alters the level of that hiss.
Headphone amps on other Tascam devices have been known to generate hiss, although this does depend on the sensitivity of the headphones and one's ears, so some people do not find it an issue. It also does not effect recordings. Some microphones also generate more noise than others. These are all things you can eliminate yourself by experiment.
Good luck, and let us know if you solve the problem.

 

[darkingdoom]

Hey,
I tried to keep the device it self without any connection also tried to factory reset, was not able to find any real settings that helps with it
I have added new video to the one driver called: single_no_mic.mp4
no luck so far

 

[Phil Tipping]

Apologies for being slow here, but it's difficult to match your video with the pictures in the manual (which is all I've got to go on). Is the yellow coiled cable the line out (marked 14 in the manual) or the headphone output?
Here's the block diagram from the manual for the output section. Are you saying that you get hiss from the line out when the output levels (circled in red) are turned right down? Does the control marked Volume make any difference (this looks like it controls the headphone output only)? If the hiss level is audible when signals are played at normal/typical levels, it suggests that the output amps are at fault.... but from this diagram, the headphones and the line outs have their own separate amps so it seems unlikely that they would both be noisy, so are you definitely getting the hiss from both outputs?

 

[darkingdoom]

Hey,
Uploaded 2 new videos to show what you asked for

New uploads - Google Drive

drive.google.com

Thanks for the help

 

[Phil Tipping]

Thanks for the extra info, although I did ask for "a simple sketch of the signal flow". I can't follow the shaky camera or see what the other bits of gear are. A sketch with labels identifying each piece of gear and cables would be much better (for me at least), and would also eliminate any language misunderstandings.

Is that first tiny box you plug into just a passive splitter or does it contain active electronics?
You then conjure up a USB plug, but where has that come from? What bit of gear is converting the audio to USB? Maybe it's that which is adding the hiss? And then there's the phone; yet another device with potential to add hiss.

The first test direct to the speaker sounded ok - you said the hiss was very low, so is the problem with the other bits of gear you're connecting? My first test would be to plug a headphone cable directly into the phone out and see if there is any hiss with all levels turned down. Next try an active speaker directly into the line out.

Maybe someone else can chime in.