Kef Egg

dt97583

dt97583

dt97583

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Joined
26 Nov 2012
Posts
937
Not liking my new purchase - surprise ;)

This hiss is there, still noticeable on quiet classical for example. On Bluetooth mode it's a joke. Someone else has had this issue it seems:


They also have a feature of powering off when there's no source which I'm okay with and for which I've read online that Kef can provide updated firmware if you email them. Except it's been a week and no response. And it turns out when they receive a source, say I press play in Spotify, they still just sit there, on standby, requiring me to power them on. Bit annoying.

They do sound great though from anywhere you are in the room, the speaker design is spot on in that regard.

Eyeing up the Ruark MR1 MK2 now :)

Slightly confused as to the output I'd use on my mobo though:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z77-D3H-rev-10#sp

I have 3 options (I think):

S/PDIF Out
3.5mm
Bluetooth (would need to buy an Aptx dongle though)

So is my S/PDIF out the input for the speakers Optical input (Toslink)? Is this better / worse than 3.5 > 3.5mm?
 
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So you're using 3.5mm?

If so, then you don't want to use that when you have optical. Optical is digital and will use the DAC built into the speakers, whereas 3.5mm is analogue, which uses the onboard audio DAC.

As for the hiss; it depends whether that is the speakers themselves or whether it's some kind of interference. 3.5mm being analogue will pass on any interference being picked up by the onboard audio. Optical is fibre though, so no electrical conductor in sight, meaning no path for interference.

Try using optical and see if the hiss remains. If it does, it's likely an internal speaker issue.

No point using Bluetooth except for mobile devices.
 
Thanks Marsman.

Marsman said:
So you're using 3.5mm?
Click to expand...
With the Kef Egg I'm using a USB to mini-USB cable. The Ruark MR1 MK2 (haven't bought yet) appear to have 3.5mm input, or an optical input/ toslink. I wasn't sure which I could use with my mobo.

Marsman said:
If so, then you don't want to use that when you have optical. Optical is digital and will use the DAC built into the speakers, whereas 3.5mm is analogue, which uses the onboard audio DAC.
Click to expand...
Ah right, okay, so would something like the following work?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Optical-Au...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SQ8JQX62300XWHZK8S3R
 
From what I can gather the Egg's have a mini toslink optical connection, which is similar in appearance to a 3.5mm. The linked cable is toslink to toslink. Just search for toslink to mini toslink.

Wasn't aware they had USB though and that is what you have been using. Like optical, USB is digital and will use the speakers built in DAC. USB can carry interference though because it's copper wire, but that will much less likely compared to analogue 3.5mm from the motherboard; it can happen though.

Have you tried the speakers with anything else?

If you still get the same hiss when using Bluetooth from a mobile device with no connection (USB cable) to the PC, then it's likely do with the speakers themselves and switching to using optical may be no different.
 
Cheers. I'm still within the period to return them so I'm just going to send them back and spend a little bit more on the Ruark MR1 MK2 when they're back in stock.

Would that cable I linked to be the right type for connecting my mobo to the Ruark MR1 MK2's?
 
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