Expert: Bobbert - 10/31/2009

Question
I am building my audio system/mini-studio built around my computer, and am running all of my audio through an E-MU 1616m setup. Previously to purchasing my pioneer receiver secondhand, I was using a pair of MBQuart bookshelf speakers (which are passive) through the headphone jack of my E-MU microdock, with no real issues (aside from relatively little power making it to the speakers). I picked up the Pioneer receiver today, and have connected it from the ADAT optical port in the microdock to the optical/digital cd-in on the receiver. However, I now hear a semi-regular click perhaps every fifteen to thirty seconds.

Would this be the receiver? Is this a hardware issue, that could perhaps be resolved by switching ports or settings? Or would this be an issue that would require a more technical approach?

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks ahead of time for your input.

Answer
Can you provide more information regarding this "click"? Is it a noise produced by the speakers, or within a component? (if within a component, which component?)

As an aside, I would never suggest powering speakers from a headphone driver, as the low impedance creates a fairly hard load for the device to drive, which means far more heat and power consumption, and the risk of damaging the device.

-bob