B&K Reference 50 processor whine... (1 Viewer)

[Frances_H]

Guys,
thanks a bunch for your feedback. It is interesting to note that there are almost an even split between both camps of reference 50 owners and ex-owners. I wonder if this was due to system environments or defect(s). I also read about the muting issue and supposedly couple folks had confirmed that it's a design philosphy rather than a defect.

 

[AVspec]

Yes... very interesting indeed... I too have been following all the B&K Ref50 threads on all the forums and it does indeed seem to be split down the middle. It will be interesting to see if my Ref50 exhibits the same "WHINE" problem and of course I will be having to report back to this and other threads in other forums as soon as it arrives and is tested out.

I too read the part about the muting and I for one and very, very glad that they choose this method.

My Rotel RSP-1066 muted all the time on the digital inputs and when I tried to playback extra material on DVD's for my daughter we missed most of the short voice messages on the Harry Porter Extra DVD and others due to the muting function as it did not un-mute fast enough.

 

[RayC]

Mark- I was also glad and figured that the majority of the people claimed they had wine were just over reacting.

Well, I can honestly say that I went into the situation with an open mind, I was even willing to accept wine. My question is if it is in fact muting of the circuits, why was one of my channels significantly higher than the other. It didnt matter what speaker was plugged into this channel, it omitted a horrible whine. All channels omitted the whine but one was out of control!!! Something just doesnt add up...

 

[AVspec]

I agree your problem does not sound right. I am leaning towards perhaps QC, and that some units went out the door with some "WHINE" problems of different severity. But that is just a guess on my part.

My noise floor with my Rotel was very, very, low… much lower then when I compared it too the Outlaw 950. So rest assure if there is a “WHINE” I will detect it.

 

[Jerry Klawiter]

With the reports of the B&K Reference 50 processor whine,
I would love to see the INTERNET HT forum communities come together and help each other out.
If you have a Reference 50 processor that whines, invite a fellow local forum member to come over to your place to hear this whine.
Make this offer even if you are only in the home audition stages of the Ref50.
If you find one that whines , share it!

I will go one step further.
ANYONE in the Twin cities Minnesota area is invited to hear a Ref50 that does not have any whine, I have yet to hear a Ref50 whine personally.
So at this time I would be in the camp as a disbeliever.

This should not be much of an inconvenience to anyone, I'm sure you would have no problems in finding a fellow member from your area.
This request is meant to place some validity in these reports, from those that are just trolling.

If you wish to hear a Ref50 NOT whine, Drop me a PM

 

[Roger Kaufmann]

Jerry,

Great idea. I live in the SF Bay Area on the Peninsula, anyone who would like to come over to hear another Ref 50 that doesn't whine is welcome. If you are interested please drop me a PM.

Cheers,

 

[Albert Damico]

Last night, I cranked on my Ref 50 and Sherbourn 7/2100. I turned it up, and kept turing it up, and then turned it up some more. Whisper quiet.

 

[Frances_H]

Guys,
One more data point that I've been told by a reputable dealer. The processor (digital) noise is there, and the way to find it out, is to put your ear against the speaker. For what it worth, I will check it out over at Tweeter this week.

 

[AVspec]

put your ear against the speaker

This one I see all the time.

I have yet to see (hear) a system that when you put your ear against the speaker that you don't hear some sort of hiss or hum or something. Heck, I can put my ear to a light or a computer monitor and hear sound.

I have installed and listened to everything from Sony and Pioneer to Krell and Rotel and speakers from Martin Logan's to Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy's to Dynaudio's and I have yet to find a system I can put my ear to the speaker and not hear a peep.... well unless nothing is hooked up!

 

[RayC]

Again I think some issues are getting combined. The whine is present, and can be heard if you put your head up to the tweeter. This is not an issue, the issue is that some units have displayed an abnormal amount of whine. Mine for instance omitted a whine that could be heard 10ft. away in the kitchen.

 

[AVspec]

And again here I agree with Ray.

If you turn on your system and the noise floor in the room raises then you have a problem.

If you turn your system on and the noise floor stays the same and you have to "put your ear on the speaker" to hear any noise, then I doubt you have a problem.... well unless you have Tinnitus like me...

 

[Frances_H]

Mark,
I see your points and concur with both you and Ray that there will be some noise presents...

Ray,
when you had the problem with the whine, did you talk to B&K and what did they tell you?

 

[RayC]

Yes, originally I got the "muted circuits" response. Later conversations revealed a possible defect...

 

[AVspec]

My B&K Ref50 arrived yesterday.........

The whine: If I crank the Ref50 up to 0.0 or higher then I can hear the famous "whine" 1/2 the people are hearing. I tested both balanced and un-balanced and it is present on both. Also is present in all channels. At normal listening level, you can not hear it unless you go right up to the speaker.

I am going to do more testing of the "whine" sound to get the exact frequency and level of it using my Ivie IE-30A spectrum analyzer and will of course post my results.

Also, it looks like I may have been correct in the QA comment I made in an early post: “I am leaning towards perhaps QC” as my Ref50 unit appears defective with more then just the “whine” problem. When I first hooked up the unit all channels were working fine, but then I started to hear a crackling/popping sound in my right front speaker, it sounded like a loose connection and I thought it might be the interconnect cable so I swapped it out but the noise remained so I switched to un-balanced interconnects but still the sound remained. As I listened to the Ref50 more and more the sound started to get worse until finally I get no source sound out of the right front, only hiss and snap/crackle, pop.

So I have to call tech-support and see what they think and I will be going over the “whine” sound with them as well.

I wish I had better news to report but perhaps the issues will be rectified.

As far as the sound quality goes: My initial impressions are favorable. The detail I heard (while the right front was still working) was incredible, two channel stereo blew me away compared to the two channel stereo of the Rotel RSP-1066 to the point that (and this is no exaggeration) it was like I installed new speakers as my JBL Studio monitors (S36B’s) never sounded that good. I heard more detail in the high end range that I never heard before nor did I know the speakers were capable of.

If anyone in the PHILAPA area has a Ref50 with no whine at all I would like to hear it and also if someone in the area wants to hear the whine let me know, I am not sure when the unit will be shipping back to Buffalo NY, but I would guess early next week.

 

[Frances_H]

Mark,
thanks a bunch for posting your first impressions of the ref50. This is somewhat disturbing for me. I have put a lot of faith in believing that some of the qc issues are not happening to the majority. I am already willing to accept the whine, but not qc issue like what you described. The most discouraging part of this is the fact that is fresh out of the box (I am assuming, since you just received them yesterday). Do let me know, Mark, since I placed an order already, and wondering if I should put it on hold......it's been such a psychological roller coaster...:frowning:

 

[AVspec]

Yes, it is a brand new, version 1.03, fresh out of the box unit.

 

[Frances_H]

Mark,
When you talk to them (B&K), would you please drilled them on their QC process? since I think it is utterly unacceptable to experience what you experienced (do give 'em hell!). I am start thinking that if it happened to me, I will be out of processor longer than you will (longer shipping time and all) I feel your pain and dissapointment.

 

[AVspec]

Well luckily I have my HTPC setup to do Pre/Pro processing now and it actually sounds good for movies. I get everything including DPL-2 and DTS-ES to decode.

I will “drill” them alright…

 

[Steve_K]

I have a B&K Ref50 connected unbalanced with VDH D102mk111 interconnects to Parasound amplifiers with VDH Mainstream power cables. All equiptment on a dedicated isolated ground circuit, and have not experienced any form of whine or hum.

However , I did have a problem with dropouts when processing a DD or DTS sound track from DVD source or Satellite. Another problem was with Zone2, when I switched Z off and then on, the bloddy thing would send a full signal to Zone 2 regardless of last volume.
Talked to B&K , they assured me this was a software issue and sent me a new card with latest Version1.1.
This has solved all issues so I can sit back and enjoy it.

With the bugs out I can assure you this processor with 24/192 AKM Dac's will not dissapoint. This processor is fast and beautifully detailed with no sense of grain or hardness. Back to front surround steering and low bass weight are exceptional. The computer software to program the remote is intuitive and makes customization a snap.

 

[Mifr44]

Steve,

Another problem was with Zone2, when I switched Z off and then on, the bloddy thing would send a full signal to Zone 2 regardless of last volume.

Sounds like the same problem that a few Anthem AVM-20 owners experienced a few months ago. With the Ref50 and AVM-20 having the same Motorola 56367 processor, I wonder if they were using some of the same software courtesy of Motorola or someone else?

Michael