View Full Version : Belkin noise sniffer £20
Amazon are selling belkin noise sniffers reduced from £69 to 20. Could be an interesting experiment. Just bought one and i think they had 8 left.
Thing Fish
08-08-2011, 16:56
There ain't much info about it on the Amazon page? No product details at all. Just the weight? Why have one?
Have a look on the info on the russ andrews site, he sells one.
It might be able to tell you if you need mains conditioning or not. Better buying one of these than a expensive mains jobby for £*** when you dont need one.
This thing is interesting. Comes with sound memory presets and sliding scale intensity levels.
If i plug it into the wall it goes nuts. If i plug it into a Tacima it calms down a bit.
If i plug it into the socket next to where the tacima is plugged in the sound disappears. :scratch:
Reid Malenfant
10-08-2011, 19:06
Sound :scratch: I thought it was looking for electrical noise...
:confused:
Come on Colin, sort it out ;)
There is a visual digital meter and a geiger counter sound.
Reid Malenfant
10-08-2011, 19:36
Better get checked out at the quacks for radiation dosage Colin :lol:
I think i see what you are trying to get at...
If that's the case & assuming the thing isn't generating some kind of random crap, it looks like you have a quiet socket (the one you said was quiet) & i'd plug the Tacima into that one ;)
Holy shit your right. I just swapped the power amp around with the tacima strip and the noise stopped. Its one of those twin socket things from missing link.
How can that be, one is noisy and the other fine :scratch::scratch::scratch:
Reid Malenfant
10-08-2011, 19:52
Don't ask me, go by your sniffer ;)
Im of to test all the sockets, see if i can get to th bottom of this mystery.
chris@panteg
14-08-2011, 09:17
Im of to test all the sockets, see if i can get to th bottom of this mystery.
Happy sniffing Colin:)
Might have to get one as I'm intrigued now:scratch:
I bought a Belkin pf30 after my sniff experiments. No noise now. The telly looks a bit better and the sound seems to be different so worth while i think.
Even though the neighbours are on holiday i found no noise when testing at midnight.
What is the noise telling you?
worthingpagan
14-08-2011, 13:39
I bought a Belkin pf30 after my sniff experiments. No noise now. The telly looks a bit better and the sound seems to be different so worth while i think.
Even though the neighbours are on holiday i found no noise when testing at midnight.
Is there any difference between the pf30 and a Tacima 6way mains extension rfi/emi?
Hi Guys,
Just been re-jigging my system so I thought I'd make use of one of these Noise Sniffers and found some very surprising results (to me :scratch: ) . My listening room doubles as our main viewing room so TV and Sky box etc. are on the same 'sideboard' as everything else.
I tried the Noise Sniffer on bog standard wall sockets around the house and found the noise intolerant (and going erratically off scale) at sensitivity 4 on most of the sockets. I then plugged in into a 'proper' hi-fi extension block (if there is such a thing ;) ) which in turn was plugged into the Belkin PF30. Result: up to sensitivity 9 (max) and getting the odd crackle :) - brilliant, I thought.
Whilst I was doing all this the hifi itself was shut down completely, nothing powered up, but the TV was on, on a Sky HD channel. And then the adverts came on, and it began to crackle a bit more, particularly when the scene changed, some being quite noisy. I watched and listened, fascinated, and the changes in crackleing continued to coincide exactly with the changing scenes - weird, what?? At two or 3 points the quickly changing screen was predominantly red in colour, as you might represent a scene from hell, and the noise was intolerable again until the scene changed, only to return when the 'scenes from hell' returned.
I watched this until the adverts went off, several minutes, and there is no doubt in my mind that I was seeing and hearing a real phenomena and not just a series of coincidences. When the normal programme resumed I again got just the odd crackle at sensitivity 9 - the PF30 is certainly doing something, but what :scratch: ?
Anybody got any explanation or fancy repeating the experiment?
Cheers,
Dave.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that the SKY box is plugged directly into the 'Always On' socket and the TV (Viao LCD) is plugged into a 'Switched' socket on the PF30.
Covenant
14-08-2011, 17:05
Welcome back Dave but I still hate your avatar. It makes me feel sick.
With the sniffer on and no equipment switched on the noise jumps about like a police radio. I have a large fridge upstairs so could be the switching. Strip lights seem to make little difference. Not sure if the sound has improved or just my imagination but tv is better.
Tried the sniffer through my Merlin block and the same noise level compared with direct into wall socket. Surprised as i do remember the Merlin block and cables dropping the noise floor significantly when i first used it.
Looks like its better than the Tacima.
StanleyB
14-08-2011, 17:51
Welcome back Dave but I still hate your avatar. It makes me feel sick.
Same here.
Im of to test all the sockets, see if i can get to th bottom of this mystery.
can you post a link to it please mate?
Welcome back Dave but I still hate your avatar. It makes me feel sick.
Hi Jerry,
It's me that should be wlcoming you back :) . I hope you had a slightly better holiday than it sounded - got yourself a Stetson and a fistful of ........ sand? :lol: .
I just thought I'd like to ring a few bells with my return so that you were all aware that the prodigal son has returned - I just need a big fat pig to sacrifice now, or was it an ox? :lol: .
Perhaps we ought to start a poll? - should Dave wobble or not wobble? and I'll abide by the decision :lolsign: :cool:.
Cheers,
Dave.
can you post a link to it please mate?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-PureAV-Power-Sniffer-Detector/dp/B00361FY2Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313348922&sr=8-1
only 2 left. Alternative supply here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Belkin-PureAV-Power-Sniffer-AC-Line-Noise-Detector-/170680946756?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Suppl ies_ET&hash=item27bd609044
Sorry , yes tose are the ones.
How about a weeks trial swap with your spare oyaide mat Dave :eyebrows:
Sorry , yes tose are the ones.
How about a weeks trial swap with your spare oyaide mat Dave :eyebrows:
Not a problem, have you a suitable weight for it? Any weight 400g and above will do.
pm your address
Yep got a big shiny copper one. I was a bit swayed by the arguement from the rude Technics engineer before he got banned from the forum. Maybe the technics platter lip was designed to produce the 1 degree concave as the oyaide engineers have included. Ive got a lot of warped records and any help would be welcome.
There is no going back mate after you use one....
There are opinions about the platter and I am of the opinion that my Techy sounds as good as any other with a similar arm and cart regardless of PSU/bearing or platter.
Noisy mains?
No...really?
We can all crackle if a geigercounter is passed over us. Does it mean we are at risk of imminent death?
So, we have noisy mains. What does this noise mean?
Well what about the common finding of better sound when listening late at night ?
Reid Malenfant
14-08-2011, 20:19
So, we have noisy mains. What does this noise mean?
Poorer quality audio, simples
Well what about the common finding of better sound when listening late at night ?
Yes, most stuff tends to be switched off, hense less shite on the mains...
What about it?
:lolsign:
You know the theory and i understand its just a theory, less noise from electrical appliances and better sound. I cant prove that and i wont accept it without proof but i thought it would be an interesting experiment to see if there was noise or not.
What I am trying to understand is what this noise sniffer is supposed to be telling us. Is all noise detrimental, or is that what we are told to believe?
Reid Malenfant
14-08-2011, 20:33
Hi Rob, a lot of noise will be produced by rectification of AC to DC following transformers, this is due to slow diodes used in most PSUs. There will be far more from SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supplies) which appear to be getting more & more prevalent these days simply because they are more efficient & cheaper to produce.
A good SMPS costs lots of money to make & will have substantial filtering on the mains input, this is to prevent noise being fed back into the mains itself...
As i'm sure you may well be aware, most SMPS appear to now originate from cheap far eastern manufacturers & these are (based upon the cost) going to feed vastly more noise back into the mains. Unfortunately your audio equipment will then be fed a compromised mains supply..
Which will compromise the sound :rolleyes:
Could be a side show trick. I remember an American salesman trying to sell me a"ionic mineral supplement once. His trick was to put this stuff in water and this little light bulb with electrodes would light up. I guess it was to signify the product would give you energy :rolleyes:
Some find that a power amp sounds better plugged into the wall, rather than in to a "conditioner" unit. So I go back to what I asked previously, is all mains noise detrimental, or is some beneficial?
The "noise sniffer" is telling you there is noise on the mains......and then?
Reid Malenfant
14-08-2011, 20:48
Power amps need vastly more power (could be something in the name there) than front end equipment. I have all my front end fed from a PS Audio P600 Power Plant, all power amps are connected directly to the mains, no filters...
I found that it's the front end that is important, i used to get clicks & crackles even off of a dedicated 27A spur. Once the power plant was feeding the front end i have never had a problem since ;)
HighFidelityGuy
15-08-2011, 13:23
Some find that a power amp sounds better plugged into the wall, rather than in to a "conditioner" unit. So I go back to what I asked previously, is all mains noise detrimental, or is some beneficial?
The "noise sniffer" is telling you there is noise on the mains......and then?
Passive mains filtering is a lossy process. It's always going to limit the amount of current. As Mark said, power amps need plenty of current. So even though they will be getting a cleaner supply through a passive filter they're also getting less current than before. So you would get a cleaner sound but reduced dynamics. It's a trade off. Low current equipment like CD players and DAC's aren't affected by the reduced current, so they're able to get full advantage from the reduced mains noise. :)
If you want to feed amps with a clean supply then you need a very high power mains regenerator and they're very expensive. But if you have amps that double as industrial space heaters like Mark, then even these regenerators might not be man enough for the job. Unless you got lots of them. ;)
Reid Malenfant
10-04-2012, 20:40
I think I might have picked up the last of those sniffers going for £19.99 :eyebrows: Grabbed it a few weeks back when I just happened to notice it was all on it's lonesome...
Damn good bit of kit I must say. The standard lower floor ring here is pretty noisy, my dedicated spur is less so but the device still picks up noise on the lowest sensitivity.
Plug it into the Belkin PF40 plugged into the spur (not fed from the P600) & all is total silence even on the highest sensitivity :)
Has anyone tested these more to verify their usability?
Heinous blasphemy it may be but I'm not going to buy one. I'll be forever wandering around the house sniffing sockets and then SWMBO will probably have me committed :mental: :lol:
And then you have the Blue Horizon mains noise analyzer:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/bluehorizon/1.html
And then you have the Blue Horizon mains noise analyzer:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/bluehorizon/1.html
Interesting that - I had similar findings with my Belkin sniffer and my iBook.
In a temporary installation, all my kit is plugged into a powerboard which goes into a twin wall socket. In the other socket is an adaptor plug with the wall-warts for my wifi router and the base station for my hands free phone, both within 18" of the socket.
I plugged the sniffer into the power block to be met with virtual silence, even on the greatest sensitivity. Very impressed. Then I noticed that I had left the power unit for my iBook in the mains block. I pulled it out, and the Belkin went berserk. Even on the lowest sensitivity it was still loud! Back in went the iBook - silence. When I eventually set it up properly, I must try and assess any changes in the dynamics.
Meantime, the iBook power unit stays in the mains block!
Stu @ M Developments
18-08-2012, 19:14
If anyone has a spare one of the Belkin ones for sale, I would be interested in buying it. :)
I still have colin's which he may not mind you borrowing, just found it when tidying up!
He can borrow it if he posts it back!
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