Hi forum,
I'm the proud owner of a new (to me) ZMC2. I'm using a Hana HL cartridge, which is a relatively high output cart at 2 mV. I noticed an excessive amount of 60 Hz hum so I moved the ZMC as far away from my ZP3 as the interconnects will allow. Hum is tamed somewhat but not completely.

I know the ZP3 should be able to take 2 mV without a SUT, but I also have a 0.3 mV low output cart to play with, hence the ZMC2.

I have a set of 4 foot long interconnects on order from Blue Jean cable for their extra shielding, but in the meantime, does anybody have any pointers to get this thing tamed all the way down? Is it really just wacky placement and IC shielding?

Also, I read that the the Decware DSG ics are shielded, but they seem to pull more rfi then these Audioquest Diamondbacks I had laying around. So what gives?  :-/

Thanks-Geoff.

Hey Archie,
Thanks for the reply. Yep, I've tried various configurations of grounding with the ZMC. I hooked up a jury-rigged grounding scheme from my TT, from my ZP3 and also without any grounding at all and there was no discernible change in the hum.

Let me back track one of my statements. It's not actually RF interference, but rather EM interference from the other elements in my system. One thing I did discover is that if I twist my input cables down away from the transformer of the ZP3 the hum reduces, but does not disappear entirely. Seems the only time it is completely silent is when the ZMC is a few feet away from the rest of the rig. Anybody else experience this?

The Analogue Productions SACD

Indeed it does...lol.

So, I got my Blue Jeans cable ICs today and slapped them in. With a quick audition and the ZMC RIGHT NEXT to the ZPF's transformer the hum seems to be gone.

I'm going to play around with positioning and swapping out different ICs to see if it returns, simply for the sake of getting to the BOTTOM of the thing. But at least now, I can say I do have non-intrusive hum in my system.