Thank you Professor. I think I have those in a brown texture. Got 'em about 5 years ago and they are excellent.
Another update: Looked around for some other USB chargers around the house. The mark 1 little square Apple charger for older iPhones has significantly less hum. Itās still there, but lower volume. Not sure it has enough oomph to keep the old iPad Air charged while itās also playing high res music, but it will be a help. The charger from my wifeās iPhone 11 Pro is just as noisy as the various 3rd party ones I have. Most of the bigger Apple chargers are in the other house.
This makes me pretty hopeful that a quality charger with little or no ripple might be the solution.
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This still nags at me. I hate it when I donāt understand how things work in enough detail to explain behavior.
Hopefully a different charger will solve it.
I did a little reading and it might be that things arenāt grounded, rather than having a gound loop.
I think you said itās an older house. Sometimes sockets are wired incorrectly. There are gadgets that tell you if things are correct, like this:
Might be worth seeing what it says, along with trying different outlets.
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Tested house wiring long ago. Itās OK, correct for what it was. It nags at me too. Dead silence using a battery charge. That must mean that it is some variation in current that is causing the hum. Which should mean that smoothing out variation in current should cure it.
I am reminded of the āheavier than a duckā logic from Monty Python. Maybe some of the more advanced DIY people would have an opinion.
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I wonder if Iām overthinking or being too focused on something I can just plug in to AC and forget. I looked at Fryās online and saw for $99 some 27000 mAh battery powered usb portable chargers. Apparently thatās the largest allowed on a plane. Since I already tested with a 10000 mAh portable charger (solar capable) I know that works and keeps things quiet. I have not tested simultaneous charging the battery and using the battery USB port, but I suspect that it will not pass through noisy power.
Getting a bigger unit will still let me keep the solar/emergency unit in the car, and would not be a huge burden compared to an AC powered regulated linear charger.
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Will be interesting to see what happens when the battery pack is plugged in.
Leaving a battery pack charging 24/7 can reduce the lifetime of the batteries. If you wanted to factor in cost then lower capacity battery packs might get the job done and save a bit.
Should be interesting to see the outcome. Keep us posted
It does happen, out house - built in 2003 - when we moved in had to have an electrician come out and correct the wiring for my eldest sonās room and the upstairs game room. Had been wrong for 11 years.
Mark Gosdin
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Well last night, I tried with my 10,000 mAh battery, and as soon as I plugged it in, it shut off charging. Apparently the particular one I have is not designed to charge something while receiving a charge.
Not sure where I should go with this. Iāve looked at the Zendure external battery, which seems to be one of the best, but you then need a plug in charging station for best results recharging the battery. So Iād get an extra 100 watt capability if I buy future devices. But that takes the price to about $2C. There are less fancy solutions like Walmartās TechSense, but the Zendure has read outs, lower power modes, and additional protection.
Itās getting me ego-involved with finding a solution. But Iād like to be a bit smarter than just throwing money at it. And I donāt know if that Topping unit for $119 might not be smarter.
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I pulled the trigger on the Zendure power bank battery and their 4 port charger. I figure that I will be getting use out of it in any case.
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Iām not following the issue. Is the problem that the battery pack wonāt power the phone and be charged itself at the same time?
That is a feature usually called pass-through charging which some units have and some donāt.
I see you decided on a portable battery. I looked at the site and couldnāt find any specs to say if it has pass-through charging or not.
David did you try another Audeze Cipher cable ? just wondering as its a common point and doesnāt that cable have some type of EQ built in. .
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First, about the battery pack. I have one that I got from Stealth Angel that is for hiking, emergency use, has 4 solar cells that fold out, so if you are out of power, you might still charge a phone. I want to keep that one for emergency use. I have another one, an old Mophie, that says not all ports will work when itās on charger, so, I guess that circuitry is not uncommon keeping the battery from simultaneously charging and discharging (supplying power, but not a pass through)
Second, I just realized that the Zendure, like a number of other batteries in this category was a Kickstarter , or in this case Kickbooster project, although the Zendure seems to be much more mature than others. They gave me a referral link, https://zendure-supertank-2020.kckb.st/c27c9bd9. So there, itās easy to find. I bought from their store because they have a few sales going on.
@cpp I did not try my other Cipher cable. Iāve considered it. The Cipher has a DAC built in, which is why I Ideally would want that iFi Defender+ to have a lightning connector. The Belkin adapter is a 1 lightning to 2 lightning connector. Iām guessing that it would have solved the problem had I been able to insert it into the audio leg of the connection, rather than just ahead of the charger.
Chain is charger > Belkin >> To iPAD AND To Cipher Cable
I put the Defender+ in the only place I could, between the charger and Belkin,
Audeze said that introducing charging was noise that was probably amplified by the DAC, although this fails to explain why if the DAC and LCDi3ās are isolated there IS no noise, but if I touch the LCDi3, I hear a low hum (it sounds like 120hz, not 60, so I think itās ripple), and if I touch BOTH the LCDi3 and other metal in the circuit past the Belkin - device case OR the lightning connector (if Iām not plugged into the ipad/iPhone) the noise stops. Note the LCDi3 has a magnesium case.
There is no noise (not unexpectedly) if I use a battery instead of the usb charger, and the noise is less with a small original style iPhone charger than bigger 3rd party chargers (oftentimes multi port) that I typically use.
So, yes, I might try the other Cipher, but I doubt it would make a difference, there would have to be significant unit variation in noise rejection. Or I could be less anal about battery drain in my old iPad, or not fall asleep listening to the LCDi3.
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I have found a partial but acceptable solution, hinted at earlier. I am convinced that this is ripple current. Iām still unsure of why I hear it ONLY when I touch the metal casing of the LCDi3, nor why it disappears when I touch other metal in the circuit - either an open lightning connector or an iPhone or iPad case.
When using the earliest and smallest AC power from Apple, it was slightly reduced. I still conjecture that an overbuilt AC charger that fully filters ripple current, such as the Topping P50 might work. I invite @SebastienChiu to let me know if their 5v iDefender filters ripple current. Given its form factor, I donāt see how it can hold and adequate capacitor.
I bought Zendureās 100W bundle promotion, figuring that I could always use both additional AC and portable power:
The āSuperTankā battery is heavy, but smaller than I anticipated. Dimensions are given as 4.7" x 2.8" x 1.6" (119mm x 73mm x 40mm). Weight is a half kilo, or just over a pound. Both items are well-made. The charger gets warm when charging the SuperTank in fast mode at 100W, but not alarmingly so. It gets slightly warm when charging at 18W.
Both items are well made and sleek. I think that the company caters a bit to people who do backpacking and hiking. The battery has an LED numeric indicator and a power switch. The kevlar-coated USB C to C 100W cable looks sturdy enough to hog-tie a wild boar. Shipping is from China, and takes about 7 to 10 days. Although they have a store on Amazon, I ordered direct because there is more selection and additional deals on their website. After ordering they supplied me with this kickbooster link, which promises me that rewards will pile up for me if you buy from it:
https://zendure-supertank-2020.kckb.st/c27c9bd9 https://zendure-supertank-2020.kckb.st/c27c9bd9
Now for the results
I had hoped that the high-quality āSuperPortā charger might reduce that ripple noise, but it does not. It is no better and no worse than several other chargers, including larger genuine Apple chargers.
I had hoped that even while charging, the SuperTank battery would somehow provide filtering so that I could listen indefinitely. 
Unfortunately, that also does not work. The hum still gets through.
However, charging using the battery alone, the hum goes away. All is blessed quiet. And that battery has a honking big capacity, so that even if I let it charge my iPad all night while listening, there is plenty of juice left in it. I could probably go for several days. I pronounce this at least a partial SOLUTION.
Due to consumption of liquids in the evening, actual indefinite listening times are not possible.
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About the strangest problem I have ever heard of. And the strangest solution or steps to get rid of the hum. NO doubt there is some scientific reasoning behind this, but at least something did work out for you.
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Yes, it is an odd one. And just that kind of annoying that irritates the intellectual funny-bone. If you are relaxed, listening to music, and shift around, with the not-really-in-the-canal fit of the iSINE / LCDiX series, the earphone does easily loosen, especially if using the big over-ear clips. This is not an issue if youāre walking around, as you probably arenāt inserting them as much as possible if youāre moving.
Then, only if you touch the outside structure of the earphone do you complete the circuit that releases the ripple current - and then, only if you are plugged into a charger. But itās annoying enough that it irks you each time you do it.
My sister, the psychology prof, points out that this feature of our monkey curiosity shows the astonishing lengths our species will go to solve minor problems, and is probably responsible for much of our advancement. But then again, she was using the headphones she got with her generic cassette tape āwalkmanā until I recently sent her some PortaPros.
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Re: 5v iDefender filters ripple currentā¦let me check on that with the team and canāt back to you.
Donāt want to confirm or deny since I think it does, but am not 100% sure.
I do have the iDefender+ USB ground breaker + power injector. It did not seem to make any difference, even when power was coming in through the iDefender+. One reason that I think itās ripple and not ground. 120hz (rectified) rather than 60 hz sine.
Further update -
It is NOT the Audeze Cipher cable. It is NOT the Belkin Lightning Audio plus Charge Rockstar. Today I tested with the standard cable, which I had not been using. Switched out the Belkin for my trust Apple camera adapter 3. Chain went to the iFi xDSD via USB from Apple Adapter. When attaching a power charger plugged into AC, got the same hum. Putting the iFi iDefender+ did not affect things. Feeding the power through the iFi iDefender+ did not change things either.
Audeze had posited that the Cipher cable DAC might be contributing to the noise. Well thatās eliminated. Using Battery to charge, all is well.
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Alternate Solution.
The Bluetooth Cipher Cable. I finally decided to try it. Yeah, Iāve had the LCDi3s for what, 2 months. But never tried wireless. Itās not bad. Of course, I can charge the iPhone/iPad directly, and there is no ripple current going through the Bluetooth. Duh.
Itās not quite as good as the wired Cipher cable. But itās not half bad. It does not let me apply custom EQ with the Audeze app. That would be a great enhancement. And if I play through ROON, tampoco can I apply custom EQ like if itās wired in.
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