[TenTec] New Eagle - but odd sounding audio nosie

[Thomas]

Hi,

Well I took the plunge and bought a new Eagle. Wow, what a nice package and thoughtful ergonomics. However, I am concerned about something I am hearing.

Right from the moment I turned it on the audio sounded raspy to me. I adjusted the pass band tuning and filter bandwidth but I can't say that helped improve it. The more I listened to signals, primarily CW, the more I became concerned that something isn't right. I hear a raspiness that accompanies the signal I am listening to. It is a hiss-like noise that keys with the CW tone of the station I am copying. Last night I tried to pass it off due to inexperience with the radio's settings.

This morning there was a huge pile-up on 40m CW calling a DX station (maybe VP8) and the raspiness was readily evident. The pre-amp was off and I tried adjusting the bandwidth and pass band controls to clean the signals up. The pile-up sounded like a confused, jumbled up mess full of the raspy noise I described. The DX station sounded clean and distinct but the pile-up sounded terrible. My K2 sitting side-by-side with the Eagle sounded clean and crisp handling the pile-up.

I reviewed the factory check-off list that accompanied the radio and the technician certified all the tests. This is my first IF DSP radio and don't know if this is how they typically sound. It is radically different than the analog radios that I am used to. Any thoughts on what is going on is appreciated?

Thanks, Thomas