I do hear the pop once in a while when using the DVD player. Sounds like others have this same behavior. Maybe it is "normal". One thing I did notice when I tried the un-balanced cables is that the pop was a little more faint then when using the balanced cables. Maybe switching to balanced cables made it more noticable for me. The balanced cables did get rid of the 60 Hz hum though. My old un-balanced cables would pick up noise very easily. I had to position them just right. Thanks for the replies.