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m-audio 2496 noisy!!

post #1 of 5
1/22/12 at 1:02pm
Thread Starter 

My basic computer audio setup is an m-audio 2496 PCI soundcard, an old Arcam Alpha amplifier and a pair of MA Bronze BR2 speakers.

 

I've recentlly built a new computer and I'm having a big problem with background noise, possibly being RFI but I'm not sure.  When the volume on the amp is turned up and nothing is being played by the PC, I can hear background hiss, slight rumbling and noise interference when I'm using the mouse and it's extremely irritating.  I know I can just turn the volume down but it's also a problem during quieter passages of music.

 

I've tried swapping the amp for a NAD C320BEE and still get the same problem.  I've also tried ensuring that the speaker cables and the phono cable connecting the soundcard to the amp are completely clear of any power cables.  Also tried rolling back the latest driver (5076) to 5074 but again, no joy.

 

My computer setup is an Intel 2600K, 16GB RAM, Asrock Extreme7 motherboard (with only one PCI slot) flashed to latest BIOS, Corsair 1200W PSU, OCZ Vertex3 SSD, Corsair H100 cooler along with the m-audio 2496 PCI card.  I've tried searching for similar issues with this motherboard without success.

 

Any ideas how this problem can be solved if at all?

 

Thanks

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post #2 of 5
1/22/12 at 1:12pm

If you disconnect everything from the sound card, and record its output with a loopback cable, is the resulting file also affected by the interference problems ?

 

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post #3 of 5
1/22/12 at 1:20pm
Thread Starter 


 

Quote:
Originally Posted by stv014 View Post

If you disconnect everything from the sound card, and record its output with a loopback cable, is the resulting file also affected by the interference problems ?

 



Thanks for replying.  Do you mean connect the outputs to the inputs with an RCA cable and do a silent recording using something like Audacity?  If so, no I' ve not tried that yet.  If you could tell me the best way/settings to do this, I'd appreciate it.

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post #4 of 5
1/22/12 at 1:29pm

Well, I only wanted to know if the problem appears only when the card is connected to some other AC powered device, which would suggest a grounding issue. If the card is already noisy on its own, there is not much that can be done, and since the motherboard has only one PCI slot, moving it to another is not an option. I assume you have muted any inputs and that is not the problem either. Upgrading drivers is not likely to fix a hardware issue like this. So, if the problem is interference in the computer case, you probably need to buy new hardware (e.g. an external DAC/ADC).

 

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post #5 of 5
1/22/12 at 2:01pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks again stv014.

 

I've just made a recording using loopback cable and play the resulting wav file through my mp3 player and there is hiss but there doesn't seem to be any rumbling sounds or any sound at the time I was moving the mouse around.  If this is a grounding issue, what steps should I take next to try and pinpoint the problem?

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