[Kryosphinx]

So here's my problem: My USB ports have this funky crackling and popping noise whenever I scroll down. It happens mainly on websites, ebay especially, but it also happens with foobar when i scroll down the list of songs.
Whenever the screen refreshes, the sound goes cracklypoppy, but only if i'm playing sound already.
It's driving me INSANE!!!! I can't surf without listening to cracklypoppies in my music. ARGHHHH!!!!

I've seen it mentioned only a couple times years ago on other forums, but nobody seems to have an answer.


My setup: Laptop (Foobar/mediamonkey) --> $10 USB soundcard (could this be the problem?) --> Sansui receiver --> Polk RT25 / DT770


I've tried to set up ASIO on foobar and mediamonkey, but it doesn't recognize any speakers attached to the comp, so ASIO output is silent.
've moved the USB sound card far from the comp, also no effect.
I've moved the comp far away from the rest of the setup, but that also failed.
The headphone jack has no noise, but is a POS.
I've also tried changing the impedance between the sound card and the receiver, but that didn't work.
I also plugged in my microshar headphone amp between the sound card and receiver, and then messing with the volume of the comp, adjusting the amp accordingly. That also failed.

Anyone got any ideas? Would a DAC fix things?
What's the cheapest decent DAC i could get? USB DAC cable? Alien DAC kit? --(Are these even available anymore?)

Thanks!

 

[zyxwvutsr]

have you tried the usb soundcard on another computer? Or reinstalling/updating the soundcard drivers?

 

[powerslave]

You can try turning off your windows sound scheme to no sound and see if that helps.

 

[dizzyorange]

I've had that exact problem, although with different DACs and amps.

My ultimate solution was to insert an optical stage in my signal chain (USB noise cannot travel over fiber optics).

 

[b0dhi]

This isn't "noise", it's a problem with your motherboard. My computer does this too (every second reboot, for some reason). You can try updating your drivers (including USB, if possible), and changing settings around. You might also want to fiddle around in the BIOS (see if anyone else with your m/b has had similar problems before messing around in there though). You could also try changing the IRQ settings in your O/S, although this isn't usually possible in the newer Windows versions.

I would also suggest trying ASIO4ALL, but I don't know if this would work with your USB soundcard.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Sounds like a ground loop. Try to run lap on a battery to see if it goes away.
If it does then lift up the ground with the cheater plug or invest into ground loop breaker. Xitel has some nice ones.

 

[jiiteepee]

As suggested, check the IRQ situation and also if the graphics system is not PCIe then try to tweak the PCI Latency setting for graphics, graphics HW acceleration (graphics settings panel) and mouse sampling rate (device settings). Sometimes even switching from USB mouse to PS/2 model helps a bit too and if you like to have system sounds available then, using ASIO (or KS) for playback alows you mute the Wave port (showing in system playback mixer) which other driver modes streams data through.

Check also if there are some dtiver issues in your system.

DPC Latency Checker
PCI Latency Tool 3.1 v2 download from Guru3D.com
(http://www.musicxp.net)


jiitee

 

[infinitesymphony]

I'm with bodhi. This is a common laptop problem, especially if it's plugged into the wall instead of running on battery power. Your laptop is outputting dirty power over the USB port, and your $10 USB audio interface is not filtering it. Scrolling increases system load (for whatever reason), which can cause this kind of hum.

I'm using a computer with a PSU that came bundled with an Antec Sonata case, and I have the same problem. Whenever I scroll around in certain applications, the PSU outputs high frequency noise. It's just a sign of a not-so-great power section.

 

[HFat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm using a computer with a PSU that came bundled with an Antec Sonata case, and I have the same problem. Whenever I scroll around in certain applications, the PSU outputs high frequency noise. It's just a sign of a not-so-great power section.

Did you actually verify that changing the PSU fixes the issue or is it just a guess on your part?

 

[Uncle Erik]

Buy a turntable.

I used to get computer noise when I was computer-as-source, too. Not sure how to fix it, but haven't had any troubles since I was pulled in by the black discs.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFat /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did you actually verify that changing the PSU fixes the issue or is it just a guess on your part?

In my case, the sound is coming directly from the PSU itself, while in the OP's case, the load noise is coming through the USB power and into the audio signal. I just wanted to point out that some PSUs can cause noise under certain loads.

 

[HFat]

You mean the PSU is physically noisy? Yeah, most desktop PSUs are.

Now, about the topic at hand: how do you know it's a power issue?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFat /img/forum/go_quote.gif You mean the PSU is physically noisy? Yeah, most desktop PSUs are. Now, about the topic at hand: how do you know it's a power issue?

I'm not talking about fan noise, I'm talking about a specific noise that only occurs when the computer loads during activities like scrolling. Laptops are notorious for creating noise problems when plugged into the wall, and his issue only occurs when the computer is under load. Therefore, his load problem might be a power issue.

 

[Kryosphinx]

zyxwvutsr: I've tried using the soundcard in other lappys, but they have no problems. I changed USB ports too, but no change. The drivers are up to date, i think.

powerslave: It's on no sound

dizzyorange: That may be an option later, but it's too expensive at the moment

b0dhi: I looked at the USB drivers, but i'm not really sure how to upgrade them. I did the stupid windows device manager update drivers, but that's never worked for anything. I have a school issued laptop, so everyone around here has the same mb. Nobody else has this problem.

Andrew_WOT: Not a ground loop problem with the laptop. Same issues with batteries.

It seems that the sound happens at the same volume no matter what the audio volume is set at. I'm not sure what this means

I'm looking at a laptop sound card that goes in the big slot. Do you guys think that'll fix the problem?

 

[cerbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kryosphinx /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm looking at a laptop sound card that goes in the big slot. Do you guys think that'll fix the problem?

Maybe, maybe not. The best option, sans optical, is to have the DAC use another power supply--not the laptop's.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if USB got the same +5V as everything else, and you're getting hash from your HDD 5V section, RAM if it uses it, PCI (and similar interfaces), video, etc..