Buzzing noise from speakers/headphones

[Daniel P]

I'm not sure if this is the right section to post in but I can't find a trouble-shooting section so I thought, what the hey.
 
I've got this strange buzzing/interference noise coming from both my headphones or speakers that I can amplify with the volume from my amplifier. I've noticed it also makes noises that occur whenever I do something on the pc, if it's opening a browser, playing a game or even just moving the mouse (oh what fancy noises they make!).
 
I'm guessing it's most likely interference but is there any way to reduce/eliminate this? Fortunately it's only audible when I start pushing the volume up towards a damn high level but regardless, it's there and I want to kill it with fire.

 

[figgie]

More than likely the sound card is picking up the RFI from all the electronics in the computer via the bus (conduction instead of radiation). the noises you hear vary in frequency and occurance (ie the mouse noise is different than say hard drive activity.
 
Might try to change the position of the sound card see if that helps, otherwise an exteranl sound card would more than likely solve the problem.

 

[obobskivich]

I'm not sure if this is the right section to post in but I can't find a trouble-shooting section so I thought, what the hey.
 
I've got this strange buzzing/interference noise coming from both my headphones or speakers that I can amplify with the volume from my amplifier. I've noticed it also makes noises that occur whenever I do something on the pc, if it's opening a browser, playing a game or even just moving the mouse (oh what fancy noises they make!).
 
I'm guessing it's most likely interference but is there any way to reduce/eliminate this? Fortunately it's only audible when I start pushing the volume up towards a damn high level but regardless, it's there and I want to kill it with fire.

Using onboard/integrated audio, yes? Sounds like a typical grounding/QA problem - dedicated audio controller is the only real solution.

 

[bixby]

Is your computer a desktop?  And how old is it?  In the old days some desktops with cd drives had an audio out lead on the drive that went to the sound card.  If memory serves me correctly, this only sent audio from the cd to the computer when you loaded a cd to play it in real time.  I had the same issue and disconnected the lead and my mouse noise went away.
 
Just a thought.

 

[tme110]

yea, you really can't ask for troubleshooting help if you dont tell people what kind of equipment you have and how you use it.  I was guessing you were using a usb DAC and were picking up noise on the usb bus but now maybe you are using onboard sound which is notoriously noisy esp in a PC....don't know since we don't know what you are using.
 

 

[Daniel P]

My bad guys, kinda posted this in a rush and completely forgot to mention the details.
 
I have a bog standard desktop, intel i5, Asus mobo, Nvidia GTX460, 8 GB RAM and 1 DVD drive. My sound card is internal; it's an M-Audio Audiophile 192.
 
Aside from the internal sound card picking up the interference, could it also be something to do with un-shielded cables? 

 

[bixby]

Quote:

My bad guys, kinda posted this in a rush and completely forgot to mention the details.
 
I have a bog standard desktop, intel i5, Asus mobo, Nvidia GTX460, 8 GB RAM and 1 DVD drive. My sound card is internal; it's an M-Audio Audiophile 192.
 
Aside from the internal sound card picking up the interference, could it also be something to do with un-shielded cables? 

You could try routing some of the ribbon cables inside the pc away from the sound card.  Another thread had a similar problem that was solved by getting a ac filter of some sort, so you may wish to try a power conditioner or just move it to an entirely different circuit to see if the ac power is contributing some of this noise.
 
It also couldn't hurt to try some shielded cables but most audio cables are shielded unless they are old school freebies.

 

[Daniel P]

Quote:

You could try routing some of the ribbon cables inside the pc away from the sound card.  Another thread had a similar problem that was solved by getting a ac filter of some sort, so you may wish to try a power conditioner or just move it to an entirely different circuit to see if the ac power is contributing some of this noise.
 
It also couldn't hurt to try some shielded cables but most audio cables are shielded unless they are old school freebies.

I've got some unbalanced TRS to PHONO coming from my sound card to my amplifier...and I moved these around a little bit. Sure enough this created a noticeable, but not considerable, effect on the noise. Perhaps this is a combination of things?
 
I also had a look at that other thread, I'll see if I can grab a pair of decent cables first before attempting to splurge on a HUM eliminator.
 
Perhaps anyone here can recommend a company that sells good quality speaker cables? FYI we are not talking about cables that cost 100's of pounds, I don't have that budget. Thanks!

 

[bixby]

Quote:

I've got some unbalanced TRS to PHONO coming from my sound card to my amplifier...and I moved these around a little bit. Sure enough this created a noticeable, but not considerable, effect on the noise. Perhaps this is a combination of things?
 
I also had a look at that other thread, I'll see if I can grab a pair of decent cables first before attempting to splurge on a HUM eliminator.
 
Perhaps anyone here can recommend a company that sells good quality speaker cables? FYI we are not talking about cables that cost 100's of pounds, I don't have that budget. Thanks!

What amp and speakers are you planning to hook up and what is the distance?
 
Also, try plugging the computer into a surge suppressor to see if that helps.

 

[Daniel P]

Quote:

What amp and speakers are you planning to hook up and what is the distance?
 
Also, try plugging the computer into a surge suppressor to see if that helps.

 
I know what the issue is.
 
My current set up is as such.
 
M-Audio sound card ---(TRS to phono unbalanced)--->> M-Stage Amplifier ---(Unbalanced TRS to TRS with phono connectors) ---> Either speakers OR Headphones.
 
I decided to connected my speakers directly to the sound card. The noise I was describing has completely gone, but the general sound of the music is a bit flatter. 
 
So it seems it was the rubbish pair of cables going into the amp from the sound card. Can anyone recommend me a good pair of unbalanced and shielded TRS to TRS (I'll buy the TRS to Phono converters from Maplin) cables?