FL studio noise
Oct 1, 2009 at 11:41 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 14

silentshou

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Hey guys. These issues have probably been addressed before, but I'm having a hard time finding the topics with the search function, so I thought I might as well ask them.

First of all, novice question, whenever I plug my headphones into my computer, I hear a lot of static noise from the hardware. It's a sort of "electrical" noise. I'm not sure if it's from the hard-drive or cpu or what. What can I do about this?

Secondly, whenever I run FL Studio, it creates even MORE noise, and in addition, there is some high pitched, low volume shriek occasionally for brief moments. This doesn't happen with any of my other software. I'm wondering if it's a natural flaw on the part of FLS or if there's some setting I need to change.

Thanks!
 
Oct 2, 2009 at 12:06 AM Post #2 of 14
Hi there silent,

as for the FL Studio problem -> Does that noise appear upon loading FLStudio emptied? ( without templates/plugins/songs etc), or when loading songs?

I remember having some difficulty like that in the past, in my case one of the causes was too many plugins were being loaded at once, some of them were quite resource-intensive.

Increasing the ASIO-buffer to 50ms/2048 samples helped me back then. You can also check for "underruns" in the options menu..if the value displayed there is above 0, try adjusting the buffer until you get no more underruns.

I also nowadays tend to use samples over plugins & virtual syntesizers...I first record the sequence or sample from the plugin I want to use, then load it as simple or sliced .wav sample. That also decreased resource usage, along with optimizing use of effects & channels.
 
Oct 2, 2009 at 3:32 AM Post #3 of 14
Hi, tricky
Thanks for responding!

I tried loading an empty FLS project, and the soft screeching noise is gone (the one that sounds kinda like a cassette tape being spun). Soft ambient static is still there. I think it's caused by the extra cpu usage caused by running FLS. I usually work with the buffer length at 4096 samples (93 ms) when I'm working with mixers and effects, and 1024 samples (24 ms) when I'm recording with the midi controller (otherwise the midi response lags). Whenever the buffer length is too small, it causes the playback to skip or pop, so it's not quite the "noise" problem that I'm describing.

The noise from the computer hardware is still there, and seems to be intensified by running programs. Any advice on how to get rid of it?
 
Oct 2, 2009 at 4:18 AM Post #4 of 14
Shut down your computer, but keep everything plugged in. Is the noise still there?
 
Oct 3, 2009 at 6:17 AM Post #7 of 14
Thanks for all the input!

@Arctia, no and i'm pretty sure the noise is generated by the hardware running

@komi nope, i don't have a mic

@leeperry what do you mean by the ground of the plug? do you mean that the power source is the problem? i'm pretty sure it's the harddrive or cpu, because there is an electronic "scratching" that intensifies when programs are running
 
Oct 3, 2009 at 10:50 AM Post #8 of 14
yes, it sounds like a ground problem.

if it's a laptop, try on batterie w/o the power cable...if that fixes the issue, put some electrician tape on the ground of the plug. it's a widely known problem actually.
 
Oct 4, 2009 at 3:00 AM Post #9 of 14
okay, I just tried what you recommended, and I think the issue lies elsewhere. there's no difference with the power cable unplugged. the noise I'm hearing is a mid-pitched droning "buzz" also, when I run the cd-drive, electrical whirring noises could be heard.

thanks for all of your comments, by the way
 
Oct 4, 2009 at 10:37 AM Post #10 of 14
it still sounds like a shielding problem...you did disable all the inputs on the soundcard?

tried to disable wifi too? these things like to rape motherboards ground shielding..
 
Oct 4, 2009 at 10:18 PM Post #11 of 14
Quote:

Originally Posted by silentshou /img/forum/go_quote.gif
okay, I just tried what you recommended, and I think the issue lies elsewhere. there's no difference with the power cable unplugged. the noise I'm hearing is a mid-pitched droning "buzz" also, when I run the cd-drive, electrical whirring noises could be heard.

thanks for all of your comments, by the way




Hello again,

from what I understand your speakers are apparently picking up EMI (electromagnetic interference) from an electric source within your PC case, or a nearby external device (such as Bluetooth-based hardware or a cell phone).

I'll try to list down some things you can try to fix the problem (in no particular order):

1) Generally speaking, try keeping audio cables away from any mains or electrical cables;
2) Tie up any loose speaker & power cables; keep them as far away as possible from each other;
3) Switch your soundcard to a different PCI slot;
4) Re-assign IRQ's in your BIOS or Windows (may not be possible in some windows versions);
5) Wrap ferrite beads around your speaker cables (example 1, example 2);
6) Grounding a component's chassis can help creating a shielding barrier, by passing the interference back into the ground. However, depending on how the system is designed, this can be good or bad, since it can create a ground loop;
7) Replace your current speakers and/or soundcard with better shielded models.

Hopefully this helps!
smily_headphones1.gif


-Tricky
 
Oct 9, 2009 at 5:57 AM Post #12 of 14
@leeperry: yeah, i'm sure that there's no inputs whatsoever. i've also tried disabling the wifi. still no effect. as i've said, from the rhythm of the noise, i am pretty sure that it is either my hard-drive or cpu... not sure how those could get crossed up with my audio output...

@tricky: thanks for all the tips. i tried all the ones that i can, but there are a few that i don't understand (#4, 6) and a few that don't apply to me since i'm on a laptop (#3, 5). so far the noise is still there...

i'm using an hp pavilion with conexant HD audio by the way...
 
Oct 9, 2009 at 3:07 PM Post #14 of 14
I seen you previous information, can you check and see if the Mic in or line in is left enabled?
This happens and the audio device can pick up EMI/RFI from the system. Doublecheck.

What is this onboard or soundcard what exactly are you using? - I don't see you mention what this device actually is.

Since your using FL studio and doing midi work have you considered getting a quality interface for rMidi/recording?
 

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