[motu]

A high-pitched low-volume noise is generated whenever I move my mouse both in windows and in linux (kde), although when I move the mouse outside X, there's no noise.

In windows, the ordinary way to solve this would be to mute all unnecessary inputs - cd, modem, mic, etc. But I have a HDSP 9632 whose drivers doesn't work that way. There's no windows mixer element, and whatever I do in totalmix (mute everything), the noise just won't go away.

I'm fairly sure the problem is linked to my graphics card, since there's also a noise when maximizing a window. That's probably also why the noise issue only exist while in X in linux.

The noise is not only existent in the headphone output, but also in the line output, so it shouldn't have anything to do with the phone amplification circuit in the sound card.

Has anyone had similar experiences, especially owners of RME cards? How did you solve this? Please help, it's driving me nuts.

 

[Edwood]

I have not had this problem with my digi96/8 PAD.

Are you using any internal connectors on the HDSP 9632 at all?

Try moving the card in a slot furthest away from the Video card.

If that doesn't work, I'll buy the card off of you.

-Ed

 

[gsferrari]

Check if the mouse controller and the sound card are on the same IRQ. I dont know how to change IRQ settings in XP but it is easy enough in Windows 2000 and earlier versions.

 

[motu]

Not using any internal connectors, and not sharing any IRQs. Card is placed at last slot which doesn't share IRQ with any devices in BIOS either.

 

[germanjulian]

if u use a ps2 mouse change it to usb. or visa versa cant remember

regards

 

[prona]

I have weird high-pitched noises or "squeaks" coming from my PSU whenever my mouse hovers over certain things or when I scroll through a page. I'm not sure if what you are hearing is the result of that or something else. :\

 

[motu]

This is not from the psu, this is from the headphones, but if i turn up the speaker volume high, the noise is existent there as well.

I could try with ps2, but I won't use it permanently anyway, so it would be for testing. Much prefer usb. :|

 

[breez]

I have exactly the same problem with my EMU 0404 and Ati All-In-Wonder Radeon 9800Pro. The level of the noise is just low enough not to disturb me (it is just audible if I'm browsing web with no music playing, no background noise in the house).

I wonder what video card you are using? This noise is referred as "blitter noise" and it is generated by the 2D accelerating portion of the video card's chipset. Somehow this noise may get into the audio signal. Some sites (eg. extremetech) evaluate sound cards by how much blitter noise they let through (if at all) and generally in "poor audio circuits" the noise is audible. It is just that EMU and RME cards shouldn't exactly be "poor" by any means

I bet the level of the noise varies with different video cards and maybe even motherboards (btw, what mobo?).

I don't have any solution to the problem yet.

 

[germanjulian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by breez I have exactly the same problem with my EMU 0404 and Ati All-In-Wonder Radeon 9800Pro. The level of the noise is just low enough not to disturb me (it is just audible if I'm browsing web with no music playing, no background noise in the house). I wonder what video card you are using? This noise is referred as "blitter noise" and it is generated by the 2D accelerating portion of the video card's chipset. Somehow this noise may get into the audio signal. Some sites (eg. extremetech) evaluate sound cards by how much blitter noise they let through (if at all) and generally in "poor audio circuits" the noise is audible. It is just that EMU and RME cards shouldn't exactly be "poor" by any means I bet the level of the noise varies with different video cards and maybe even motherboards (btw, what mobo?). I don't have any solution to the problem yet.

well if it comes from the grahics card do this=

1. Take anti static sheets (from old hd you bought or something) and put it on top of the sound card covering it niceley.
2. aluminium foil layer = nice and thick on top of the anti static sheet. that should block any radiation. You might wanna tape the sheet onto the anti static sheet so it doesnt fall of or move etc.

I dont get any interference. It has also a lot to do with the PSU and circuits etc in the motherboard.

anyway I dont get no sound from my audigy 2zs... waiting for the postman for my 0404.. better not make any sounds

and anyway his problem relates to moving his mouse and then is getting noise. Try a new mouse. If your power supply strong enough for your PC, does your Motherboard have decent voltages.. cause the usb mouse does drain your motherboard and when you move more power is required and if the voltages move = less power for sound card = might cause interference. try new bios for your motherboard.

try new motherboard (yes hassel).

computers are complicated but mine is perfect ... and the 0404 better doesnt change that otherwise its going out of the window!

 

[motu]

I think breez hit the nail on the head there. It is exactly the "bitter noise" issue I have.

However, the noise is generated by the gfx card, and then transferred via the motherboard to the sound card. I tried the aluminium foil layer, didn't change a thing. However, my motherboard should suck, since its a 40$ sis746fx. I tried updating the bios, and aside from the mouse being a bit less responsive, all the issues remained. My power supply isn't really ideal either, but after spending $$$ on the sound card and cd3k, I'm not really ready for an immediate upgrade.

My gfx is a Leadtek 6600GT AGP, it demand an additional 12V plug. breez is totally correct in the noise coming from the gfx card's 2d part, although I'm not sure it the acceleration that's causing it, cuz you can turn it off in the troubleshooting area of display properties, but the noise remains. The cause of the problem is probably something like what germanjulian surmised though, that is, the motherboard being drained of power by the gfx when something intensive occurs - the strange thing is the noise is absent when playing games (muted sound) and when playing back video, although the sound when moving a window that's playing video is different from when moving a ordinary window.

I've been doing some research, and one way some people has succeded in getting rid of a similar problem (although with wireless mouse) was enabling spread spectrum in bios. This didn't help me however. Another guide claimed this was a grounding issue, and that tightening all the screws in the case should do it, however it didn't do it for me.

Just now I have been able to reduce the sound to indistinguishable levels though. I had increased the usb mouse rate into 1000hz from the ordinary 125hz - this is a super boost for playing games, especially fps games (I used to be a top dueler in quake). So by setting the rate back to 125hz, the noise is basically gone. Kinda anti-climax. However, by upgrading my psu and/or motherboard, I think even 1000hz should be manageble. Since I basically never play games any longer 125hz should be ok, I guess, but if there's some definite remedy to the problem, it'd be the best.

 

[germanjulian]

i found that the sampeling rate doesnt make such a huge difference performance wise to FPS games .. it only is a few milliseconds..

if u set the sampeling rate to 250Hz maybe the noise wont be there either

how about uninstalling the graphics card drivers and let windows manage the 2d stuff through the psu.. see what happens. and try another cheap graphics card (you bet you have one somehwere) see what happens. I am very curious on this issue too.

test and let us (and escpecially me) know what happens.

regards

 

[motu]

Hehe. The sampling rate does make a difference for me, with my specific cfg settings in quakeworld - I'm one of the best aimers

(you can sync the mouse rate in the fuhquake client)

I tried 250hz, it's basically quiet, but you can still barely make it out, so I went all the way back to 125hz. For surfing and stuff, 125hz is ok, sure 250hz-1000hz feels a lot smoother, but the noise is deffo not worth it. When/if I do play a fps game again, I can always set it back temporarily.

I tried uninstalling the gfx drivers, with cpu handling all 2d, the noise is still there, exactly the same. I haven't tried it out with my matrox g550 though which doesn't need extra power plug nor even have a fan on its heatsink(!), but I would guess that could fix the problem. But then that would be a lot of hassle, and using matrox is deffo not an option since that would exclude all 3d gaming worth speaking of - especially stepmania

What a day! The noise was driving me nuts, and when I solved it with 125hz, I couldn't make certain it was gone for quite a while since someone was _drilling_ outside, haha. He's still drilling that ****.

Maybe I'll try with the matrox sometime later, I'll tell you about it germanjulian.

 

[nsahoo]

Breez has to be right. It IS related to graphics card and possibly the 2d acceleration thing.

When I move my mouse around: nothing. When I roll the scroll wheel, it's there. But, it's there even after the scroll wheel has stopped, till the window has stopped scrolling. I use the smooth scroller extension in firefox. It scrolls the page slow so that the page does not jerk when scrolling.

Forget mouse. When I use keyboard to scroll, I hear the same noise. When I move a window around, there is the same noise.

It's in the speaker too.

So, it's not headphone specific. Not mouse specific. Gotta be the graphics card + sound card problem.

If any one has a solution, please let us know.

 

[sgrossklass]

Very strange problem. Normally pro-grade sound cards should have very good power filtering to keep this kind of thing from happening. What kind of power supply do you have? It could also be that the graphics card is starving the PCI bus for bandwidth, that would be a cheapset problem then (normally AGP shouldn't interfere with the southbridge connection). Try playing with the PCI latency timer.

 

[Cyrilix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by motu A high-pitched low-volume noise is generated whenever I move my mouse both in windows and in linux (kde), although when I move the mouse outside X, there's no noise. In windows, the ordinary way to solve this would be to mute all unnecessary inputs - cd, modem, mic, etc. But I have a HDSP 9632 whose drivers doesn't work that way. There's no windows mixer element, and whatever I do in totalmix (mute everything), the noise just won't go away. I'm fairly sure the problem is linked to my graphics card, since there's also a noise when maximizing a window. That's probably also why the noise issue only exist while in X in linux. The noise is not only existent in the headphone output, but also in the line output, so it shouldn't have anything to do with the phone amplification circuit in the sound card. Has anyone had similar experiences, especially owners of RME cards? How did you solve this? Please help, it's driving me nuts.

I haven't had a similar experience with RME cards, actually I don't even know what RME is, but I had that problem with the Creative SB Live! Value and the problem was easily fixed by upgrading to my currently loved M-Audio Revolution 5.1, with drivers installed or with default drivers.