Shure 535SE white noise plugged into Xonar DGX

[IntenseIGFX]

I've had a pair of Shure 535's for a while now but until recently they were broken. I finally had them replaced and upon plugging them into my newly built computer  (with a Xonar DGX) I hear white noise. I just plugged in my old shure 3 series earbuds for comparison and, after listening very closely I can hear it on those too, but its not nearly as clear. I don't hear the noise at all when plugging the earbuds into my iPhone, so I'm not really sure what is it. The noise isn't horrifically loud, but its noticeable and annoying. Any ideas?
 
Edit: I should note that even with the volume muted I still hear the white noise. I'm trying to figure out if it interferes with music listening. 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Did you disable the motherboard's on-board audio? in the BIOS.
Did you set the Xonar DGX headphone amplifier to the lowest gain setting?
Set the Audio Channel to 2-channel?
Set Audio Output to Headphone (not Speaker).
Try using Foobar2000 for playing audio files.

Might even try installing the "Unified Xonar Drivers".

 

[IntenseIGFX]

So are you not supposed to hear any noise when plugging headphones in? I have the motherboard sound disabled in the sound control properties.

EDIT: I have my xonar set up the way that you said - its exactly like it is here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/475872/asus-xonar-stx-st-and-headphones-a-basic-guide#post_6451613

Oddly enough, when I set it to speakers instead of headphones the white noise stops.

 

[PurpleAngel]

You really want to "disable" the computer's built in audio in the BIOS.
Otherwise you never really know for sure if it is causing some kind of conflict in the audio.
When you first turn on the computer, you hit the "Delete" key in the first few seconds to bring up the BIOS.

 

[IntenseIGFX]

You really want to "disable" the computer's built in audio in the BIOS.

Otherwise you never really know for sure if it is causing some kind of conflict in the audio.

When you first turn on the computer, you hit the "Delete" key in the first few seconds to bring up the BIOS.

 


Just did that. Didn't change anything. Also - that guide that I linked says to leave the Hi-Fi option on but it keeps disabling itself and enabling the GX option. Any ideas?

Having it set as 2 speakers removes the white noise. What's the difference between 2 speaker and headphone? Does it make a difference? Any other ideas for me to try?

 

[PurpleAngel]

 

You really want to "disable" the computer's built in audio in the BIOS.

Otherwise you never really know for sure if it is causing some kind of conflict in the audio.

When you first turn on the computer, you hit the "Delete" key in the first few seconds to bring up the BIOS.

 


Just did that. Didn't change anything. Also - that guide that I linked says to leave the Hi-Fi option on but it keeps disabling itself and enabling the GX option. Any ideas?

Having it set as 2 speakers removes the white noise. What's the difference between 2 speaker and headphone? Does it make a difference? Any other ideas for me to try?

Hi-fi option should not really be a big deal, but GX is only really for gaming, which does not always help with gaming. so GX should be left off.
Not sure why is sounds better with 2-speaker, but if that helps, leave it on speaker.

 

[IntenseIGFX]

The white noise just isnt there on 2 speaker - it doesn't actually sound "better". Can you tell me the benefit of using headphone over the speaker option to begin with? Am I missing out on something by not having the headphone option selected?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  The white noise just isn't there on 2 speaker - it doesn't actually sound "better". Can you tell me the benefit of using headphone over the speaker option to begin with? Am I missing out on something by not having the headphone option selected?

Having the Xonar set to "Speaker" allows to to use Dolby Speaker (fake speaker surround sound) and "Headphone" allows you the option of using Dolby Headphone surround sound.
So the Xonar processes sound a little different depending on the setting.
So if your feeding the Xonar 6-channels (5.1) of audio, the Speaker/Headphone option tells the Xonar how you would like the audio processed, by telling it what is hooked up to it, Headphones, 2.0 speaker or 5.1 speaker.
But if all your feeding the Xonar is 2-channels of audio and all you want for an output is basic stereo sound, then there should not really be a difference.
Headphone/Speaker setting might affect the impedance (Ohm) output from the green jack (Front speaker/headphone output).
With speakers, I believe you want a high impedance output, this way you need to feed a lot of voltage to send the audio signal, which I guess helps audio quality.
Where with headphones, they work better when the output jack is low impedance (depending on headphones used).
This is my best guess.

 

[IntenseIGFX]

I'm not using any of the dolby stuff. Given that, I should be okay leaving it set up as speakers? 
 
Can you think of any other way I can try to get the headphone setting to work without that white noise?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I'm not using any of the Dolby stuff. Given that, I should be okay leaving it set up as speakers? 
 
Can you think of any other way I can try to get the headphone setting to work without that white noise?

You might consider doing a clean install of the drivers,
The on-board might have messed up the original Xonar driver installation.
Even thou the on-board drivers where disabled, the BIOS still told the Win OS there are two sound card.
Sometime Xonar drivers on their own do not install properly.
 
Download the Unified Xonar drivers, version 1.71 should be ok.
http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
Delete the currently installed Xonar drivers/software, also might as well delete the software for the on-board audio.
Turn computer off and remove Xonar sound card,
Then boot up computer without the Xonar installed.
This should eliminate any OS and BIOS setting they had for the Xonar DGX.
Now turn computer back off and install Xonar DGX.
Turn computer back on and install the Unified Xonar Drivers.
If that does not solve problem, I'm not sure what else would work.

 

[IntenseIGFX]

I uninstalled and reinstalled drivers from the official asus site and that still left me with the buzzing sound. Before that I tried installing those 1.71 drivers and it just wouldnt install. The bar would take nearly 5-7 minutes to complete, sit there, and finally tell me to plug in a compatible device. After ending the process to get out of it my computer wouldn't shut down without holding the power button. I tried that twice. 
 
My machine is extremely heavy and under my desk so removing the card without any real potential for it to fix the problem doesn't seem too appealing. Do you think removing it will actually fix the problem? I'd love to see some others weigh in on what they think that buzzing noise is..

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I uninstalled and reinstalled drivers from the official asus site and that still left me with the buzzing sound. Before that I tried installing those 1.71 drivers and it just wouldnt install. The bar would take nearly 5-7 minutes to complete, sit there, and finally tell me to plug in a compatible device. After ending the process to get out of it my computer wouldn't shut down without holding the power button. I tried that twice. 
 
My machine is extremely heavy and under my desk so removing the card without any real potential for it to fix the problem doesn't seem too appealing. Do you think removing it will actually fix the problem? I'd love to see some others weigh in on what they think that buzzing noise is..

It might be the DGX and your motherboard are just not compatiable.
DGX might even be defective.