[ipumuk]

Hi,
I need a new soundcard with no background nois. I bought new monitoring speakers M-Audio BX5 D2 and my current DACs deliver too much noise.
 
I currently have:
 
- Asrock Z77 Pro 3 (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec) onboard sound
- Hotaudio DAC Destroyer
 
The onboard soundcard delivers unbelievable amounts of noise. The new speakers are not usable with it. The hotaudio dac destroyer performs a little better but my USB ports are really bad and are also very noisy.
 
By noise I mean the sound the computer produces when I start a program, move the mouse etc. It is not very loud but audible.
 
Then I tried a cheap soundcard Asus Xonar DGX which also had noise after a while of using the computer ;(
 
What kind of soundcard do I need to get rid of that kind of background noise. If I do not play back anything I do not want to hear anything if I start a program, move the mouse or the harddrive is being used. I guess it must be some kind of soundcard that is shielded from the computer environment. But I am not sure what I have to look for.
 
Better soundcards have a higher signal to noise ratio, Is that the value I am looking for? The Xonar DGX has 105dB and the Creative Sound Blaster Z has 116 dB. Is that the value that influences computer noise or does it not have anything to do with my problem?
 
I hope you can help me

 

[PurpleAngel]

When you install the Xonar DGX did you disable the motherboard's on-board audio? in the BIOS 
If your USB (digital output) is noisy, I'm going to guess any internal sound card would still pick up noise.
 
Your in Munich, I was visited there in 1987, good beer.

 

[ipumuk]

Yes I disabled the onboard dac when using the DGX.
 
What options do I have to get noise free sound out of my computer? I guess that a lot of people with better kind of audio equipment have this problem.

 

[cel4145]

Better soundcards may not help with the problem. It seems like it could be your PC is the issue given that internal soundcard and the USB both have issues.

However, does this issue happen with headphones, or just the speakers? If just speakers, a ground loop issue could likely be the problem.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I need a new sound card with no background noise. I bought new monitoring speakers M-Audio BX5 D2 and my current DACs deliver too much noise.
I currently have:
- Asrock Z77 Pro 3 (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec) on-board sound
- Hot Audio DAC Destroyer
The on-board sound card delivers unbelievable amounts of noise. The new speakers are not usable with it. The Hot Audio DAC Destroyer performs a little better but my USB ports are really bad and are also very noisy.
 

I'm thinking if the USB (which is digital) picks up a lot of noise, the analog section of any internal sound card might just make it worse.

 

[Ari33]

As Cel4145 says above really..
 
I once bought a brand new PC that did exactly what you describe with both speakers and headphones with all my sound cards, There was a steady general background noise but also HD and program start noise but the mouse movements were extremely audible, Zzzzzz..Zzzzzz as I moved the cursor, very irritating... completely unacceptable for me and so it went straight back for a full refund.
 
I then just built my own PC using a well regarded Asus board and voila.. the background and EMI noise disappeared completely or at least was certainly no longer audible.. So with these symptoms I wouldn't bother with a new card, if the symptoms still persist with headphones try your card and DAC with another PC(s) if you can, and maybe look at replacing your Motherboard instead if they perform better with other rigs.

 

[ipumuk]

I contacted Dave from hotaudio concerning the problem. He suggested getting a "USB ISOLATOR".
 
I bought the following one:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/231172608454?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
 
It solved all my noise problems when using my usb DAC.
 
in the US they are even cheaper. One guy is selling one now and then for $33:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Isolator-ADUM4160-Built-in-Isolated-350MA-2watt-power-supply-/251466406178?

 

[jiiteepee]

Sometimes you can ease the situation by adjusting your system:
- lower the mouse speed (sampling rate) helps in mouse issues
- turn off any hardware accelerations (display, audio) if there're these options available (this may help for issues coming from starting software, HD r/w)
- if your display/audio/storage hardware uses same resources then if possible try to fix this (google instructions)
 
Remember also test if there are other bottlenecks in your system ... http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

 

[soccerdude84]

This happened to me when I was tweaking my BIOS for overclocking
 
IIRC it was when I tried disabling Spread Spectrum, try checking your bios to see if that's what it is.