Sqeeling noise coming from PC

[baneand]

Recently I got the tube amp and noticed this squeeky noise and I assumed it is because of the tubes:

shum.mp3

After switching the different amp I noticed it is also there but very less noticable so I didn't notice it before. After some cable and plugs switching I figured it is comming from my PC.

The DAC is connected to the wall in different plug than the pc, I think the grounding should be good. Also one thing I know happened recenly is that my old PSU in PC died so bought a newer better one - which could be when this started to happen, and I read from some previous posts here that it also happens because of the PC power unit, some even suggest something related to graphics card how the motherboard delegates power to the components but I am not sure about that. I can try updating all drivers and firmware to see what will happen.

Did anyone had this issue and how can it be resolved?

 

[msing539]

What's happens if you put all components on the same power strip/outlet? What happens if you disconnect the USB cable, still noise?

 

[2leftears]

I assume you mean that the squeaky noise is actually coming from the PC itself, and not being played through the DAC.

That is one reason I don't use PCs and/or laptops for audio. Many can produce a squeeky CPU or GPU noise when sat close to the computer. Heavy ethernet traffic (downloads) e.g. can make my Mac Mini produce a squeaky noise, but also e.g. running the MacOs native text editor TextEdit results in squeaky noises from some of my Macs (not all of them) whenever I press a key on the keyboard (some weird coding Apple!).

Likewise, this is one reason I avoid sitting near switch-mode power supplies in general. Especially the cheap ones that come with e.g. desk lamps etc. can emit an audible squeaking noise. The alternative is a linear transformer-based PSU, but there you have the potential issue of transformer hum, especially if you power is dirty from other high-power switch-mode appliances connected to it.

Batteries aren't a fool-proof solution either, because some audio appliances have a noisy inverter circuit used for powering e.g. the screen.

This is all direct acoustic noise by the way, not electronic noise being amplified over the analog audio outputs. E.g. this can result from loose laminations inside a transformer.

As a solution for your case I can not offer any advise other than to change the PSU if the noise actually comes from the PC, which may fix it (but no guarantee), or see if there may be any other switch-mode PSU's connected to the same mains circuit which can make you PC PSU noisy (e.g. one of my CD players' transformer emits an audible hum when my wife uses a particular hair-drier of hers in a different room.)

 

[baneand]

What's happens if you put all components on the same power strip/outlet? What happens if you disconnect the USB cable, still noise?

Haven't tried to put all on one powerstrip yet. Didn't understand the usb question, but basically dac is connected through usb to pc so it is comming from it. I disconnected it and then the noise stopped.

I assume you mean that the squeaky noise is actually coming from the PC itself, and not being played through the DAC.

That is one reason I don't use PCs and/or laptops for audio. Many can produce a squeeky CPU or GPU noise when sat close to the computer. Heavy ethernet traffic (downloads) e.g. can make my Mac Mini produce a squeaky noise, but also e.g. running the MacOs native text editor TextEdit results in squeaky noises from some of my Macs (not all of them) whenever I press a key on the keyboard (some weird coding Apple!).

Likewise, this is one reason I avoid sitting near switch-mode power supplies in general. Especially the cheap ones that come with e.g. desk lamps etc. can emit an audible squeaking noise. The alternative is a linear transformer-based PSU, but there you have the potential issue of transformer hum, especially if you power is dirty from other high-power switch-mode appliances connected to it.

Batteries aren't a fool-proof solution either, because some audio appliances have a noisy inverter circuit used for powering e.g. the screen.

This is all direct acoustic noise by the way, not electronic noise being amplified over the analog audio outputs. E.g. this can result from loose laminations inside a transformer.

As a solution for your case I can not offer any advise other than to change the PSU if the noise actually comes from the PC, which may fix it (but no guarantee), or see if there may be any other switch-mode PSU's connected to the same mains circuit which can make you PC PSU noisy (e.g. one of my CD players' transformer emits an audible hum when my wife uses a particular hair-drier of hers in a different room.)

The PSU is new and annoying always to disconnect from the PC but I might get a replacement of the old dead PSU in a month and can try to install that one. I think I didn't notice that with my old PSU but could be I didn't pay attention too much to it.

About the actual noise behavior I notice the different behavior on 2 amps - on solid state the noice gets amplified with volume but on tubes it doesn't. But it is louder on tubes.
Will continue experimenting with these advices for sure.

Another thing I am thinking is to add a separate PCIe USB controller, since it can be got for about 20-30$ to see if noise wont get through that bus. And another thing is there is I2S card on PCIe but it is expensive I think about 360$ and then to use that connection for my rockna dac.

 

[msing539]

...dac is connected through usb to pc so it is comming from it. I disconnected it and then the noise stopped.

Try different USB ports and another USB cable. See if anything changes.

 

[Whazzzup]

The mouse on the power wheel needs replacing

 

[baneand]

yeah I first changed cables and ports, also disconnected all periferal devices

 

[msing539]

yeah I first changed cables and ports, also disconnected all periferal devices

They make in line devices that separate the data from the power or some block the power. Cheap to try would be a PortaPow.

 

[baneand]

thx I will check that also

 

[Ryuga]

I've had a similar issue to yours. In my office setup, my previous setup was this: Laptop > Geshelli Labs J2 dac > xDuoo TA26S and I was having this noise that made me suspect bad tubes. But after a diagnosis (i.e switching tubes, rca cables, usb cables, usb noise filters) the problem was the laptop itself when it was connected to a charger. And to further confirm that, here are different configurations that I tried.

Laptop with no charger connected > Geshelli Labs J2 dac > xDuoo TA26S = no noise
Laptop > Geshelli Labs J2 dac no power cable connected > xDuoo TA26S = noise
Laptop > Geshelli Labs J2 dac > xDuoo TA26S on isolated power = noise
Laptop > Geshelli Labs J2 dac > xDuoo TA26S on power conditioner = noise
Laptop > Topping D90 LE > xDuoo TA26S = no noise unless amp is cranked to max volume
Laptop > Geshelli Labs J2 dac > Schiit Vali 3 = no noise

I also used a usb noise filter (ifi defender+) and while that did mitigate the noise, it didn't completely remove it.

I think the main problem is of course the source the setup is connected to because on my home setup I use PiCorePlayer running off a raspberry pi 4 and have never had an issue with these dacs in the past regardind noise, but contributing factors to this issue are also the dac and amp (noise floor, snr, and sinad).

I don't have a solution to your issue but I hope this information helps in guiding you to a solution.

 

[baneand]

Thanks it might be valuable information. I am gathering all that info to check what is cheapest to try first.

 

[CIEM Patient Zero]

If you are considering PCI-E, all one needs is one with a ASM3142 USB Chipset. Startech provides good value and if you can, find a local distributor for possibly better value. For example, Provantage provides really good value within the USA due to their high volume tech sales. Similar to the good ole days of Amazon.

https://www.startech.com/en-us/search?search_term=asm3142

https://www.provantage.com/service/searchsvcs?QUERY=startech+asm3142&IIM=Y&SUBMIT.x=0&SUBMIT.y=0

If you need an PCI-E extender due to the room is limited in your PC, you might have to consider on of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Express-Extender-Black-PCI-300mm/dp/B0992PLCNS/ref=sr_1_71?crid=VBKQWS1T5AQV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.oOPr_GDVVyHISjPVubC8fuejRlIWHUl45cZ0hyuBfXhNmRBnkl3J9PA9RytBPWESd7Sy24lZSNESXw6oXop1DaYEG4YyuEOjlxSpApGa2EekaJwsjtBrQFcg-VmxIWmAwviI1umNihXWWL6k-e0UlSi0zatvGDZ2RGmpaKg4whAInCcNnk1YRfzItlqeOadlu5B06MK1wMp2x7UYx-R1dHHQSE9YEnp5K_MajYW74fOBXz9XIYmYs8ZD1sMcuDcce1dgiedVc4rEg1WXcPTdsop6GGnoTH6DQFbF6eovJo4.4qMnray_e1TP87kgoYhNKxB_p0iTkjt7zJW8X62Icvs&dib_tag=se&keywords=pcie+extender&qid=1745278690&s=electronics&sprefix=pcie+exte,electronics,186&sr=1-71&xpid=_EPQUtjiuOSiX&th=1

A knockoff one should be fine (<$20), but I cannot remember the name of the Manufacturer. Likely pulled out of the USA. It's only function is to extend. I usually look for the ones only Manufactured in Taiwan.

The Uber-Expensive PCI-E USB cards ($1500+) standardise on ASM3142 USB chipset, but modern DACs don't need all them fancy extras.



https://jcat.eu/product/usb-card-xe-evo/

For example, on Chord DACS, the optimal input is CPU (Direct Path via PCI-E) ===> PCI-E USB (ASM3142) ===> USB Cable (preferably Galvanic Isolated) ===> Atmel ATSAM3U1C ===> Chord FPGA <===> Chord 104 MHz Crystal Oscillator Clock.

Modern DACs, the FPGA (bottom left), USB Receiver (top left) and Clock (right) are in very close proximity to one another for almost flawless timing/performance.

So for Rockna DACS, I'm guessing: the optimal input is CPU (Direct Path via PCI-E) ===> PCI-E USB (ASM3142) ===> USB Cable (preferably Galvanic Isolated) ===> Rockna's USB Receiver ===> Rockna's FPGA <===> Rockna's "Crystal Oscillator Clock?.

But since we are off topic about the performance aspects of PCI-E and not the noise, I just wanted to mention PCI-E USB is not a bad pursuit since if it doesn't fix your noise issues at least it will give you a solid future-proof foundation. Theoretically, PCI-E should have it's own bus directly to and from the CPU isolating from all the rest of the noise within the PC, so it's worth the risk depending on how the Supply Chain behaves.

~$50 PCI-E USB
~$20 Optional PCI-E extender (serves as a backup too in case you need to move your Graphics Card around). Make sure it's from Taiwan.

 

[baneand]

Thanks for this, I actually ordered the pci-e card which is powering directly through the pci-e it was around 20$ here locally, so that will come by the end of the week to see how it will behave.

Edit:

Quick update, received the usb pci-e controller which has power plug but I haven't plugged the power in it, so using it as is directly powered from pci-e and same squeal noise is still present. Will check what is next easiest from this topic's suggestions

 

[baneand]

Continued with optical cable and everything works flawlesly for now. I know there is 192kHz limitation to it but I mostly don't have anything above that so it will do the job. Before that I ordered ifi silencer+ which should arive next week and will see how that works. But I see I don't need it for now.

Edit:

Another helpful update for anyone in the future who has similar problem, I received the iFi Silencer+ but it didn't do anything to the squeaky sound coming from pc so basically useless for this specific case.
Luckily sticking to optical for now.