Static noise from PC/Schiit Fulla2

[vetu104]

I purchased the Fulla 2 to deal with those terrible buzzings and screechings from my PC's audio out. Most of the more annoying multifrequency screeching, which happens when I move my mouse etc.., is now gone. I can still faintly hear it though, if I turn the volume all the way up on my active monitors.

But now there are two other problems.

First one: Instead of screeching, there is a relatively loud static hissing coming from the speakers. I have to turn the speakers volume to under 5 to make it even somewhat bearable. The higher volume setting, the louder hiss.
If I connect the Fulla to my laptop, the static is at least 10x quieter, so the problem is with my desktop PC only. Also, the headphone out on the unit is fine, only the rear outputs are noisy.

Second: Sometimes, particularly just after booting up, if I try to play some music, the sound skips every 5 seconds or so. This also happens randomly while gaming.
E: This got solved when I plugged the dac to an USB2 port instead of USB3.

After googling a little I came to conclusion that my USB ports are **** as is my motherboard in general.

My question is, is a powered USB hub likely to solve these issues? Or do I need to buy a Schiit Wyrd or a better motherboard. Or would a dac with a toslink in quarantee to solve my problems?
I was really hoping to solve my audio problems when I unboxed this thing, only to face a bitter disappointment.

My setup is:
PC:
Asrock Z77 Extreme6
Core i5 2500k @ 4.5GHz
16GB RAM
Asus GTX 770

Audio:
JBL LSR305 speakers
Kingston HyperX Cloud headset
Schiit Fulla 2 DAC/amp

E: Problem 2 solved

 

[Music Alchemist]

I owned the LSR305s and Fulla 2 as well. I had ground loop noise and fixed it by putting a cheater plug on the cable of my laptop power supply. This is potentially unsafe, so if you want to fix ground loop noise, you should get a ground loop isolator. Optical TOSLINK is an alternate solution that electrically isolates your DAC and can remove the noise, and that includes if it's computer noise rather than a ground loop. You just need a DAC that can input TOSLINK and a source that can output it. The JDS Labs OL DAC and Behringer UCA202 audio interface are affordable ones I've used for that and can recommend at their price points. I owned the Wyrd as well, but I wouldn't bother with it unless the aforementioned things fail.

 

[vetu104]

Could it still be a ground loop when I have all my pc related devices plugged on a single 6 socket power strip? Including the speakers.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Could it still be a ground loop when I have all my pc related devices plugged on a single 6 socket power strip?

Yeah. (I have everything plugged into a six socket surge protector.)

The nice thing about TOSLINK is that it can remove noise from both ground loops and your computer. There are cheap compatible DACs too.

 

[vetu104]

Do you think my motherboard's toslink output is likely to be good enough quality to not produce jitter?

 

[Music Alchemist]

Do you think my motherboard's toslink output is likely to be good enough quality to not produce jitter?

I can't comment on that. All I know is that my UCA202 outputs TOSLINK well and only cost $30.

 

[vetu104]

I tested lifting the ground by taping the ground contacts of the speakers (schuko plug). Most of the hissing disappeared! Not all of it though, but enough so that I could live with it.

I don't want to electrocute myself because of a little annoyance though, so I went ahead and ordered one of these: https://hifimediy.com/usb-isolator
Hopefully it will work. If I understood correctly, it will filter the power somewhat in addition to isolating the ground.