[epsilon72]

Now that I have a DT-880 + Little Dot II+, they both do a beautiful job of highlighting all of the interference I get with my soundcard from every single other component in my PC (videocard, hard drives, ethernet, moving the mouse, etc)

Does anyone have any tips on how to alleviate this without buying an external sound card?

(the only time I use my headphones with my PC is for gaming, music gets played elsewhere)

I've heard elsewhere that if you get a piece of cardboard and cut it so it is the size of your soundcard, wrap it in tin foil, and place it in between your video card and soundcard that that helps things somewhat - is that true?

I have a HT Omega Claro soundcard with a CMEDIA 8788 chip. I've tried analog->amp->headphones and optical PCM->DAC (a denon receiver)->amp->headphones, and they both sound the same.

 

[infinitesymphony]

A Faraday cage made with tinfoil will only help if the noise isn't coming through the motherboard's PCI slot (which it may be). Also, tinfoil is conductive, and by placing it close to electrical components inside your computer, you risk causing electrical shorts.

A new sound card with better power filtering or an external sound card may be the only reasonable solutions. However, it's strange that you're getting the same noise when you use the card as a transport. It indicates that the noise is being added to the signal at a very early stage. Are you sure you aren't just hearing the computer's power supply? I've heard some emit piercing sounds from the actual PSU when under load.

 

[Melchior]

Mute the line and mic. in? The microphone input is usually the biggest offender since it's designed to amplify low microphone voltages into the audible range.

 

[Zorander]

I would look at a replacement soundcard personally.

 

[derek8555]

Hve you tried eliminating the possibility of your interconnect picking up all the EMI? That's the case with my setup right now.

 

[Fing]

You can also try using ERS paper.

I did it for my soundcard and I'm pretty sure it's done zilch

 

[Uncle Erik]

PCs are very noisy - there's no way around it unless you go for an external solution.

I wouldn't put a piece of tinfoil wrapped cardboard in a computer, either. There's an outside chance the cardboard would catch fire. Further, it could accidentally short the card or board, which could result in a dead machine and possibly increase the possibility of a fire. Not worth the risk.

Instead, get an external soundcard or DAC.

 

[Tarkovsky]

Try moving the card to a different PCI slot. Move it as far towards the bottom as possible and give it as much space as possible by moving other cardsa bout.

 

[alleyezon_d]

don't cheap out on the source (especially when there are so many cheap options available).

 

[epsilon72]

Thanks for all of the replies.
I thought that this soundcard would be of sufficient quality (it retails for $150) to not suffer from this sort of thing. The only time I've heard these noises (except for the mouse moving one, faintly) is with my new setup though (namely, the addition of the tube amp - that thing really brought out the sensitivity of these new cans).

I don't think it's the interconnect, because using optical does the same thing. (and my amp and PC are about 6 feet apart). I don't think it's the power supply, because when I hear the hard drive for instance, it sounds just like a hard drive.

I will try muting the mic in, but as I said I use my PC for gaming so that wouldn't work for games like Team Fortress 2, etc. I suppose I may have to get used to it. After all, nothing else I've used with it from different (cheaper) cans to my home theater system has been sensitive enough to make this noise so discernible.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by epsilon72 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for all of the replies. I thought that this soundcard would be of sufficient quality (it retails for $150) to not suffer from this sort of thing. The only time I've heard these noises (except for the mouse moving one, faintly) is with my new setup though (namely, the addition of the tube amp - that thing really brought out the sensitivity of these new cans). I don't think it's the interconnect, because using optical does the same thing. (and my amp and PC are about 6 feet apart). I don't think it's the power supply, because when I hear the hard drive for instance, it sounds just like a hard drive. I will try muting the mic in, but as I said I use my PC for gaming so that wouldn't work for games like Team Fortress 2, etc. I suppose I may have to get used to it. After all, nothing else I've used with it from different (cheaper) cans to my home theater system has been sensitive enough to make this noise so discernible.

It has nothing to do with quality. It has everything to do with shielding and/or distance from the noise.

RFI is interference in the form of radio waves. It's just like the radio waves that are broadcast from a radio tower and picked up by the FM radio in your car.

You computer is filled with devices that act like little broadcasting towers, sending out bits of RF noise instead of music.

Your soundcard behaves like an antenna (all the wire and components), picks up this noise, putting it in the audio signal.

No matter how good your chips and caps are, you're still going to pick up the RFI if they are unshielded and close to a noise source.

If you want clean sound, move it outside of the computer. Personally, I've liked an optical out from a computer into an external DAC. There's no way an optical cable can pick up RFI from inside the computer.

 

[epsilon72]

It seems my sound card must pick up the interference while the output is being formulated, because outputting as digital PCM to an external DAC (my receiver, in this case) yields the same interference noise as just straight analog.

It is really annoying when I try and listen for it, but fortunately the noises of online combat in fps's do a good job completely masking it.

Maybe one of these days when I have more cash I'll move to another brand that shields better. I'll probably come here for input on brands at that time.

 

[Tarkovsky]

Did you try moving it to a different PCI slot yet? Any improvement?

 

[alleyezon_d]

Actually, your soundcard should be pretty good. If you still get the noise when using your receiver, it might be something else causing the noise.

 

[epsilon72]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alleyezon_d /img/forum/go_quote.gif Actually, your soundcard should be pretty good. If you still get the noise when using your receiver, it might be something else causing the noise.

You're right - I think it's something to do with my surge protector!

I tried optical-->DAC (receiver)-->headphone amp-->cans, and set the volume on the receiver to basically 'mute', and tried adjusting the headphone amp volume, and what do ya know - the buzzing was present WITHOUT any sound input, and changed depending on volume level.

I only hear the buzzing when my graphics card (an 8800gt) is in performance mode, and likely drawing more power - and my tube amp is plugged into the same surge protector that my PC is! Do you think I'm getting some sort of feedback due to a cheap/crappy surge protector?

Switching to optical eliminated computer component noises - but not the power feedback. I'll try moving my headphone amp to another outlet.

Edit: Switching outlets has fixed the computer interference problem. There's still a slight bit of interference from computer components (with optical and analog) but it is very small, and fooling around with volume levels can almost completely cancel it out.