Computer based static/noise?

[i2k92]

I never had any noise problem with my music server (intel dn2800mt) until yesterday when I installed a PCI-E USB-3 card. I can hear some noise whenever I did something to the system. Somehow it's solved by installing new driver for the PCI-E card.

 

[danieljay]

Thanks again for all your help guys.

So if I wanted to use an audio isolating transformer (like this one Ebtech 2-Channel Hum Eliminator | GuitarCenter) I would just plug directly from the Julia>Transformer>Speakers, yes? The outputs from the Julia are considered "line level"?

 

[whizgeek]

salvage a transformer from an old modem card. wont be the best quality, but will get you testing. some of those audio transformers are expensive!

I have yet to come across a mains powered desktop/tower system that didnt make noise.

 

[danieljay]

I guess this link sums everything up nicely... I'm ashamed to post a link from Apple but here we go:

Macintosh: Solutions for noise in the audio signal

 

[bobodioulasso]

If you google about this problem you'll see Sandy Bridge motherboards and PCI soundcards are not friends. Many people complain. It seems to be due to the fact that PCI is emulated from PCI express. PCI standard is disapearing and manufacturers don't bother about the marginal use of soundcards.

 

[dangus]

If the card has an S/PDIF output, connect that to a DAC or AV receiver. Is it noisy as well?

 

[danieljay]

Update:

I purchased this (after discussing my specifics with the manufacturer, mind you):

Ebtech 2-Channel Hum Eliminator | Musician's Friend

And the static/noise is still there in the same capacity!!! :-(

 

[Soldermizer]

You will probably need an adapter, but TOSLINK optical does away with ground problems once and for all.

 

[danieljay]

You will probably need an adapter, but TOSLINK optical does away with ground problems once and for all.

I can go optical out from my sound card to trs in on my monitors? Digital to analog converters? Any guidance? Thanks for the input.

 

[phofman]

Update:

I purchased this (after discussing my specifics with the manufacturer, mind you):

Ebtech 2-Channel Hum Eliminator | Musician's Friend

And the static/noise is still there in the same capacity!!! :-(

Many days ago I asked you to hook any passive headphones/small PC speakers to your soundcard jacks and listen if the noise is still there. That test will show if the noise is present at the soundcard input (you will hear it in the headphones) or if it is some kind of ground loop problem (you will not hear the noise in the headphones since they have only single pair of connecting wires and no ground loop can occur).

Problems need to be diagnosed first, before taking corrective actions.

 

[danieljay]

Many days ago I asked you to hook any passive headphones/small PC speakers to your soundcard jacks and listen if the noise is still there. That test will show if the noise is present at the soundcard input (you will hear it in the headphones) or if it is some kind of ground loop problem (you will not hear the noise in the headphones since they have only single pair of connecting wires and no ground loop can occur).

Problems need to be diagnosed first, before taking corrective actions.

Thank you for your kind input.

I cannot hook headphones directly into my sound card as I do not have a headphone amplifier: http://kb.esi-audio.com/?goto=KB00057EN

When I plug headphones into my computers front-panel headphone jack, I hear the noise. So I think the problem is not in the sound card.

If you read my first post, the noise was present before I put the sound card in; however the new card did make the noise more pronounced (I think due to the sensitivity of it).

Thanks again.

 

[danielwritesbac]

Ah, I think that a first step is to open the computer's audio mixer and run everything except main and wav, all the way to the bottom, and/or mute everything except main and wav.

To set the main and wav, I think we'd try to identify the make/break point between loss and overload, as a sort of "ballpark" place to start. I'd run them down from max until a tonal/pressure change/loss is heard and set them somewhere near that or just fractionally higher than the loss point. It may be about 60%. You can also try RMAA software, which is free and will guide you into some functional settings without overload. Try adjusting your playback software up to 24bit output instead of 16bit output.

Set the Input mixer (often hidden--in menu properties, etc. . . ) to anything other than "waveout" or "what u hear" since internal looping, is sometimes the factory default, but can make the worst performance possible. RMAA will help reveal what's going on. My X-Fi's factory default setting was the junk (digital noise gain?) setting, and it was fixed by setting the Input mixer to line in and setting the Output to mute the line in's playback.

If that doesn't do it, you could choose an amplifier less sensitive to computer noise. A non-inverting amplifier with shunt comp, like Circlophone, is less likely to amp computer noises. However, an inverting amplifier with miller comp, is most likely to amp computer noises. I wish there was a "buffered shunt-comp preamp" available!

The applicability of the above comments, depends, in part, on the output of the sound card or sound chip because if the computer sound has an onboard preamp that has already increased the computer noise, then neither swapping the power amp nor adjusting the sliders would be sufficient. So, the third step, if needed, is actually pretty big--no analog audio parts running on the computer power supply.

P.S.
For integrated motherboard sound chip, sometimes the front panel cables are not fun for hi-fi. In this case, you can look up how to disconnect that cable and bypass with two jumpers so that the sound goes directly to the rear jacks without running across the computer twice.

 

[bobodioulasso]

Asio drivers don't care windows mixer settings.

 

[DennisNL]

I have the exact same problem and tried (almost) everything!

I'm using a Asus mainboard too and that's the only thing i haven't checked/changed.

 

[danielwritesbac]

When the noise is power circuit related, you can. . .
Output only digital to an external sound module that doesn't take any power from the computer (a rather high end deal built to isolate against computer noise).
Or,
Optical output to an external sound module
Or,
Change the computer's power supply
Or,
Change the computer's motherboard.

 

[DennisNL]

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for the reply. I've done the following steps:

- Changed to a different PCIex Slot (no change)
- Changed the Juli@ card from RCA to jack connections (no change)
- Plugged the card directly into my amp instead of my mixer (no change)
- Tried another wall socket (no change)
- Moved the system to the groundfloor and tried a socket there (no change)

- Removed The VGA card (no change)
- Reinstalled Windows 7 64 bit (no change)
- Updated the Bios (no change)
- Installed Windows 7 32 bit (no change)
- Installed Windows 8 64 bit (no change)
- Tried another Power Supply (no change)
- Removed the internal speaker connector (no change)
- Tried a ground loop isolater (no change and a extra hum in the sound)
- Disabled all Intel Speed stuff (EIST and all C options) in the bios (no change)
- Changed the screws on my mainboard (maybe it was a gounding issue, but no change)
- Moved the whole system to a new case (no change)

Then it hit me! My brothers has the same mainboard (Asus P8B75-v) and installed the Juli@ card in his system. Same issue!

So it was safe to say that the mainboard was the issue. I've ordered a new mainboard (non Asus and another chipset) and the problem i had is now gone. I've mailed the issue and solution to the support department of ESI.

Kind regards,
Dennis

 

[peufeu]

Another guy on this forum had the same problem on a different soundcard, I told him to power the soundcard from an external clean supply and this worked well... of course this needs either a soundcard with power connector (usually floppy connector), or some hacking of the soundcard itself...