Steve Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 You may have read about the issues I was having with audio on my new PC, but here's a summary: - I started off using the on-board sound, which is supposed to be quite high end (as far as on-board sound goes). When I was monitoring the line in input (connected to my mixer), I could hear strange unwanted noises (no, not AW singing you twats) when I cranked my speakers up really high when no music was playing. The noise was a ticking combined with high-pitched sounds that changed in pitch/frequency. So, I assumed that the on-board sound was just shit as I didn't have these problems with my old PC where I was using its on-board sound, but the same mixer, speakers, cables etc. I bought a discrete internal PCIe sound card, but again, when monitoring the line in input, these strange noises could be heard. I tried a different internal sound card - same thing. If I plugged just a cable into the line in input, with nothing connected at the other end, the computer would recognise that a jack was plugged in, but when I monitored the line in, no odd noises were heard this time. Anyway, after fucking about with PCIe sound cards and having no joy, I bought Traktor and have been using the Audio 6 external USB card that came with that. It works great and there are no unwanted, weird noises. I spoke to a guy at Sound on Sound about this and he seems to think that it's a ground loop issue, but if that was the case, wouldn't I also hear these weird noises when using the external USB card? Or by using an external card, does that prevent the ground loop in some way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djlotus Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) Sounds like a ground/neutral issue. The harmonics caused by the fans in your PC and any wireless signals i.e. bluetooth mouse/keyboard, cell phone will amplify as it works through your system. Plug your speakers into a different ciruit than your PC and it should solve your problem as well. If you have any electrical experience you could install dedicated circuit for your PC with a super neutral which would also fix your issue. Edited May 23, 2012 by djlotus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike-L Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Does it do it only make the sound when the laptop charger is plugged in? My plug does that , you can get replacements that won't make the noise, but the cheapest way is to get two adapters to bypass the ground pin. Laptop plug into uk2eu adapter >into eu2uk adapter, then into the mains. EDIT: just realised it sounds like your using a desktop PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 Yeah man, it's a desktop PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deft Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Definitely sounds like a ground loop issue. Are you using balanced connections on the Audio 6 from your mixer? If so, that's what probably fixed it. Otherwise it could just be good design on the Audio 6 (or a bit of luck) but I can't give you a much better answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 The issue went away as soon as I started using the Audio 6. That's what my question is about really - is it possible that a ground loop would affect internal sound cards, but not external ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vekked Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 this seems like it could be the same issue I'm currently having, does it sound anything like this: http://www.mediafire.com/?uz4bc8u8c2kcrhi it's not actually nearly that loud, I boosted the volume so it was more audible. I switched from using 1/4 inch from mixer to MBox to using XLR and the noise went down significantly but it's still there... it's really annoying, I'd rather not have to do noise reduction on everything I record Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 It was pretty much identical to that mate, only the ticking that you can hear more clearly in your file about 13-15 seconds in was more pronounced in relation to the other sounds. Switching to the Audio 6 completely eradicated the issue for me, but I wanted to try and confirm whether or not it was a ground loop problem so that I would know it's not a fault with a component in my PC. As I've just built it, the parts are all under warranty still and can be replaced for free if necessary. The fact that your noise is pretty much identical to mine reassures me that it probably was a ground loop issue. I take it that your audio interface is external and powered solely by USB? Have you disabled the on-board sound (if it exists and if you can reasonably do that)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deft Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 I'm pretty sure ground loops can affect external cards, as I had a problem with my laptop until I switched the power supply to a double insulated type. You can try running all the power connections off a single strip of interconnected things. If you are feeling adventurous and a little dangerous you can lift the ground on items temporarily to see if it disappears. Maybe take out non essential components and see if one is the culprit (though I'm not sure it is a fault of the component as such). Also you can get a ground loop isolator for £30 or so which you could run your line in through. I think ART pro audio make one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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