OT: digital pcocessing noise ....

[RJK]

Asus M3N78 (no model no. suffix) | x2 6000 | 2x1gb Ballistix PC2-6400/ddr2
800 or whatever its' called nowadays besides "old" | Zotac 9400GT | SB
Audigy 2 ...recently thoroughly cleaned out btw ...and replaced a SATAII
cable on boot hd that had been causing an elusive shut-down problem for
months ! (Thanks again to Paul for helping to pin that one down !)

Any ideas on how to get rid of buzzing noise, ..how can I describe it ?...

.....with WAV and main volume controls set quite high, when I steer the mouse
arrow around, the screen, (say an IE8 | Youtube search listing), I can hear
faint "processing / digital" whistling noises, ...whilst writing this,
charged off and muted Creative "Play Control" source sliders I never use and
when I checked/muted the TAD-in slider, that annoying faint
buzz/whistle/processor noise disappeared !!!

.....will post anyhooo, in case solution os use to anyone else !

regards, Richard

....though, also wondering if I should invest in a new soundcard ??

 

[T Shadow]

Asus M3N78 (no model no. suffix) | x2 6000 | 2x1gb Ballistix PC2-6400/ddr2
800 or whatever its' called nowadays besides "old" | Zotac 9400GT | SB
Audigy 2 ...recently thoroughly cleaned out btw ...and replaced a SATAII
cable on boot hd that had been causing an elusive shut-down problem for
months ! (Thanks again to Paul for helping to pin that one down !)

Any ideas on how to get rid of buzzing noise, ..how can I describe it ?...

....with WAV and main volume controls set quite high, when I steer the
mouse arrow around, the screen, (say an IE8 | Youtube search listing), I
can hear faint "processing / digital" whistling noises, ...whilst writing
this, charged off and muted Creative "Play Control" source sliders I never
use and when I checked/muted the TAD-in slider, that annoying faint
buzz/whistle/processor noise disappeared !!!

....will post anyhooo, in case solution os use to anyone else !

regards, Richard

...though, also wondering if I should invest in a new soundcard ??

Bad/weak. power supply could be the culprit. Pulse Width supplies use an
oscillator.

Might be to do with the shut down problem too. New cable making a better
connection might explain it helping.

Google checking power supply voltages or similar. When power supplies go out
they can take other components with them.

Good Luck

 

[RJK]

Bad/weak. power supply could be the culprit. Pulse Width supplies use an
oscillator.

Might be to do with the shut down problem too. New cable making a better
connection might explain it helping.

Google checking power supply voltages or similar. When power supplies go
out they can take other components with them.

Good Luck

Many thanks,

PSU is a Seasonic SII 430w, ....
....faint buzz was there before replacing SATA lead on boot hd,
....could only hear it with volume set to max, and WAV slider set to max
....as I said - when I muted TAD-in buzz completely vanished, which surely
must pin it down to the PCI / Audigy 2 soundcard itself,

....I suspect I'll be splashing out on a new soundcard

regards, Richard

 

[Paul]

Many thanks,

PSU is a Seasonic SII 430w, ....
...faint buzz was there before replacing SATA lead on boot hd,
...could only hear it with volume set to max, and WAV slider set to max
...as I said - when I muted TAD-in buzz completely vanished, which surely
must pin it down to the PCI / Audigy 2 soundcard itself,

...I suspect I'll be splashing out on a new soundcard

regards, Richard

Isn't leaving the thing muted, a perfectly good solution ?
I do that here, with any inputs I'm not using. I also disconnect
the CD audio cable, as it is no longer needed on a modern
computer. The CD audio cable sometimes acts as an "antenna",
picking up RF noise. That is about the best you can do for
audio - remove excess cables, mute unused inputs.

Paul (who doesn't want Creative to profit from this)

 

[T Shadow]

Many thanks,

PSU is a Seasonic SII 430w, ....
...faint buzz was there before replacing SATA lead on boot hd,
...could only hear it with volume set to max, and WAV slider set to max
...as I said - when I muted TAD-in buzz completely vanished, which surely
must pin it down to the PCI / Audigy 2 soundcard itself,

...I suspect I'll be splashing out on a new soundcard

regards, Richard

Generally when someone doesnt mention their power supply when having these
kind of problems it's a sign of being unaware. Even a Seasonic can have
probems. Measuring the voltage is as easy as buying a new sound card.
Consequences of a bad supply/overload can be devastating. You don't mention
having anything connected to the TAD to cause the noise but as Paul points
out it can act as antena. Would need a schematic to even guess why one port
would have more noise than the others but it doesn't mean the card is bad
IMHO. It's your call.

 

[RJK]

Isn't leaving the thing muted, a perfectly good solution ?
I do that here, with any inputs I'm not using. I also disconnect
the CD audio cable, as it is no longer needed on a modern
computer. The CD audio cable sometimes acts as an "antenna",
picking up RF noise. That is about the best you can do for
audio - remove excess cables, mute unused inputs.

Paul (who doesn't want Creative to profit from this)

"Isn't leaving the thing muted, a perfectly good solution ?"

It is ! ...and you're quite right, ...as I don't use "TAD-in," ...and I
always did generally leave unused sources muted -...how they all got
un-muted I don't know
....IOW seeing as buzz/whistle is gone with TAD-in muted, ...obviates further
thought on replacing soundcard.

....many thanks,

regards, Richard

 

[RJK]

Generally when someone doesnt mention their power supply when having these
kind of problems it's a sign of being unaware. Even a Seasonic can have
probems. Measuring the voltage is as easy as buying a new sound card.
Consequences of a bad supply/overload can be devastating. You don't
mention having anything connected to the TAD to cause the noise but as
Paul points out it can act as antena. Would need a schematic to even guess
why one port would have more noise than the others but it doesn't mean the
card is bad IMHO. It's your call.

I thought that a Seasonic SII, (with its' all aluminium capacitors ...and
hefty price tag etc.), meant that it would never wear out, never go wrong,
....and also look lovely forever and ever !!!
....just kidding

....interesting point Paul made about the cd/dvd drive audio cables, (both
are ground/shielded btw, not the cheaper unshielded type),
next time the "side" is off I may unplug them to test but, as Paul
suggested, simply leaving it muted is a solution.
....must look up TAD-in to find out what it is !!
.....

many thanks,

regards, Richard

 

[T Shadow]

I thought that a Seasonic SII, (with its' all aluminium capacitors ...and
hefty price tag etc.), meant that it would never wear out, never go wrong,
...and also look lovely forever and ever !!!
...just kidding

...interesting point Paul made about the cd/dvd drive audio cables, (both
are ground/shielded btw, not the cheaper unshielded type),
next time the "side" is off I may unplug them to test but, as Paul
suggested, simply leaving it muted is a solution.
...must look up TAD-in to find out what it is !!
....

many thanks,

regards, Richard

T is definately Telephone. Forgot the rest but might be Ananlog>digital.
Never used it.

I don't use any of the audio cables from the CD/DVD drive any more but never
had any noise from them, back.in the day, using unshielded. If the cables
are unshielded you may have some kind of noise radiating in the PC. If they
truly are shielded the noise is in the system. BTW anything you can hear is
going to be relatively low frequency. The bus is well above audio let alone
the processor.

I don't really see the noise as a problem but a prossible symptom. It's the
fact the computer was shutting down with now having the noise that's
bothersome. A less than perfect connection on the cable could drop an
already low power voltage enough to cause the shutdown. Just a couple of
thenths of a volt. Just wanted to make you aware. Good Luck.