Issues with the Creative Sound Blaster Z

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
D

Dashrendar2507

Distinguished
Jan 17, 2014
75
0
18,640
Hey Guys,

Short post this time. I bought a Creative Sound Blaster Z and it makes 1. Static noises and 2. When I move the mouse or the hard drives works, the static follows the same '' pattern '' as the devices....

Any suggestions ?
 
Solution
4Ryan6
I've got a Soundblaster Z with zero problems at all, the fact that it is related to a USB mouse and your HDD pretty much just indicates you have a problem that is revealing itself and allowing you to know it exists, through the soundcard.

I agree with the already mentioned ground, something is not grounded that is common to the USB and HDD circuit.

So you need to diagnose the problem and start by some simple process of elimination.

These are the simple things to test, and do not discount these tests until you confirm each is problem free.

You could have a bad mouse as far as wiring goes in the connection, I suggest swapping out a known good mouse and see if the problem persists?

Use a different USB port for the mouse and make sure...
Sort by date Sort by votes
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060
1. as long as the 3rd cable is connected and everything is ok with your electrical intallation (meaning the 3rd cable is actually connected to the ground after the wall socket...) - then you are grounded
2. both motherboard and PSU are of the excellent kind...
still inconclusive... it could be either of the three... im putting some suspicion on faulty motherboard or card...

i guess the best bet of finding a solution is plugging the card in a different pc and eliminating the suspects this way.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
thee_prisoner

thee_prisoner

Distinguished
Jun 30, 2008
1,136
0
19,660
Now, I'm not thinking this is any kind "ground problem" but other solutions is unplug and plug back in the various connects and cards in your computer. It could be the mobo isn't seated well.

Also, this isn't an unusual problem, not uncommon but I have seen it in a few post over the years about moving the mouse or the HD spins up causing static wether they had a sound card or not. Some were caused by usb ports, using a different one might help.

Going back to "static" and "ground" problems, many houses have a double ground problem. The house is grounded when built then the telephone person comes out and grounds it and then the cable guy grounds it. This can cause problems with being really grounded. I know, I had this problem start when I first had cable installed but instead of static I had a "ground loop hum".

Yanis has a good suggestion on removing the card to another computer to see if that's the problem. The easier solution would be to remove and use the onboard audio to see if you still have the "static" sound and go from there.

Happy listening, the Prisoner...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
yanis31

yanis31

Distinguished
Jul 4, 2010
602
0
19,060
i have had the weird noises using usb mouse before... but that was with cheap end lga775 boards, also not on all plugs, front ones being the worst due to the extra cabling...
this would be quite insane for the kind of motherboard you have - only if something wasn't functioning as intended
motherboard seating tho is something i do not sugest spending time on -
pretty confident it's ground is NOT connected to your case via the screwholes - in fact the metal parts there should be isolated.
motherboard gets grounded via the ground cable in the big power supply plug...
50hz hum coming from microphone is something i have struggled with quite recently when i moved
and discovered i had no ground connected to the wall socket... and i am using an external usb soundblaster omni card... the usb connection does not appear to help isolate noise at all compared to internal pci cards... i imagine it is probably caused by the fact it also gets its power from usb instead of a separate source...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
4Ryan6

4Ryan6

Champion
Apr 14, 2002
20,610
6
52,915
I've got a Soundblaster Z with zero problems at all, the fact that it is related to a USB mouse and your HDD pretty much just indicates you have a problem that is revealing itself and allowing you to know it exists, through the soundcard.

I agree with the already mentioned ground, something is not grounded that is common to the USB and HDD circuit.

So you need to diagnose the problem and start by some simple process of elimination.

These are the simple things to test, and do not discount these tests until you confirm each is problem free.

You could have a bad mouse as far as wiring goes in the connection, I suggest swapping out a known good mouse and see if the problem persists?

Use a different USB port for the mouse and make sure you use the proper procedures for relocating the mouse don't just pull it without the operating systems OK?

If those tests are no joy:

Shut the system down and pull the speaker cables and completely pull the soundcard, then reseat it back in the machine, reconnect the cables and test?

If the problem persists follow the above with the soundcard but this time relocate the soundcard to another slot, even if it is a PCI-E sound card and you don't have another smaller PCI-E slot you can use a vacant full size PCI-E slot to test in, if you have one?

Check all your cabling in the machine and make sure everything is fully seated, HDD cabling as well?

Well if none of the above has resolved the issue, I'm sorry but the easy stuff is over!

It's time to pull the motherboard!

Most common issues with this situation is either a motherboard mounting plate stud support was left in that should have been removed as there should only be a stud located for each M/B screw hole, I would inspect for that first which means pulling the motherboard, as my next suggestion is to double check the tightness of the motherboard mounting screws. (However if there is a mounting stud under the M/B that is not supposed to be there, continued tightening down on it could short out the M/B!)

Also inspect and make 100% sure the I/O plate is not somehow shorting out if it is a metal finger ground type?

If you run all these tests and you still have the problem RMA the motherboard!

You should never be able to hear Mouse and HDD functions through your discrete soundcard, I don't care what brand it is.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
D

Dashrendar2507

Distinguished
Jan 17, 2014
75
0
18,640


Thank you very much 4Ryan6, as of right now it seems alright, but if any problem whatsoever arise I'll do the whole procedure. Thank you very much !
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
P

Permaphrost

Reputable
Jun 2, 2015
1
0
4,510


Just to make it clear this IS NOT a problem with crossfire / sli.. this isnt a power issue... its a driver bug..

It's a problem with Latency

Fix:

1. Open up playback devices right click soundblaster z.. disable enhancements in the advanced tab
2. If that doesnt fix it download DPC Latency Checker and watch the graph for a bit with some music on.. the red spikes will indicate lat spikes which is your problem.

http://

3. Open up device manager and go to audio devices.
4. disable "Digital In" and SPDIF

This completely fixed my problem.. although its annoying to have to disable the digital in and SPDIF OUT.. it will fix the problem.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom