Noise issue with new ASRock Z97 Extreme 6 (on board)

[Rysdan]

I recently upgraded to a new ASRock Z97 Extreme 6 mobo. I now have a weird interference/distortion noise emanating from my subwoofer using a 5.1 set up. I have checked all cables to the mobo and all are secure and tight. I have switched using different power outlets, connecting to separate outlets. I even swapped out for a different 5.1 speaker set. I have made sure all my RealTek drivers are up to date. I even uninstalled and reinstalled the RealTek drivers. I have even reinstalled win7. All to no avail.

I believe it's picking up noise from the pc itself, as when I move the mouse around, or use the scroll wheel, I can hear the pitch in the noise change. When the pc is running various operations, I can hear the distortion hum along with the pc. The volume levels seem to have no effect on the volume of the noise. When gaming, the noise gets even worse as I believe it is picking up on the video card ramping up. When I switch the sound to my headset, the noise does not come out of the headset, yet still emanates from the main subwoofer regardless of which device I have set to my primary sound device. I would like to try to figure this out to the fullest before trying a separate soundcard.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Mike

Rig:
i74790k
16g DDR3 RAM
AMD 6950HD 2g
750w ps

 

[Thelps]

The noise you're hearing is because the speakers, or a component attached to the grid the speakers draw power from or are attached to (most likely your PC) is not earthed/grounded properly.

You need to effectively earth/ground the speakers. Are they using a 3-Pronged Power Plug? If not, that could solve your issue.

Otherwise, read through this guide and consider the options:

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/support/knowledge-base/show/250/how-to-resolve-ground-loop-issues-humming-and-buzzing-sounds/

You could also purchase a Stereo Audio Isolation Transformer which should remove the buzzing noise completely.

 

[Rysdan]

I finally heard back from ASRock. They said it's a 'known mainboard issue' and to exchange it. I called up Micro Center tech support, the guy I spoke with agreed with ASRock and said he had the same issue himself when he bought the same board.