I have been researching this for a couple weeks and read what seems like hundreds of posts, tried all the suggestions, and have yet to find anything that fixes my problem.
To make a long story short, I recently built a new system (see parts list below) and when the graphics card does any sort of work (even moving the mouse over buttons in the browser) I can hear blips and blurps other computer sounds in the speakers. This isn't just noise or hissing. If the graphics card is working really hard (say in a NVIDIA demo or game) then the sounds are louder, if it just moving the mouse on the screen, the sound is quieter but still audible. The pitch of the sounds will change depending on the work load of the graphics card as well. Here are some things I know, have tried, etc.
Some other observations...The computer output goes via unbalanced cables to the mixer input. The mixer output goes to the monitors (speakers). If I unplug the cables going to the monitors, the buzzing computery sounds are no longer heard in the headphones and everything is perfect. As soon as I plug the cables from the monitors back in, the buzz returns. Turning the volume up on the mixer DOES increase the buzzing computery sounds, turning the volume up on the computer does not. I tried using balanced cables from the mixer to the monitors and that cut down on the noise in the speakers enough that it wasn't noticeable, but the sound is still in the headphones. I bought a HUM-X and tried using that to prevent ground loops and it didn't seem to do anything. If I plug the headphones directly into the sound card output then the sound is nice and clean. The same mixer was used in the previous build and there weren't any problems.
Sorry for the long post but I'm getting desperate.
Thanks for any help anyone can provide.
Component list:
Components outside computer:
To make a long story short, I recently built a new system (see parts list below) and when the graphics card does any sort of work (even moving the mouse over buttons in the browser) I can hear blips and blurps other computer sounds in the speakers. This isn't just noise or hissing. If the graphics card is working really hard (say in a NVIDIA demo or game) then the sounds are louder, if it just moving the mouse on the screen, the sound is quieter but still audible. The pitch of the sounds will change depending on the work load of the graphics card as well. Here are some things I know, have tried, etc.
■ Coil whine - this is not coil whine. The sounds are heard in the speakers and/or the headphones. There is no sound coming from the physical components themselves.
■ I am using a PCI sound card. I used the same sound card in my previous build and there were no problems
■ I have updated drivers, re-set the components, it's a fresh install of Windows 7, took the motherboard out, reseated that, moved the sound card to a different slot, moved the graphics card to a different slot, all without a change
■ I have used different cables to connect everything and that didn't help (one exception mentioned below)
■ I have tweaked with the bios settings recommended in other posts. These too had no affect
■ There aren't any inputs 'open'. In other words, there isn't a mike input left on or line input open.
■ The sounds are independent to volume of the computer output. If I turn up the volume of the computer output, the sound doesn't get worse. If I mute the computer output, the sound is still there
■ all components are plugged into one outlet via a power strip
■ nothing is over clocked (graphics card, CPU)
■ everything else on the machine works great. No over heating, no other problems of any kind
■ the power supply has relatively low output by todays standards but I'm not a gamer and don't have a lot of components so I didn't think I needed any more than 550w
Some other observations...The computer output goes via unbalanced cables to the mixer input. The mixer output goes to the monitors (speakers). If I unplug the cables going to the monitors, the buzzing computery sounds are no longer heard in the headphones and everything is perfect. As soon as I plug the cables from the monitors back in, the buzz returns. Turning the volume up on the mixer DOES increase the buzzing computery sounds, turning the volume up on the computer does not. I tried using balanced cables from the mixer to the monitors and that cut down on the noise in the speakers enough that it wasn't noticeable, but the sound is still in the headphones. I bought a HUM-X and tried using that to prevent ground loops and it didn't seem to do anything. If I plug the headphones directly into the sound card output then the sound is nice and clean. The same mixer was used in the previous build and there weren't any problems.
Sorry for the long post but I'm getting desperate.
Thanks for any help anyone can provide.
Component list:
■ Motherboard - ASROCK Z97 killer FATAL1TY
■ CPU: i5 4690K
■ Audio card: EMU 0404
■ Power supply: Corsair RM550
■ HD: Samsung 120 MB ssd (plus a couple high capacity HDDs)
■ Graphics Card: ASUS GTX 750ti
■ Case: Fractal design Define R5
■ Memory: 2x4 GB G-SKILL something or other (8 GB total)
Components outside computer:
■ Behringer EURO1002 mixer: Computer output goes into this
■ KRK Rokit 5 speakers: mixer outputs to these
■ Other inputs to mixer: Yamaha Keyboard
■ sennheiser headphones
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