JBL LSR305's buzzing

Associate
Joined
10 Sep 2006
Posts
1,491
Location
UK
Just bought these speakers recently but have been having issues with a buzz + highish pitch whine while in windows with the speakers connected straight into my onboard sound with a basic 1/4" TS to 3.5mm cable. The noise gets quieter/louder according to the volume knob on the back and at high/max volume you can basically hear it form the other side of the house so it's definitely not the regular amp "hiss" that these are known for. Opening or clicking stuff in windows, or even just using the scroll wheel makes a scratchy sound and sometimes makes the buzz stop for half a second or so, and then it continues.

What's worse is when playing a game the buzz gets much louder and changes pitch according to what ever my FPS is, higher fps = higher pitch buzz, lower fps = lower pitch buzz, but the volume of the buzz only changes if I adjust the volume knob on the speakers. Changing windows volume or muting makes no difference whatsoever and the buzz doesn't really change from game to game. The only way to stop the noise is to take the 3.5mm jack out.

I've connected the JBL's to my Laptop (even plugged it in the same outlet where my rig/JBL's are) and it's dead silent, no noise whatsoever, same goes for my phone

I really don't want to have to get rid of these because I do really like their sound. My previous speakers were Edifier R1900TII's that weren't giving me any weird noises if that helps

Specs:

5820K
GA-X99-SLI
16gb Corsair Vengeance
Gigabyte 7970 Windforce
EVGA G2 650 PSU
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2009
Posts
11,175
Possible that it's a ground loop. The Edifier's may not have a ground wire, so that could be why you did not get this when using them.

Two things you can try. One is a ground loop isolator. RCA or 3.5mm, depending on which connection type you're using.

The second and better solution would be a DAC with optical input. Motherboard will need optical output, otherwise you might need a sound card if there is no SPDIF header on the board.

Ground loop isolator's try to remove the noise, but they still connect the speakers to the PC electrically via a copper cable, so they may work effectively or maybe only partially. Fibre optic though, uses light pulses to transfer data, which is not affected by electrical interference as there is no copper wiring.
 
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