3070ti FE Active Monitor Speaker Buzz (Under high power usage)

[Rowan88]

They are good/popular speakers to be fair haha.

I supose my only options here then are:

1) Upgrade to an OPTICAL/SPDIF/ADAT audio interface and "hope" the noise is only caused through USB and that it will solve the issue (cheapest is around £350)
2) Keep the setup for guitar input/playback only and buy new speakers for gaming, and if so I would need to get a hold of cheap USB powered speakers to make sure its not going to happen with "every" USB connected audio device and if so then move onto 3.5mm or test OPTICAL speakers (assume bluetooth speakers are not worth it?)

That isn't seperating the power and source necessarily especially inside the unit if they've been a bit lazy with design. One thing I couldn't see clearly from your posts is does your version of the unit take the power and data on the same cable, or is it seperate cables?

That's why I've suggested the Douk units above on the rainforest, easy return, but would be an easy way to rule out the interface; the Q2 has a seperate USB power and USB input (but does admittedly read like it draws power from the data source as well); whilst the K2 is completely seperated data via USB, power via barrel jacked wall wart. Both take optical also.

The Scarlett 2i2 Gen 2 only has the 1 USB 2.0 Type 2 connection coming out the back of the unit to the PC, so assuming this is DATA and POWER.
I can't see the K2 but I see the K5 which has a barrel connected power and optical output, might be worth trying that for £81.
I'll maybe see what DACs are avaliable with OPTICAL for PC connection and seperate power. Some I seen including this only have RCA connections at the back which is "unbalanced" so I would need to change my current cables to RCA to 1/4" or buy a converted for each.

 

[Rowan88]

This is really weird. Im super invested in the outcome though.

Welcome to my hell! lol

 

[Alexrose1uk]

They are good/popular speakers to be fair haha.

I supose my only options here then are:

1) Upgrade to an OPTICAL/SPDIF/ADAT audio interface and "hope" the noise is only caused through USB and that it will solve the issue (cheapest is around £350)
2) Keep the setup for guitar input/playback only and buy new speakers for gaming, and if so I would need to get a hold of cheap USB powered speakers to make sure its not going to happen with "every" USB connected audio device and if so then move onto 3.5mm or test OPTICAL speakers (assume bluetooth speakers are not worth it?)




The Scarlett 2i2 Gen 2 only has the 1 USB 2.0 Type 2 connection coming out the back of the unit to the PC, so assuming this is DATA and POWER.
I can't see the K2 but I see the K5 which has a barrel connected power and optical output, might be worth trying that for £81.

Sorry for the typos, it was correct in my original post, but not in the follow up; its a Q2 Pro and the K5 from Douk. Both on rainforest so easy source to return

 

[Rowan88]

Sorry for the typo, it was correct in my original post, but not in the follow up; its a Q2 Pro and the K5 from Douk. Both on rainforest so easy source to return

Ah no worries. Both are the same price but must admit the Q2 PRO looks cleaner to use, has USB ports on top which I would never use so easy to purchase plastic cover clips to hide them.

If I purchase one as "test" to see if USB vs OPTICAL fixes the issue is there a difference between them or is there one I should go for over the other?

I only really need two outputs on the rear for the speaker and 1 x 1/4" jack on the front for the guitar.

EDIT: Sorry upon reading them more it looks like only the K5 has the 1/4" jack I need for the guitar, the Q2 PRO only has 3.5mm inputs on the front?

 

[Alexrose1uk]

My worry is that as mentioned the Q2 Pro takes power via USB as well it seems (or has the option), although it has a secondary source from a seperate USB, so there is a higher risk of a repeat with that unit, although the fact it has a USB hub etc is rather useful.
The K5 seems a bit more traditional; in that it has completely seperated power and data.

Both have optical though which is very handy.

As its the rainforest though, very easy to buy both (and an optical cable), see if one/either work, and return any/all as necessary. I'm assuming the K5 will come with the wallwart but haven't double checked that.

In terms of features, the Q2 Pro seems to have a USB hub, but also a microphone input.
The K5 appears to be a raw USB DAC/AMP, but does have optical output I believe as well as input.

 

[mmj_uk]

Yes I am sure its mainly down to the power output of the 3070ti FE. I even underclocked it with MSI Afterburner to 1890mhz @ .925v so help with high temperatures. I do believe the GPU is the "cause" of the issue, it was to see why its happening to my speakers on my PC rather than my sons lol.
Feels like the longest rabbit hole I've been down.

So it doesn't happen with the 3070Ti in your sons PC? are you sure about that or was it just that the noise from the actual GPU drown out the noise bleeding in to the speakers?

 

[Rowan88]

So it doesn't happen with the 3070Ti in your sons PC? are you sure about that or was it just that the noise from the actual GPU drown out the noise bleeding in to the speakers?

I am 99% sure we only heard the buzzing on his PC with my GPU from the physical card because the case was off at the time, there was no noticeable sound from the speakers themselves. This only happened when I introduced my PSU to his rig.


I'm currently looking at any Audio DACs on the Rainforest that have:

• 1/4" jack on front for guitar
• OPTICAL OUT on the back and seperate POWER that isn't USB to PC
• Prefer balanced 1/4" outputs on the back but most have RCA so will need to purchase additional cables or converters.

 

[mmj_uk]

My worry is that as mentioned the Q2 Pro takes power via USB as well it seems (or has the option), although it has a secondary source from a seperate USB, so there is a higher risk of a repeat with that unit, although the fact it has a USB hub etc is rather useful.

The USB DAC I had could be powered by both USB and a mains adapter and neither made any difference.

 

[Rowan88]

The USB DAC I had could be powered by both USB and a mains adapter and neither made any difference.

But regardless of using USB or mains adapter to power it did that have the option to connect the data through OPTICAL?

 

[mmj_uk]

But regardless of using USB or mains adapter to power it did that have the option to connect the data through OPTICAL?

I'm not sure what you mean? isn't data the only the thing being transferred through optical? that's why it stopped the noise because it didn't have the ground connection between the PC and speakers causing a loop like a USB cable does.

 

[mmj_uk]

There are some devices like the DacMagic 200M that have a ground lift on the USB input.

 

[Rowan88]

I'm not sure what you mean? isn't data the only the thing being transferred through optical? that's why it stopped the noise because it didn't have the ground connection between the PC and speakers causing a loop like a USB cable does.

Apologies I misread, I assumed you meant you had similar setup and used OPTICAL and it did not fix it so you used headphones haha.

The main two devices I have seen to try are Douk K5 (£81) and FX-AUDIO X6 (£55). As mentioned both only have RCA on the rear so I would need to buy additional cables.
Although they are 6.25mm "HEADPHONE" ports, I assume I will still be able to connect my 1/4" jack as input for guitar?

My other worry comes from using this set up is "if I start using unbalanced connections that may also cause interferance, so I may fix one problem and create another" lol

 

[mmj_uk]

Apologies I misread, I assumed you meant you had similar setup and used OPTICAL and it did not fix it so you used headphones haha.

No like I said optical is the only way I was ever able to fix it because it doesn't have a ground wire running through it like USB cables do.

 

[Alexrose1uk]

I suspect for the Douk K5 its a pure 6.35mm headphone amplifier output only (and looking at it, the FX6 mini is the same, they're amplified outputs only); guitar would need to be connected via a different method. The Q2 Pro supports a mic jack input but I think that's going to cause additional headaches, although I'm going to guess 6.35mm to mic jack adaptors exist haha

That said, if the alternate device is handling the speakers and output without issue; your original interface could still be used as INPUT only; as I'm assuming it passes the guitar input through to the PC with no issues or problematic latency; it's just the output that has been the issue; as ultimately we're trying to resolve the hum being induced on the output and decouple the problems. If the input was fine (and it sounds like it was as you mentioned connecting headphones to the original interface is fine), then you should be able to run these as a stack, with the original interface as the input; and the new interface as DAC/Output only. Not as neat, but sometimes the simplest solution is just that...

 

[mmj_uk]

There are some devices like the DacMagic 200M that have a ground lift on the USB input.

Rear panel connections | Cambridge Audio

1. Unbalanced audio outputs – Outputs for use with unbalanced RCA cables. 2. Balanced audio outputs – Outputs for use with balanced XLR cables. Suitable for when a longer connection is needed between the DacMagic 200M, and an amplifier.

manuals.cambridgeaudio.com

5. Ground/Lift switch – "When connected to a PC via USB, and with the switch set to ‘ground’, the DacMagic 200M will ground itself via the USB connection. Setting the switch to ‘lift’ will ground the device via an internal network to reduce hum in case of ground loops."

 

[Rowan88]

No like I said optical is the only way I was ever able to fix it because it doesn't have a ground wire running through it like USB cables do.

Now I understand

I suspect for the Douk K5 its a pure 6.25mm headphone amplifier output only; guitar would need to be connected via a different method. The Q2 supports a mic jack input but I think that's going to cause additional headaches, although I'm going to guess 6.25mm to mic jack adaptors exist haha

That said, if the alternate device is handling the speakers and output; your original interface could still be used as INPUT only; as I'm assuming it passes the guitar input through to the PC with no issues; it's just the output that has been the issue; as ultimately we're trying to resolve the hum being induced on the output and decouple the problems. If the input was fine (and it sounds like it was as you mentioned connecting headphones to the original interface is fine), then you should be able to run these as a stack, with the original interface as the input; and the new interface as DAC/Output only. Not as neat, but sometimes the simplest solution is just that...

Yes the more I research this I will need a DAC with at least 1 x 6.35mm "INPUT" not output for this to work how it should.
As you say I could keep the Scarlett connected via USB and only use it as an input device with no speakers connected to the output rear, but I would need to see if the plugin software can let you change "INPUT = SCARLETT" and "OUTPUT = OPTICAL DAC w/ speakers connected"
Plugins I mainly use are just NeuralDSP and STLTones ones.

Rear panel connections | Cambridge Audio

1. Unbalanced audio outputs – Outputs for use with unbalanced RCA cables. 2. Balanced audio outputs – Outputs for use with balanced XLR cables. Suitable for when a longer connection is needed between the DacMagic 200M, and an amplifier.

manuals.cambridgeaudio.com

5. Ground/Lift switch – "When connected to a PC via USB, and with the switch set to ‘ground’, the DacMagic 200M will ground itself via the USB connection. Setting the switch to ‘lift’ will ground the device via an internal network to reduce hum in case of ground loops."

Looks like it would have the advantages I need, so its on par with getting this or the newer Focusrite Scarlett devices around £350.

 

[Alexrose1uk]

Yes the more I research this I will need a DAC with at least 1 x 6.35mm "INPUT" not output for this to work how it should.
As you say I could keep the Scarlett connected via USB and only use it as an input device with no speakers connected to the output rear, but I would need to see if the plugin software can let you change "INPUT = SCARLETT" and "OUTPUT = OPTICAL DAC w/ speakers connected"
Plugins I mainly use are just NeuralDSP and STLTones ones.

Most DACs will only take thier input from one audio source at a time; so bear that in mind if you were wanting to hear the PC and the guitar at the same time; thats one reason why in many cases you have a seperate interfaces for input and output; or a specialist interface
I would be surprised if your software WON'T let you change output though, as that's fairly basic functionality; or at least if it doesn't, it defaults to whatever the PC is outputting from; in which case as you say, you just have Input as Scarlett; and set windows default output to the new DAC/Amp

The DACMagic mentioned above doesn't have any suitable inputs for the guitar either; so this is definately something you'd want to look at, and would open options to considerably cheaper options than the newer Focusright device.

Edit: For what its worth, it looks like with the newest 2i2 4th generation, they've split the data and power USBs; or at least added a secondary power input, but the downside is it does appear to be shared/supplementary power; so unfortunately no guarantee that'd resolve your issue.

 

[Rowan88]

Audient ID14 is another one I am seeing, if I wanted to ditch the Scarlett 2i2.
£179 and if I am correct has two inputs (I only need one for the guitar), 4x TRS outputs (I only need two for the speakers but supose good idea if I wanted two speakers for guitar playback and two speakers for music playback), OPTICAL input which I assume would connect to the PC and USB-C which I assumes powers it which I could connect to the a UK wall plug adapter rather than PC.

I do see they have a ID4, which looks to be the single/solo version for £30 cheaper. Only issue was it didn't have OPTICAL.

 

[mmj_uk]

The DACMagic mentioned above doesn't have any suitable inputs for the guitar either; so this is definately something you'd want to look at, and would open options to considerably cheaper options than the newer Focusright device.

Yeah I just wanted to highlight the ground lift switch which points to it being a fairly common issue with USB connected DAC's.

 

[Alexrose1uk]

Yeah, it does seem it, as I noticed a few other recording devices seem to have it; so probably more common in a recording environment.

Rowan - looking at alternative audio interfaces, I saw recommendations for the Roland Duo Capture EX, and similar (and I note thier Rubix 22 interface has a similar USB ground option to the DAC Magic), and the Steinberg UR22/C (and I notice this seems to have a switch to switch the power sources), in similar price margin to the 2i2; and the feedback seemed to be they were actually better than the 2i2 due to lower latency etc

So a few options here; and realistically, if you make use of the rainforest, you can easily cycle through them and see what works best for you, and return anything quite easily.

It's funny, in years gone by I actually took and achieved a music tech qualification; things have moved on quite a lot in the last 20 years though!