essence stx (Microphone buzzing/static noise)

a66as · 17 Jan 2016 at 22:36

Hey guys, when ever i plug a mic into my essence stx over skype and games i get complaints of buzzing and static noise coming from my mic, is my sound card faulty?

Marsman · 17 Jan 2016 at 23:10

Could be interference, rather than a fault. Have you had this issue since you got the STX, or has it only started more recently?

a66as · 17 Jan 2016 at 23:37

It has been happening for a while, i am using onboard and the problem went away

Marsman · 18 Jan 2016 at 13:53

Did it start after adding something new? second GPU for example.

Have you noticed any effect on the audio output, or is it just microphone?

a66as · 19 Jan 2016 at 12:04

Its been happening for a while but i always thought it was the mic, i switched it to onboard after a friend complained and the problem was gone. Sound out of it is fine though

darreny · 19 Jan 2016 at 13:00

Was it just one cable from the mic, any other connections touching the soundcard or the chassis?

[HB]Rugrat · 19 Jan 2016 at 18:09

I had the same problem with the same card after adding a second graphics card. If you haven't added a second card, have you tried moving the sound card to a slot further away from the gpu?

a66as · 19 Jan 2016 at 19:39

I have sli too, how did you end up fixing it?

my onboard sound isnt that bad but dont want to end up selling this for half the price

[HB]Rugrat · 19 Jan 2016 at 19:53

I didn't. I got an external soundcard and my beloved stx is now sat in a box awaiting me pulling my finger out and selling it

darreny · 19 Jan 2016 at 20:04

I'm after one if anyone's putting there's on mm

[HB]Rugrat · 19 Jan 2016 at 20:09

650 more posts and I'm in... Well, 649 now

UKMach · 20 Jan 2016 at 05:59

I hate problems like this as in my experience they are hard to solve without buying new kit. Is it just your friends that can hear the buzzing/static or can you also hear it through your speakers? Have you tried a different mic or what rugrat stated with moving your sound card to a different pcie slot? Sounds like it could be some sort of feedback/ground loop? Wild solution but is your mobo set right and not shorting anywhere. Sometimes these things disappear when removing all components from a system, giving them a clean and just setting them back up tidy.

Your mic lead isnt crossing any power cables?

Marsman · 20 Jan 2016 at 11:31

Rather odd that this affects a card with an EMI shield (even though they are not the final word in stopping EMI), but does not affect onboard audio, which more often than not is worse for picking up EMI than any sound card.

I remember there was a member some time ago who had the same problem with his STX; interference on microphone but not the audio output. He never did manage to solve the problem; I don't know what he ended up doing. He had the issue with onboard as well though, from what I remember.

OP, can you not just use the microphone out from the motherboard and continue to use the STX for audio for headphones or headphone part of your headset?

[HB]Rugrat · 20 Jan 2016 at 18:43

Marsman said:
Rather odd that this affects a card with an EMI shield (even though they are not the final word in stopping EMI), but does not affect onboard audio, which more often than not is worse for picking up EMI than any sound card.

I remember there was a member some time ago who had the same problem with his STX; interference on microphone but not the audio output. He never did manage to solve the problem; I don't know what he ended up doing. He had the issue with onboard as well though, from what I remember.

OP, can you not just use the microphone out from the motherboard and continue to use the STX for audio for headphones or headphone part of your headset?

When I was trying to fix mine I read that the emi shield doesn't cover the chip responsible for the mic.