hum noise when using amplifier.

Kilau

Kilau

Kilau

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Aberdream
Hello all,

I received a pair of KRK rockit 5 3g today. They work when plugging a phone or cd player into them, but when I plug them into my pc I get a humming noise, like you can hear the pc working through the speakers. When I move the mouse the sound intensifies.
Would and external sound card fix this problem? Or would you recommend a ground loop isolator. I'm currently just using the onboard sound card. My set up is:

Gigabyte 297X - UD3H-BK with Devils Canyon i7 4790k
Geforce 970 ex oc Black edition
Team vulcan red 16gb Ram ddr3 24000 mhz
and a 650 watt corsair

thanks!
 
Welcome to on board.

Please buy a sound card. Those speakers need it at the very least.

Or an external DAC. Anything that puts out an unamped signal as the krk will do that.

Also are you plugging them in on the back or using a front panel.
 
You'll get better sound quality from a sound card or a DAC than the onboard audio, so it's worth getting one. Could always try a ground loop isolator, as a short term solution.
 
Thank you for your replies.

What sound card would you recommend? And would this definitely stop that god forsaken hum?! I have tried both the front and back ports, but they both get the interference.

If I buy a ground loop isolator as a short term solution, what is the long term?

Thanks!
 
an external dac/soundcard would definitely stop the hum

An internal soundcard should, but some people have issues.
 
Ah right, cool.

Could you recommend me some external and internal sound cards? I'd really appreciate that!
 
I should point out that an external DAC/amp doesn't necessarily mean you will eliminate issues with noise or ground loops in your system.

I had terrible ground loop issues (scratchy noises when moving the mouse like yourself) with my old system (PC --> USB --> Yulong D100 MkII --> Woo Audio WA6SE). I managed to alleviate it to some degree through a combination of using cheap galvanic isolators, using a single supply point for the gear (i.e. a single wall socket), and a cheap mains conditioner/power strip (the conditioner didn't seem to do much at all).

I would recommend starting with making sure everything is grounded properly (there are plenty of online resources regarding this, pretty much all boils down to having a single ground path), if that doesn't help look into some ground loop isolators. The last step would be to look into an external DAC with fully balanced outputs (rule of thumb is to look and see if they have 3 pin XLR outputs) and run balanced interconnects to your Rockits.
 
the ASus Essence One for example has Balanced XLR outputs for active speakers like the rockits

Quite a few options for you to research but for a short term fix a Xonar DGX or Creative FX for £20 will in most instances fix the problem,
 
Sorry to bump this but...

I bought a focusrite sapphire 2i2 so I could use the balanced TRS outputs, this has unfortunately not fixed the problem. I don't think I described the original sound very well, it's less of a hum and more like higher pitched static (think dial up but less severe). The sound worsens when moving the mouse or moving a window.

I noticed the sound becomes particularly bad while using the BIOS.
I have tried swapping the usb port for the mouse.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1inBCaGdTpW

The link is a recording of the sound that the speakers make when you move the mouse.

edit: Just tried playing GTA5 and there was a constant loud buzz coming out of the speakers

Thanks!
 
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One with an optical/toslink input connection would be better really, as being fibre it uses light pulses rather than electrical wiring which can carry interference.

I'd imagine that you'd probably have to pay more for a DAC with balanced outputs and SPDIF. Cambridge Audio DACmagic Plus, is such an example for £250 from Richer Sounds. There may be cheaper alternatives though.

Ninja Pirate said:
I should point out that an external DAC/amp doesn't necessarily mean you will eliminate issues with noise or ground loops in your system.

I had terrible ground loop issues (scratchy noises when moving the mouse like yourself) with my old system (PC --> USB --> Yulong D100 MkII --> Woo Audio WA6SE). I managed to alleviate it to some degree through a combination of using cheap galvanic isolators, using a single supply point for the gear (i.e. a single wall socket), and a cheap mains conditioner/power strip (the conditioner didn't seem to do much at all).
Click to expand...

I notice that the D100 has optical/toslink input, is there some reason you didn't use that instead?

I would have thought using that connection would fare much better than USB, unless your one didn't have it.
 
I've suffered the same problem with both a xonar essence st and a yellotec puc balanced interface. Isolation transformers worked perfectly but due to the amount of in/out connections I had I needed a lot of them. I gave up in the end and just used toslink.
 
A Schiit Modi (optical version), which you can get for £90 from Electromod will totally isolate your sound from the PC.
You can find it by clicking on the Modi 2 link and it shows underneath as an option.
 
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