very strange problem with xonar DG

c.ruel · 6 Jan 2011 at 13:03

I recently bought a xonar DG and am very happy with it apart froma very strange problem I have, it crackles but not randomly. I have worked out the three things that seem to cause the crackling... and it is bizarre. When I am on the desktop idle there is no crackling, but if I scroll on my mouse wheel I get crackling. If I mouse my mouse over a hyperlink or some sort of object or click on an object I also get crackling but if I just move my mouse over nothing or click on nothing I get no crackling. Finally If a program like skype is loading and it has like a spinning animation at the start it kind of crackles in rhythm to the spinning.

It can't just be to do with my mouse because obviously programs loading cause the problem as well ... Does anyone have any idea what on other could be the problem!? This is so weird.

Philtor · 6 Jan 2011 at 14:23

Does the noise occur from the front panel jack as well? It could be a ground loop problem your are experiencing which is to do with how your case is grounded.

twist3d0n3 · 6 Jan 2011 at 15:03

is your soundcard right above your graphics card?

i took off the shield of my d2x ages ago as it wouldn't fit in with the graphics cards and waterblocks i had before... i've since lost the shield and now i get similar issues.

i think it's just EMI from the graphics card causing odd effects in the soundcard.

if you have some form of shielding, it'll probably help.

Auraomega · 7 Jan 2011 at 01:48

Definitely EMI, you'll notice it most when playing a game with high FPS as it's due to the graphics card. Anything with fast changing graphics will cause it and as silly as it sounds, scrolling a page quickly is one such case. There isn't much you can do as long as your DAC is in your PC.

c.ruel · 7 Jan 2011 at 22:27

Thanks for all the help guys, been busy so only just got round to having a good fiddle.

I sorted it out after about 2 minutes. Moving the headphones to the back jack stopped the crackling. I now use my speakers on the front ones when I want to listen to music and when I do that I can't hear the crackling over the music so it is fine. I guess my case isn't properly grounded or something.

Thanks again ... hope that helps anyone else with the same problem

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Marsman · 7 Jan 2011 at 22:41

It's probably not that your case is not grounded, it's probably that the front panel is causing a ground loop. Only way to get rid of it is to isolate the front panel from the rest of the case. This might be easy or not so easy, depending on the case. You could try a ferrite ring, and thread the cables from the front panel through it. They can help to reduce EMI/RFI.

pingu666 · 13 Jan 2011 at 16:05

i had this issue with my d2x, picked up noise from the pcie bus. scratch sound when i moved my mouse

Auraomega · 13 Jan 2011 at 17:05

Marsman said:
You could try a ferrite ring, and thread the cables from the front panel through it. They can help to reduce EMI/RFI.

Ferrite rings seem to either work really well or not at all, but if you can find one they're worth a punt. You can pick up rings which 'snap' around the cables, you see them a lot on USB devices actually.

pingu666 said:
i had this issue with my d2x, picked up noise from the pcie bus. scratch sound when i moved my mouse

I thought using it's own power cables meant this shouldn't happen, at least no dirty power from the mobo, you can still get interference from other cards and such?

Phill4321 · 13 Jan 2011 at 22:28

Got this exact same problem with the same card also. Seems to happen when the audio cables that connect the front jack are anywhere near a power cable inside I get some interference.