What could be causing this unusual speaker buzz?
February 13, 2010 1:20 PM Subscribe
What is this quiet buzz that sometimes comes out of one of my speakers and that seems to be related to a software crash?
I know speaker buzzing questions have been asked here in the past, but this seems to be a relatively unusual problem and I'm not sure where to begin in isolating it.
I produce music on a desktop computer, and I have done this for a few years, in a couple different apartments, and with a couple different computers and computer monitors. During maybe about 40% of the time that I have my computer/speakers on, I will hear a quiet, irregular buzzing coming from one of the speakers. It doesn't matter if sound is coming out of the speaker or not. Sometimes it'll come from one speaker, sometimes the other speaker, but only ever one speaker. The volume of the buzz changes seemingly at random, too. It's never very loud to the point where I can't stand to work on the music (trying to critically mix music with it would be a problem, but I tend to leave mixing to others anyway), but it concerns me because I'm guessing it's electrical in nature and it seems to be completely random in terms of what I'm doing and when it happens. I do not have a cell phone near the computer or speakers.
What really surprised me just a few minutes ago, and had never happened before, was that the buzz was ongoing for a few minutes while I was working in my music program, Sonar - not unusual - but at one point, the buzz suddenly stopped, and Sonar crashed at the very same time. The whole computer didn't crash, but the program gave me an error message and said it had to close exactly when the buzzing stopped. I hadn't done anything weird in the program to cause this crash, was just sitting here and drawing in notes in the keyboard window, so it seems whatever is screwing with the speakers is also screwing with the computer, obviously more worrying.
Some more background info: the mere buzzing problem has been coming and going for the last couple years. I had hoped that maybe something was wrong with my old computer (actually there was plenty wrong with my old computer, which is why I replaced it), or maybe there was some sort of weird electrical issue with the old apartment, but then I moved to a different apartment and got a new computer, as well as a flat-screen monitor to replace my gigantic CRT, and it's still happening. The only hardware items that have remained constant during the time I've been experiencing the occasional buzzing are my TrippLite Isotel 6-outlet surge protector, which all of my computer equipment and speakers are plugged into, and my Tascam TAVLX5 VL-X5 Nearfield Monitors, and my very basic keyboard and mouse.
Any ideas what could be causing this?
I know speaker buzzing questions have been asked here in the past, but this seems to be a relatively unusual problem and I'm not sure where to begin in isolating it.
I produce music on a desktop computer, and I have done this for a few years, in a couple different apartments, and with a couple different computers and computer monitors. During maybe about 40% of the time that I have my computer/speakers on, I will hear a quiet, irregular buzzing coming from one of the speakers. It doesn't matter if sound is coming out of the speaker or not. Sometimes it'll come from one speaker, sometimes the other speaker, but only ever one speaker. The volume of the buzz changes seemingly at random, too. It's never very loud to the point where I can't stand to work on the music (trying to critically mix music with it would be a problem, but I tend to leave mixing to others anyway), but it concerns me because I'm guessing it's electrical in nature and it seems to be completely random in terms of what I'm doing and when it happens. I do not have a cell phone near the computer or speakers.
What really surprised me just a few minutes ago, and had never happened before, was that the buzz was ongoing for a few minutes while I was working in my music program, Sonar - not unusual - but at one point, the buzz suddenly stopped, and Sonar crashed at the very same time. The whole computer didn't crash, but the program gave me an error message and said it had to close exactly when the buzzing stopped. I hadn't done anything weird in the program to cause this crash, was just sitting here and drawing in notes in the keyboard window, so it seems whatever is screwing with the speakers is also screwing with the computer, obviously more worrying.
Some more background info: the mere buzzing problem has been coming and going for the last couple years. I had hoped that maybe something was wrong with my old computer (actually there was plenty wrong with my old computer, which is why I replaced it), or maybe there was some sort of weird electrical issue with the old apartment, but then I moved to a different apartment and got a new computer, as well as a flat-screen monitor to replace my gigantic CRT, and it's still happening. The only hardware items that have remained constant during the time I've been experiencing the occasional buzzing are my TrippLite Isotel 6-outlet surge protector, which all of my computer equipment and speakers are plugged into, and my Tascam TAVLX5 VL-X5 Nearfield Monitors, and my very basic keyboard and mouse.
Any ideas what could be causing this?
Try some different speakers (or even headphones) and see if the problem persists. If it does, it's probably a hardware issue with the sound card. If not, it's probably the speakers.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:29 PM on February 13, 2010
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:29 PM on February 13, 2010
Response by poster: Oh, I just remembered something else weird. One time recently, the buzz was coming in through a dynamic mic signal (the mic was a Shure beta 57). I was wearing headphones and trying to track vocals, and I would only hear the buzz when I had the track set to record and I was monitoring the input. When I turned the input monitor off, I no longer heard it in the headphones. However, if I tried recording, the buzz would get recorded as well. At that time I just went unplugging stuff and plugging things back in, and eventually I moved the main power cable a certain way and the buzzing stopped. I tried all that stuff today and it didn't make a difference. That microphone is usually not plugged in, and of all the times I've used it that was the only time I got the buzz in that particular manner. Unfortunately I can't remember if the speakers were turned on or off when that was happening.
posted by wondermouse at 1:41 PM on February 13, 2010
posted by wondermouse at 1:41 PM on February 13, 2010
Response by poster: Sorry, yet further info that may be helpful: I've had two different audio cards during this time, but both were M-Audio. The first was an M-Audio 2496, and the card I have now is an M-Audio Delta 1010LT. I've googled m-audio buzz a little bit to see if others have this problem, and it's unclear if anyone else is having the same problem, though others have complained about buzzing/fizzling noises. After my program crashed today, I turned everything off, including the surge protector, and unplugged that from the wall for a few seconds. Then plugged it back in and turned everything back on. The buzzing is gone, for now. Also, it is unrelated to my monitor being turned on or off. That was one of the first things I thought of when this all started.
Is it possible this could be coming from the surge protector?
posted by wondermouse at 2:17 PM on February 13, 2010
Is it possible this could be coming from the surge protector?
posted by wondermouse at 2:17 PM on February 13, 2010
Please forgive me for stating the obvious since you are obviously way savvier than I am about hardware issues, but all of my computer speaker buzzing problems have been caused by cellphone interference. Could that be the culprit?
posted by roger ackroyd at 3:13 PM on February 13, 2010
posted by roger ackroyd at 3:13 PM on February 13, 2010
It may be worth checking your soundcard drivers for an update; if there's a software bug, it might look like this- but I suspect a ground loop through your components. Is everything on the same AC leg?
posted by jenkinsEar at 4:07 PM on February 13, 2010
posted by jenkinsEar at 4:07 PM on February 13, 2010
I did read that you don't have cell interference and I know it may annoy but it could be interference from any number of electronics in the house that have the fcc statement on them. Also, my old roommates iphone had the amazing ability to cause speaker buzz through at least two walls when he was using it. So you may try to be aware of neighbor causes although I suppose you shouldn't walk over and start accusing, just be aware.
Do you use your recording computer to connect to the internet? Wireless or Ethernet?
Lastly, it could be actual speaker material related:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4856392_troubleshoot-buzzing-sound-stereo-speakers.html
posted by occidental at 4:10 PM on February 13, 2010
Do you use your recording computer to connect to the internet? Wireless or Ethernet?
Lastly, it could be actual speaker material related:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4856392_troubleshoot-buzzing-sound-stereo-speakers.html
posted by occidental at 4:10 PM on February 13, 2010
seconding a grounding problem. A lot of those computer speakers aren't well grounded, mine included.
posted by Ironmouth at 4:48 PM on February 13, 2010
posted by Ironmouth at 4:48 PM on February 13, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for the responses. The computer is never online, and I am relatively certain it's not caused by cell phone interference as I've heard what that sounds like. Everything hooked up to the computer, including the computer itself, is plugged into the same surge protector.
If it's a grounding problem within the speaker, would it only happen sometimes, and only in one speaker or the other? I don't think it's ever actually come from both speakers at the same time. And would it randomly start and (sometimes) later stop without my jiggling anything around?
posted by wondermouse at 5:44 PM on February 13, 2010
If it's a grounding problem within the speaker, would it only happen sometimes, and only in one speaker or the other? I don't think it's ever actually come from both speakers at the same time. And would it randomly start and (sometimes) later stop without my jiggling anything around?
posted by wondermouse at 5:44 PM on February 13, 2010
I would third the grounding problem, but to go further, I would say that the intermittent-ness of it is related to your hard drive.
I have had this happen (seemingly at random) when connecting many different models of audio interfaces into other systems (speaker systems, recording systems, live sound systems). It sounds almost like a pulsing whine, correct?
I have found that usually when this happens I can watch my hard drive activity parallel the buzz coming from the speakers.
Then best way to isolate this out is to pin-1 lift (ground lift, earth lift) the lines to your speakers. Note: DO NOT USE A POWER GROUND-LIFT TO REMOVE THE GROUND FROM THE POWER JACK. It is dangerous and could kill you and/or destroy your equipment if your speakers experience a power spike or the amplifiers fry themselves.
In addition to ground lifting, I would suggest using some sort of isolation transformer to get rid of the possibility of any DC offset on the signal.
An excellent box that does both of these things is the Radial JPC:
http://www.radialeng.com/di-jpc.htm
One other thing to note. If you are using an external sound interface, make sure that the shield of the USB or Firewire cable is indeed making contact. I've found with my Digidesign MBox2 Mini, that even if I have grounded and isolated properly, sometimes I will run into the same buzzing-hum. Eventually I found that was because the female USB jack on the MBox2 mini wasn't making proper contact with the shield of the USB cable.
Good luck.
posted by aloiv2 at 12:46 PM on February 14, 2010
I have had this happen (seemingly at random) when connecting many different models of audio interfaces into other systems (speaker systems, recording systems, live sound systems). It sounds almost like a pulsing whine, correct?
I have found that usually when this happens I can watch my hard drive activity parallel the buzz coming from the speakers.
Then best way to isolate this out is to pin-1 lift (ground lift, earth lift) the lines to your speakers. Note: DO NOT USE A POWER GROUND-LIFT TO REMOVE THE GROUND FROM THE POWER JACK. It is dangerous and could kill you and/or destroy your equipment if your speakers experience a power spike or the amplifiers fry themselves.
In addition to ground lifting, I would suggest using some sort of isolation transformer to get rid of the possibility of any DC offset on the signal.
An excellent box that does both of these things is the Radial JPC:
http://www.radialeng.com/di-jpc.htm
One other thing to note. If you are using an external sound interface, make sure that the shield of the USB or Firewire cable is indeed making contact. I've found with my Digidesign MBox2 Mini, that even if I have grounded and isolated properly, sometimes I will run into the same buzzing-hum. Eventually I found that was because the female USB jack on the MBox2 mini wasn't making proper contact with the shield of the USB cable.
Good luck.
posted by aloiv2 at 12:46 PM on February 14, 2010
Response by poster: aloiv2, it does not sound like a pulsing whine. It's more of a subtle hum/buzz that occasionally changes in volume or goes away, and it occurs in either speaker but not both simultaneously. There are entire days where I don't hear it at all, and other times it'll start seemingly at random while I'm working or even while I just have the computer sitting on.
Thanks for the link - I might end up needing something like that regardless of what's causing this. I am not using an external sound interface. The magic of the M-Audio Delta 1010LT is that it's got a breakout cable with XLR and RCA jacks. When I use my mic, I plug that into the XLR. My speakers are plugged into RCA outputs. With my old computer and old sound card, the speakers still went through the RCA output, but I didn't record audio on that computer.
posted by wondermouse at 3:03 PM on February 14, 2010
Thanks for the link - I might end up needing something like that regardless of what's causing this. I am not using an external sound interface. The magic of the M-Audio Delta 1010LT is that it's got a breakout cable with XLR and RCA jacks. When I use my mic, I plug that into the XLR. My speakers are plugged into RCA outputs. With my old computer and old sound card, the speakers still went through the RCA output, but I didn't record audio on that computer.
posted by wondermouse at 3:03 PM on February 14, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Old Geezer at 1:25 PM on February 13, 2010