Hello all.
I have a sound interference issue, which is driving me mad. Let me elaborate.
I won’t go into detailed PC specs as I’m not sure that’d be necessary, but this is it in brief:
i5 10600k
MSI Z490 Gaming Edge MB.
RTX 3080
EVGA 750W SuperNOVA G2 PSU.
I recently bought a new VRR TV (Samsung 75” Q95T, which is brilliant by the way) for the living room, so I decided to run some cables to it, from my bedroom above, where my PC lives. I ran 5 meter lengths each of HDMI (into the One Connect box), optical (into my Rotel processor) and a USB cable, which connects and extends via a powered hub in the living room, to which I have a keyboard, mouse, two game controllers and sometimes headphones connected. I quickly discovered that I have some awful interference when gaming, and also at other times, even when component stress is very low. I use Launchbox, for example, which is front end software primarily for use with emulation. It’s certainly not remotely stressful for a system like this, but I get variable buzzing and interference when scrolling through games on that. If I load up World of Warcraft, then turn the game audio down in the interface and just move the camera around, it sounds awful, again with variable noises etc coming through my speakers.
I usually have this PC connected to a Denon surround amp in the bedroom, also via a shorter optical cable which I just unplug and change for the newer longer cable, and I have no sound issues at all with that. That being the case, I initially laid the blame on one of the cables with them being the new addition. To test the cables further, I connected all three of them to a PS4 Pro, only to find that all three cables work flawlessly, with no sound issues whatsoever. So that 99% rules a bad cable out I concluded.
Sound duties on my PC were being carried out by the onboard audio, so to eliminate that from the equation, I bought a Sound BlasterX AE-5 (disabling the onboard audio it goes without saying), hoping that would save the day, especially with it being so well reviewed too. However, no, it was just the same. I then tried an external DAC (Sound Blaster X3) but again, no difference.
Another thing is that if I use my headphones on the hub in the living room to pick up the sound through USB, the sound is perfect.
At first I was wondering if it was the video card, as I’ve read about people having issues with Nvidia GPUs causing sound interference, but then, surely I’d hear that when the sound is sent to my Denon amp. Or if it’s some kind of power issue. I’m aware of ground loop problems (which I know little about) but any forums I’ve read don’t quite hit the mark with exactly what I’m experiencing, with a lot of examples not quite being the same as mine.
Has anyone had this same issue or something similar?
Any advice would be great.
EDIT: After typing this out, I have since tried unplugging the HDMI cable, which I should’ve done sooner. I can confirm that the sound problems stop when this is not connected. So, would that make it a grounding issue with the components not being plugged into the same outlet? I’m in the UK, by the way, if that makes a difference.
I have a sound interference issue, which is driving me mad. Let me elaborate.
I won’t go into detailed PC specs as I’m not sure that’d be necessary, but this is it in brief:
i5 10600k
MSI Z490 Gaming Edge MB.
RTX 3080
EVGA 750W SuperNOVA G2 PSU.
I recently bought a new VRR TV (Samsung 75” Q95T, which is brilliant by the way) for the living room, so I decided to run some cables to it, from my bedroom above, where my PC lives. I ran 5 meter lengths each of HDMI (into the One Connect box), optical (into my Rotel processor) and a USB cable, which connects and extends via a powered hub in the living room, to which I have a keyboard, mouse, two game controllers and sometimes headphones connected. I quickly discovered that I have some awful interference when gaming, and also at other times, even when component stress is very low. I use Launchbox, for example, which is front end software primarily for use with emulation. It’s certainly not remotely stressful for a system like this, but I get variable buzzing and interference when scrolling through games on that. If I load up World of Warcraft, then turn the game audio down in the interface and just move the camera around, it sounds awful, again with variable noises etc coming through my speakers.
I usually have this PC connected to a Denon surround amp in the bedroom, also via a shorter optical cable which I just unplug and change for the newer longer cable, and I have no sound issues at all with that. That being the case, I initially laid the blame on one of the cables with them being the new addition. To test the cables further, I connected all three of them to a PS4 Pro, only to find that all three cables work flawlessly, with no sound issues whatsoever. So that 99% rules a bad cable out I concluded.
Sound duties on my PC were being carried out by the onboard audio, so to eliminate that from the equation, I bought a Sound BlasterX AE-5 (disabling the onboard audio it goes without saying), hoping that would save the day, especially with it being so well reviewed too. However, no, it was just the same. I then tried an external DAC (Sound Blaster X3) but again, no difference.
Another thing is that if I use my headphones on the hub in the living room to pick up the sound through USB, the sound is perfect.
At first I was wondering if it was the video card, as I’ve read about people having issues with Nvidia GPUs causing sound interference, but then, surely I’d hear that when the sound is sent to my Denon amp. Or if it’s some kind of power issue. I’m aware of ground loop problems (which I know little about) but any forums I’ve read don’t quite hit the mark with exactly what I’m experiencing, with a lot of examples not quite being the same as mine.
Has anyone had this same issue or something similar?
Any advice would be great.
EDIT: After typing this out, I have since tried unplugging the HDMI cable, which I should’ve done sooner. I can confirm that the sound problems stop when this is not connected. So, would that make it a grounding issue with the components not being plugged into the same outlet? I’m in the UK, by the way, if that makes a difference.