Noise while Moving Mouse USB Ground Loop

[Jarrett]

Are there varying degrees of this problem?

I have this problem and it is so slight. My amp, a Bryston B60, has to be at full volume and my ear at a good angle to the tweeter (or near it) to hear the noise. Even then, it is slight. I play music at a maximum 1/3 volume. It makes me wonder how far I might go to solve this. Maybe galvanic isolation?

 

[digitalfrost]

Cheapest solution: Onboard soundcard with SPDIF out into a DAC with SPDIF in. DAC best have 2pin DC connector, not 3pin. That or use DAC and amp with XLR.

 

[Blur]

Cheap shielded RCA cables might do the trick. I got some from Amazon for $8 that I can test with my D50s. The D50s picks up EMI pretty badly as I have it right next to a bunch of noisy cables. If the shielded RCA cables do the trick for me you can try that for a super cheap option.

Here are the cables I bought:
https://www.amazon.com/FosPower-Ste...ords=shielded+rca&qid=1580248904&s=aht&sr=1-6

Your problem is most likely not the amp as it is just amplifying what is coming in. PC output is terribly noisy most of the time. I've had this issue with multiple cheap DACs and PC listening via USB. Now you could simply use the FiiO to filter the sound and take it's output to the SP200. That would be a temporary fix for now. Once you DAC arrives, and if you have optical out on our MOBO, you can switch to optical and get away from some of that noise.

 

[kenshao]

Cheap shielded RCA cables might do the trick. I got some from Amazon for $8 that I can test with my D50s. The D50s picks up EMI pretty badly as I have it right next to a bunch of noisy cables. If the shielded RCA cables do the trick for me you can try that for a super cheap option.

Here are the cables I bought:
https://www.amazon.com/FosPower-Ste...ords=shielded+rca&qid=1580248904&s=aht&sr=1-6

Your problem is most likely not the amp as it is just amplifying what is coming in. PC output is terribly noisy most of the time. I've had this issue with multiple cheap DACs and PC listening via USB. Now you could simply use the FiiO to filter the sound and take it's output to the SP200. That would be a temporary fix for now. Once you DAC arrives, and if you have optical out on our MOBO, you can switch to optical and get away from some of that noise.

I was lucky enough to have a very old astro mixamp that I'm using as a DAC getting the sound from PC using toslink. If that hadn't worked i'd be going with your suggestion to use the FiiO to try to filter the noise next!

 

[Jinjuku]

Have you tried an add on USB PCI-E card?

 

[Nicolaas]

In NL, 220 V wall outlets in living rooms etc do not have any ground connection. So when plugging in your laptop with a plug having a ground connection then this ground connection is NOT connected to ground in the wall outlet and thus your laptop is not ground earthed!
Many people are using extension cords with a small red light on/off switch and outlets with ground earth. When you put all your gear on these kind of extension cord grounded outlets you will definitely create ground loops between your laptop and DAC etc. The simple solution: Create an extension cord with a 220 V outlet without ground earth. Then connect your laptop to this outlet which does not have ground earth. From that moment on the connection between laptop and DAC is dead silent. And thus you will not have to invest in expensive usb isolators etc.
Just read: from 1996 wall outlets in dry non technical rooms like living rooms also must have ground earth. So the majority of living rooms in NL (built before 1996) do not have wall outlets with ground earth and laptops in living rooms will not be grounded in these older houses.
Ground fault circuit breakers are mandatory overhere as far as I know.
So all my gear like laptop, TV, amplifier, tuner, dac, Tv setopbox, landline phone do NOT have a ground connection and did not have a ground connection for the past 30 years. But the ground lines of these devices have been mutually connected via the ground line of the 8 times 220 V outlet device thus creating ground loops.
Another great and cheap option for all could be to connect your laptop via a 100 VA safety isolating transformer!

 

[Audimon]

Hi everyone.

I was lookinng for a solution myself awhile ago. So I thought I'd register on this nice forum to share my experience overcoming the issue.

I had this problem with my RME ADI-2 DAC fs via Chord USB cable from a self built pc with an ASUS X99-PRO/USB 3.1 motherboard.
Although I am sure it doesn't matter what hardware you are running and you may get ground loop.

When running headphones from the DAC itself it was quiet but further using an amplifier at higher volume I could hear some background hum and even more noise when moving the mouse especially over the music player window.

I've seen people buying special devices to eliminate the noise, some were cheap, others expensive.

So here is a free solution that worked for me.

The problem was easily solved by covering a ground contact inside the USB cable with a small piece of electric tape. I did that on the pc side, though the side shouldn't matter.

No usb ground, no ground loop, perfect silence now. Pretty sure absence of usb ground won't hurt me in this case.

 

[BrokenOath]

Hey Guy,

my setup

SMSL SU8 DAC: USB to PC
RCA To SMSL SP200 Amp
Single ended to HD6XX

XLR cable are still shipping for HD6XX and for the Connection between DAC and Amp.


I get Noises when I move the mouse, move windows and scroll on my screen.

I changed USB Ports and tried a passive hub.
I changed the Power Brick to an independent outlet with surge protection.

My guess is the graphic card is giving noises to the USB and I need some kind of USB-noise-filter.

I thought this shouldn’t happen since my Motherboard is not even 3 years old.

Do you have an Idea?

EDIT
Ground Loop caused by USB.
Optical fixed it or XLR Amp to DAC fixed it.

I had a similar issue and found out that the noise was being generated by anything connected to the USB-C port of my laptop, even just a USB cable; that USB cable seems to be served as an antenna for EMI noise. I inadvertently disconnected a multi-port-HUB that was connected to my laptop's USB-C port and the noise went away.