High pitched Ticking/Screeching through monitors (non-KPA related)

    Ok guys, here's a prob that's driving me nuts!!!! It's non-Kemper related, but maybe you have an idea what's going on!


    The prob is that whenever I turn on my active monitors, I get a strange noise when scrolling through pages or when there is a bright background (the whiter... the worse).
    I get screeching and high-pitched sounds (like buzzing), rapid ticking sounds while scrolling through pages with the mouse wheel etc.


    Turn the speakers off and it is dead quiet. (I have a really super silent PC btw.)


    My setup is this:


    PC with good quality soundcard ( ESI Julia XTE soundcard) with balanced output TRS -> quality cables (Cordial) (balanced) -> active monitors (balanced TRS input)


    I tried to remedy the situation with new cables. Changed cables, same result.
    A friend brought over his active monitors which are quieter than mine. (If I turn off the PC, I have a faint hiss in my monitors by default - so the monitors hiss a bit by themselves, but it's nothing as bad as when I fire up the PC).
    Even with my buddy's monitors (which are dead quiet when turned on disconnected from the PC), I get the same results: screeching, ticking etc.


    Is the soundcard the culprit?
    Something else I'm not getting here? Should I try unbalanced cables instead? (all 3 batches of different cables that I tried so far were balanced)


    :wacko:

    You should never have your PC sounds routed to your monitors. It can actually deteriorate the quality of the monitors due to the playback of sounds not generally musical (loaded subject, but I honestly believe that what you feed into your speakers is what you get out of them).


    Make sure that your ESI is not your default sound card on your PC. Go to control panel -> manage audio devices and you should be able to set the system sound to use your built-in sound card or another one. Don't use the same one you record with, that can cause all kinds of conflict issues as well down the road.

    Quote from nightlight

    You should never have your PC sounds routed to your monitors. It can actually deteriorate the quality of the monitors due to the playback of sounds not generally musical (loaded subject, but I honestly believe that what you feed into your speakers is what you get out of them).


    Make sure that your ESI is not your default sound card on your PC. Go to control panel -> manage audio devices and you should be able to set the system sound to use your built-in sound card or another one. Don't use the same one you record with, that can cause all kinds of conflict issues as well down the road.

    Sorry, you lost me! :)


    Right now the ESI is my default playback device on my Win 8.1 machine.


    Which means it is used to play sounds from my PC (mp3's, FLAC's etc.) as well as occasional gaming (very little).
    If I set it up to only recieve the S/Pdif signal of the KPA, how do I play back my mp3s etc? Via the onboard soundcard?
    Are you saying I should connect the onboard soundcard to the speakers as well and use that for playback of the PC sounds or are you suggesting that one should get a second pair of monitors for PC system sounds?


    (Basically, I want to be able to play guitar, record, and playback PC system sounds and jam along to these with my guitar (KPA connected) - and all of this simultaneously)? How can I manage this with your proposed solution? (not arguing here, just asking for advice since I'm an obvious ignorant regarding all of this... I just want everything to play without the dreadful hiss/screech). :)

    As there seems to be some correlation between working on the PC (scrolling, background colour etc.) and the amount of noise you experience i would check if all components in your PC are sitting tightly in their slots. Check all connections to the PC, too (#1 rule in troubleshooting: are all connections ok). Especially the monitor (DVI?) cable.
    Have the noises bugged you all the time since you use that PC or did they come up just recently?

    Problem might be that you're using an unshielded audio interface inside your computer. There's a lot of unwanted RF noise inside a computer, especially from (but not limited to) the graphic card. One solution you could/should try: give the audio interface card the maximum possible distance to the graphic card. I've never understood why even expensive PCIe audio interfaces aren't equipped with a nice grounded shield to prevent this.

    Quote from HELL-G

    As there seems to be some correlation between working on the PC (scrolling, background colour etc.) and the amount of noise you experience i would check if all components in your PC are sitting tightly in their slots. Check all connections to the PC, too (#1 rule in troubleshooting: are all connections ok). Especially the monitor (DVI?) cable.
    Have the noises bugged you all the time since you use that PC or did they come up just recently?

    I assembled the PC myself with parts I chose, about a year ago. (Have done this multiple times with zero probs so far)
    All components have been rechecked over and over and are seated properly.


    Yes, the noises were there from the beginning. I just thought it was the cables, or the monitors (which are non-magnetically shielded).

    Quote from lightbox

    Problem might be that you're using an unshielded audio interface inside your computer. There's a lot of unwanted RF noise inside a computer, especially from (but not limited to) the graphic card. One solution you could/should try: give the audio interface card the maximum possible distance to the graphic card. I've never understood why even expensive PCIe audio interfaces aren't equipped with a nice grounded shield to prevent this.

    Interesting.
    I already made sure the audio interface is as far away from the passive graphics card (Radeon 7750) as possible, although my primary concearn was "heating" at the time I considered this. Also, I especially picked my mainboard to have these slots as far away as possible from each other.


    Shielding? Interesting. The audio card is not shielded.
    Can I shield it myself? Like put a piece of tin foil around it?

    Quote from schneidas

    Would a breakoutbox be the solution to my problem? (and what exactly is a breakout box)?


    Many years ago, the external interfaces of a computer (like USB1.0) were to slow to transmit and receive multiple channels of audio in and out of the computer. That's why many manufacturers introduced audio interface cards that had a custom digital connection to an external or internal 5.25" box were you had lots of I/O conveniently accessible on your desktop or on the front of your tower case. These breakout boxes have mostly vanished because today's USB2 and Firewire (and Thunderbolt) have proven good enough. So these breakout boxes have become USB or Firewire interfaces in 99%. There still are a few top end expensive combinations of PCIe card and external I/O boxes, especially from RME. But that's nothing you need, imho. :)


    Here's a simple example of an old audio interface card with a breakout box:
    [Blocked Image: http://www.hwsw.hu/kepek/cikkek/733/DMX6fire2496_Board_and_Module_L.jpg]


    Regarding the selfmade shield: Wow, I wouldn't even try. You have to be very careful that the shield can NEVER touch the electronics. But if you want to try, go ahead ... at your own risk. :)

    Hey schneidas :D


    Yes, the issue sounds like there's EM interference. Updating the audio card's FW sometimes has changed this, might worth a try if it's not up to date.


    Does the noise change if you move the cabs closer or farer to the pc and/or screen?


    Also, shielding won't work as long as the pc is not properly grounded. I'd check cords and mains wall-sockets on this regard :)


    HTH