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What's the crackling noise in my PC?

  • Thread starter swords
  • Start date
So I'm playing around with my synth & recording software and I notice that I can hear a very faint static crackle. It's not just the software, not just the headphones (have 3 diff brands/styles) and it's not just the desktop as I can hear it in the laptop as well.

If I set Audacity to record and don't do anything I record what seems like a very faint analog tape hiss flickering about the -24db level.

I get the same noise if I wear the headphones and click on links around on the web or open programs. With headphones off you can't hear it because of the PC fan. But Audacity proves to me it's there by showing an input level. Anybody know what this noise is? does your PC do that if you have the headphones on but no music and click on things? Is it the processor?
 
Hard drives emit RFI/EMI that sometimes gets picked up by the soundcard. This can usually be solved by rearranging cables. Why your laptop would pick it up also is a mystery and might indicate another source.

Try moving the laptop to another room and see if you still get the noise. Then look for sources of interference like a space heater or some other electronical gear you may have running.
 
Vibrations from your fridge, dishwasher, neighbors, cooling fans, disk drives, etc. (Do you ever tap your feet nervously?) Also could be interference from your cell phone, fluorescent lights, poorly shielded wires in the wall, power or data cables crossed over your audio cables, a beefy or cheap CPU power supply... It could sound the same because it's an artifact produced at the lowest frequency your sound card supports.
The processor itself is unlikely to produce much signal interference - at least I don't think it should. Microelectronics isn't something I've had a chance to do a lot of real study on. My quasi-informed guess is any EM radiation it produces would be at much higher frequencies and lower effective power than most interference-causing devices, because of the relatively low power of most processors and their extremely high rate of oscillation.
~Joe
 
My cell is the biggest culprit here. Anywhere within 5 feet of any speaker, and I get noise. Try removing the cell from the room, and see what happens.
 
Thanks folks,

I don't have a cell phone. :blush:

There are plenty of fluorescent light banks in here but there's not much I can do about that! lol But they are only on until about 9:30 pm and I still get it when they're off.

I will see if moving wires around (gently) does anything.

Yeah it's weird how it's the exact same sound on the laptop. I haven't put Audacity on the laptop to see if it's the same -db or louder but I can hear it even without headphones on the laptop if I listen close since it has a far quieter fan.
 
do you have a cordless phone ??
 
No cordless phone and no phone in the room with the PC. I keep the phone in the pantry by the front door and the PC is in the bedroom on the opposite side of the apartment. At least 50 feet according to the amount of wire I had to run to the bedroom.

My DSL modem is on top the desktop PC case for want of somewhere to put the thing. However the laptop is not hooked up to online at all (except when the desktop goes kablooey) and it has the same noise.
 
You're a crafty type. Perhaps you could build a Faraday cage?
~Joe
 
Besides all of the things mentioned, I have to ask: What sound card are you using?
 
  • #10
The one for the desktop says Realtek HD Audio. Who knows what they put in these Best Buy laptops, scavenged parts from an old 386? :D
 
  • #11
Ah, ok, so it's a laptop. While I've had other problems with the integrate Realtek audio, this isn't one I've bumped in to. Creative sound cards on the other hand...
 
  • #12
No man, it's making the same noise in both the laptop and desktop, not just one or the other.
 
  • #13
I dunno if this was covered, but if you take the laptop outdoors does the noise still occur there? Or at the local library? etc.

I think we've ruled out cable/driver/card problems since the noise is happening in both computers. If not, that would be one hell of a coincidence.

It seems like outside interference is the most likely culprit. Simplest way to start is ruling out whether the interference is in the house, or if it's your entire housing area - thus trying outside or at the library.

If it's in your house, you can systematically turn off (unplug) electronics and appliances around your house to determine what's causing it.
 
  • #15
Hey swords, have you looked in your computer for gremlins? Sometimes gremlins like to crawl into computers and smoke crack...:)
 
  • #16
Hey swords, have you looked in your computer for gremlins? Sometimes gremlins like to crawl into computers and smoke crack...:)

Hahaha, that's right. And remember - computers run on smoke. You can tell because when the smoke leaks out, the computer stops working. :D
~Joe
 
  • #17
I have an idea.

Do any of your neighbors have a strong CB radio or some other antenna-type thingamajiggy? We had neighbors on the other end of the block that would mess with the TV reception at odd hours each day.
 
  • #18
I don't know about the neighborhood rules on the other side of the forest but nobody can stick up their own antennas or anything on this building (which sucks cos I'd like satellite TV - cheaper than cable).

Provided it's something like a stray frequency, can I buy a shielded blanket for the PC or as seedjar said, make a DIY faraday cage to zap that frequency outta the air and keep it from wonking up my soundcard?
 
  • #19
Don't forget your foil skullcap to keep the flying triangles from using mind control ;)
 
  • #20
It can be a block or more away. You live near a police station?
 
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