Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game?

alexene.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 153 posts

Re: Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game?

#121

Post by icehawk »

LoganDark wrote: post #62
Night_Thastus wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about pure sine wave - it's double conversion. Only double-conversion would actually isolate the equipment from EMI on the line. Without that pure sine wave won't do squat for EMI. And one of those, even the cheapest ones, run for about ~$900. And they are LOUD.

Are they loud because they're double-conversion or are they loud because they're designed for server racks? When I search for double-conversion online I can practically only find rack-mount solutions.

I have several that are not rackmount (SU1000XLCD/SU1500XLCD), and they're all loud because they run fans constantly.

Re: Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game?

#122

Post by mainde »

Night_Thastus wrote: post #42

I run into a similar problem. I have a power-hungry GPU (3080) and CPU (9800X3D). All my audio equipment was on the same UPS (and therefore outlet) as my gaming PC. The result is that any time a particularly stressful game would be open, I'd get buzzing in the speakers. (Especially if the framerate was at 360) If you ask audiophiles online they will swear up and down that a cheater plug, balanced cables, or optical i…

When I upgraded my PC to the same CPU, I had the same problem of crackling/buzzing speakers on my USB DAC (externally powered, but from the same strip/outlet) when the system was under load.

I had a hunch it was power related because my PSU was nearly 10 years old and probably with just barely enough wattage. I bought a new one and all the buzzing went away.

IIRC when I was researching possible causes, beefy Ryzen CPUs were the most commonly mentioned in various forums and reddit threads.

Re: Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game?

#123

Post by snvzz »

pacificat0r wrote: post #41
LM358 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They seem to make decent products I don't agree with that sentiment. Their designs are subpar and the quality of the soldering is (maybe was) unacceptable: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/h... https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/b... The above review specifically goes into the problem from OP. There's also their amplifier with a rather non-standard architecture that…

Wow, that's exactly what I have, a MODI 2. Time for a change I guess

Topping DX3 Pro+[0] is a well-reviewed alternative.

0. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/t...

Re: Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game?

#124

Post by hunter2_ »

Night_Thastus wrote: post #101
butvacuum wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't mind them. I've had a similar thing happen, but with power line Ethernet. In your case however, I'd be at least a little concerned about the building wiring.

I ran into a similar problem! I briefly used CAT6, which is required to be shielded. That shielding was carrying noise from my PC, through the network switch, to my raspberry pi that I used for music streaming. Absolutely nuts. I swapped to unshielded ethernet cables and it went away. As for building wiring, this issue has persisted in multiple buildings.

In many analog pro audio applications, it's actually recommended that a shield be connected at one side only, for this reason. By convention but not necessarily necessity, the bond is typically kept at the receiving end, as that's almost always a device with a grounded power cord (such as a mixer). Many DI boxes feature a ground lift switch as a convenient way to achieve this. But you wouldn't want to disconnect it at both ends, as then the shield has no effect at all.

Anyway, if you had problems with your unshielded cables that would be solved by a shield, but your shielded cables caused a different problem due to the bond at both ends, this technique of using shielded cables but severing the shield at one end of them would get you the best of both worlds.

Re: Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game?

#125

Post by nozzlegear »

ivanjermakov wrote: post #116
digitalsushi wrote: post #57

anyone else get big audio buzz relief using the extra, three prong cable on their normally two prong apple laptop charger? it felt as good as having my wisdom teeth out after i switched

Two prong apple charger is mind boggling to me. I can feel 50Hz static when gently touching the laptop. Problem goes away when grounded properly. Also surprised there are barely any three prong hot plug adapters for the original charger. And the internet if full of complaints on this matter: https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/1lfu1by/tinglin...

> I can feel 50Hz static when gently touching the laptop. Problem goes away when grounded properly.

Happy to hear I'm not the only one with this problem!

Re: Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game?

#126

Post by NooneAtAll3 »

Night_Thastus wrote: post #42

I run into a similar problem. I have a power-hungry GPU (3080) and CPU (9800X3D). All my audio equipment was on the same UPS (and therefore outlet) as my gaming PC. The result is that any time a particularly stressful game would be open, I'd get buzzing in the speakers. (Especially if the framerate was at 360) If you ask audiophiles online they will swear up and down that a cheater plug, balanced cables, or optical i…

> double-conversion UPS (converts AC to DC to AC again)

relevant xkcd https://xkcd.com/2651

Re: Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game?

#127

Post by taneq »

bluedino wrote: post #23

I remember 15+ years ago reading about certain laptops (Dell?) that you could 'hear' scrolling on websites, somehow the video chip was interfering with the sound chips. I had one at the time it was pretty weird.

Yep, my 2019ish Dell XPS 13 makes hissy static noises on its speakers, even when system audio is muted.

I remember the BBC Micro doing the same thing when I was a little kid during certain operations, it always sounded to me like it was "thinking". :)

Re: Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game?

#128

Post by butvacuum »

Night_Thastus wrote: post #101
butvacuum wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't mind them. I've had a similar thing happen, but with power line Ethernet. In your case however, I'd be at least a little concerned about the building wiring.

I ran into a similar problem! I briefly used CAT6, which is required to be shielded. That shielding was carrying noise from my PC, through the network switch, to my raspberry pi that I used for music streaming. Absolutely nuts. I swapped to unshielded ethernet cables and it went away. As for building wiring, this issue has persisted in multiple buildings.

Ruled out the monitor(s)? There's been cases where they've backfed power, and they certainly backfeed EMI as well. And, it could also be tied to FPS- assuming gsync/free sync.

If you have a multimeter its probably worth double checking if the case is low resistance grounded to the end of the cord. I'm assuming you have checked already, but as a shock hazard it bares repeating.

Re: Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game?

#129

Post by vlachen »

LM358 wrote: post #54
Gracana wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're a bit handy, you can assemble a line filter using a part like this https://enerdoor.com/products/fin27/ for a heck of a lot cheaper than you can buy a filtered power strip. You may also be able to solve the problem with a simple common mode choke, either the clip-on type, or a toroid that you wrap the cable through a couple-few times. https://palomar-engineers.com/rfi-kits/acdc-power-line-choke...

A filter like that will have very little attenuation in the audio spectrum. I agree however that indiscriminately throwing ferrites at problems can be a good solution!

In 2013 I bought out 2 Radio Shacks worth of ferrite beads when I was hunting down signal noise in my senior design project (CNC mill rebuild and update.) All else fails, add more beads.

Also, I learned that you can make your own shielded flat cables with aluminum duct tape.

Who knew that they had a really good reason for using 48V signaling in the original machine controls from 1986?

Re: Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game?

#130

Post by typewithrhythm »

hunter2_ wrote: post #124
Night_Thastus wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ran into a similar problem! I briefly used CAT6, which is required to be shielded. That shielding was carrying noise from my PC, through the network switch, to my raspberry pi that I used for music streaming. Absolutely nuts. I swapped to unshielded ethernet cables and it went away. As for building wiring, this issue has persisted in multiple buildings.

In many analog pro audio applications, it's actually recommended that a shield be connected at one side only, for this reason. By convention but not necessarily necessity, the bond is typically kept at the receiving end, as that's almost always a device with a grounded power cord (such as a mixer). Many DI boxes feature a ground lift switch as a convenient way to achieve this. But you wouldn't want to disconnect it a…

Huh, I had no idea that cables would have their shield grounded at both ends... Single point ground is such a standard in electrical design that the guidance is generally "do otherwise only if you have the ability to make many prototypes to nail RFI issues".
Post reply on HN