Project Reality Forums

I'll try to explain this as simply as I can, ever since I got my new PC, for some reason I can hear very faint beeping (similar to a fast dial-up modem) in the background of my headphones.

For example, when scrolling or typing, each time I move my mouse wheel or press a key it makes a beeping sound, or scrolling through pictures in different folders. Its kind of like the headphones jack is touching some metal, causing the weird sound, however there are no issues with the case at all. When the PC is totally idle, there is still a constant tone, kind of like white noise coming from a TV.

Posting here since I have no idea what this problem is or how to tackle it (never seen anything like it ?? , any help is appreciated.

Specs:

AMD x4 965 3.4Ghz
ASUS GA-870-UD3
Powercolor HD 6850 1gb
Kingston 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz
ThermalTake V9 case
Gamecom 777 Headphones (non-USB)

for the white noise i could say : electronic jamming from a cellphone ?, but for the rest .... i don't have any idea about it, did you think it can be your headphones who's the problem and not the computer ?

Had a similar issue on an old machine. Turned out the soundcard was picking up interference from some other component(s). Moving the soundcard to a different slot helped a bit, but the only way to get rid of it was with an external USB soundcard.

Possibly a grounding problem.

Its on top of a simple chipboard table with veneer on it, and its not using a sound card. Using the top headphone/mic in ports on top of the V9 case, pictured below.



I could use the rear audio ports on the motherboard but then I have to screw around with RealTek who are the dirtiest company on the internet..

Edit: Sorted it out, decided on using the rear ports which are simply more annoying to access with the cord. Thanks for the help gents.

Hi DTACS,

I'll bet a dollar it's your dirty ThermalTake case, I'm afraid to say. (Every ThermalTake case I've owned and worked on in the last decade has had shiate for mic/headphone connectors on top)

You need to plug your headphones into the back of the PC and see if it makes the same noise.

If it doesn't, you need to open up the case and first try to reconnect the headphone cable in to the pins.
If that doesn't change the impendance of the cabling and frequency that is causing the interference, then you might have a shitty on board sound card. Which means you're hosed.

If it does, you should go buy a cheap heapdhone extender cable, and use the rear jack. That is the cheapest, surest and easiest solution.

Here is the expensive, uncertain, and difficult solution:

First, reseat every component in your case. THis is sometimes enoguh to change the frequency of whatever is interfering with your sound chip subassembly on your mobo.
You need to stop the electrical leakage from entering the sound chip... by using insulation. Something like silicon aquarium sealant. "hi-temp" Automotive silicone sealers... In general the class is callled silicone RTV, and you want the acetic acid free version so you don't eat through your coil with acid as it cures. I have no idea what the brand names are in Australia, but big multinationals like Dow Corning make this...
The dirty part is, you don't know what subpart on the motherboard is causing the electrical interference, so it's a gamble. Start here, there, start on coils, eventually you'll find the culprit.

In the end you'll figure it out and have zero coil whine... but it's a hassle.
Here is one of the first internet conversations on the topic:
SPCR • View topic - Eliminating PSU coil whine using silicone - need HELP!

So as I was saying, go find a cheap headphone extension cable and use that. places like meritline.com will parcel post ship it direct from Hong Kong, cheap cheap.