I tried disabling the internal sound card...didn't change anything. It worked with the sound card on before anyway. If i check headphone only it also happens. So it's not the monitors or sub. A bad a/d converter...can that just happen from one day to the other?

Mod bob, i'll check that out. Thanks.

Ok quick update. It also happens with the Octa turned off! Not as loud but i can still hear it. What could it be?

It was in my situation. I traced it back to a day that I had used the Phantom Power option on the M Audio. I think it did something to the A/D converters. My sound was a hi frequency scream in the background,,, very low but there when you had silence in the room. It was also recorded to audio tracks. 

The only way you can prove otherwise is to try a different audio interface. I was lucky I had 2. The scream disappeared with the other interface. 

So I used it with SPDIF and my Yamaha 01v digital mixer and it was fine. So it was defiantly something in the analog circuits.  


We were typing same time again,

So how can you hear it with the octa capture off?? You must be using your on board. 

Does the scream show up in a recording? 

Maybe it's an acoustic sound generated by your computers hardware. 

Also wireless devices can cause this sound. 

I had a problem with a high-freq whine that I traced down to RF interference from putting a JV-1080 right below the PC in the rack. 

Probably not what's happening to you but a thought that may help someone.

Arrgh, i'm pretty sure i turned off onboard sound...but if my octa is turned off it must be the onboard sound right? I have a wireless device but it's not installed. Just the card plugged in. I'm gonna check the onboard sound again.

The onboard soundcard is disabled in the bios! So that's disabled and the octa is turned off. Yet i still get the beep as soon as i load any software that uses sound.

I would run an AntiVirus and Malware scan immediately.

It could also be an alarm warning you that your CPU may be overheating or perhaps your SSD or an external drive that is failing. I would disconnect all external devices (USB, Firewire, thumb drives, etc.) and see if it still happens. Process of elimination.