Anyone know what this noise is? mp3 link enclosed

Note: The problem described below finally got solved, it was apparently a ground loop problem. I bought a $15 dollar stereo audio isolator
from Radio Shack and plugged the outputs from my soundcard into it, and hooked the other end of the isolator to the audio
inputs of my playback mixer, all the noise is gone now! Being that this hooked in through the audio path, I worried that I would
hear some signal loss or artifacts /coloration of sound, but I really can't hear any difference...except that the noise is gone! If you have any interest in buying one
of these audio isolators you can get it at Radio Shack----Part# 270-054 "Home / Automotive Ground-Loop Isolator.
If you are having groud loop problems...read on! Some interesting info posted in this thread. Thanks everyone, for all the help.....lockwiz
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I have had this weird noise in my audio recordings for a long time, and have never
been able to figure out what causes it. It happens using either of my soundcards,
I have a Gina 20 and an SBLive, I have tried using one souncard and uninstalling
the other, but it makes no difference...below is a link to an MP3 of a recording I made
of the sound, download it and listen, and let me know what you think the sound is,
to me it sounds like the computer processor chip clock, because along with the hiss
I also hear a kind of beeping that seems to beep once each "second". Here is the link to the MP3...
MP3 of noise in my recordings

My computer is a Pentium 3 / 667 Mhz / VIA Technologies VIA 693A ATX Mainboard / 512 megs RAM
I recently installed a new Power Supply, thinking that might be the problem, but it
had no effect at all, the noise still persists.

Would appreciate any input as to what this noise is....here is the link again to the Mp3 file
I made of the noise...MP3 of noise in my recordings

Thanks......Lockwiz

Wow that's strange that you didn"t hear ANYTHING...is your volume turned up? I followed the link from
my post and downloaded the MP3 and played it on (2) different computers and on both of them I hear the
hiss and and the faint 1 second apart beeping sound, but I am not using any Plugins, I just turned up
the output volume on my soundcard and recorded the audio using a wave recorder, and then encoded it
to an Mp3 file. Thanks for your input Axeman, I assure you though, the hiss and faint beeps are in that Mp3 file......Lockwiz

I don't hear anything..... The beeps are usually from demo plugins or software so that you can try it but not actually use it. Really I heard no sound on the mp3. HTH

ya, you could try a line filter. I had to max the volume to hear anything and I have plenty of power (wattage). I could hear some small noise if that's what your refering to, lockwiz. Did you start an earlier thread on this? If not, do a search, because I remember just within the last few weeks a thread on this subject. HTH

Dan

Listened to your noise, and it really sounds like a classic case of ground loop. Either that, or some source of bleed exists between the rest of the system and the soundcard, including the computer it sits in, or possibly somewhere along the signal chain in the rest of your system. Unfortunately, ground loops are the hardest nuts to crack, because so many things can cause them.

Due to sheer proximity, the computer is the most likely culprit. Does your soundcard sit near any other cards? You really want to have at least one PCI slot of buffer space on either side of it. If it can be on or near the far end, then all the better.

Beyond that, it gets a little tougher. If you're using a mixer, unplug everything from it except the monitors (and amp if they're passive) and see if you still have the noise. Then only plug in the Gina output to the mizer (or monitor/amp if you have no mixer). Check for noise again. If still no noise, plug your line-level sources into the Gina inputs and check for noise again. By now you should get the idea.

BTW, you see the trouble I'm having because you told me nothing about your surrounding system. In dealing with noise, you absolutely must provide details of all connections in place at the time the noise occurs.

You might try making use of the balanced I/O on the Gina. In situations like these balanced lines are a Godsend. You might need to use a 1:1 transformer to properly balance any line-level sources to the Gina that are currently unbalanced. Also, second on Steven Bell's suggestion about grounding and/or ungrounding, though it works best when ground-lifting on balanced signal lines.

Hi Dave

That was very interesting about the coffee maker, I think one time I had an air conditioner window unit (in another room, not in studio)
and it would induce clicking noises in my recordings! I don't have anything I can think of that is running or cycling that might make this
noise.====I do have (2) computers and both are plugged into an UPC power supply with surge protection. Steven Bell had posted to me
about hearing similar noises I think on his laptop and also having mouse movement noises (which I also have) after reading his post,
for some reason I tried something I had not tried before. I unplugged the audio output from my playback mixer, then I plugged my
headphones staight into the output from the soundcard, then I recorded a low level mic signal (so I could hear any background noise) in
Sonar, and turned the track volume and trims in Sonar all the way up...even normalzed the track...for the first time I did NOT hear any
noise or mouse movement noise or that weird beeping sound about 1 sec apart that sounds like a faint clock or something. I couldn't
hear any of that! So now I am wondering if I have some form of a groundloop from this computer when I hook the audio output to my
playback mixer. I can hook my other computer (I have two computers) the same way with the same type soundcard, and it dosen't make
any of these noise, all I hear on the second computer when I really crank up the volume, is normal expected hiss from too much gain.
Thanks for your comments, it got me searching for other causes and that's good! If you think of anything else, or understand about
groundloops, enlighten me...I am not ignorant of stuff like this, but have never (luckily) had to trace down groundloops, so that is kind
of new to me, I mean I have hobbied with electrical things over the years and understand having a "hot lead" and a "ground lead" but
I guess I never got the concept of the "groundloop".......thanks for your help...........Lockwiz

ORIGINAL: davestoy

Lockwiz, the first thing I though of when I listened to your clip was-does he have something running that would enable a 'bleed' sound to enter his recording? Let me explain: some time ago, I was doing some recording with a client, when after finished with a take, and then listening to it, we both heard a 'clicking' in the recording. For the life of me, I could not figure it out. After a little investigating, though, I found the coffee pot to be the culprit! The warmer plate on the coffee maker--when it cycled on and off (to keep the pot at the proper temperature), it would show up on my recording as a click. Now, I have all of my equipment on the same circuit, even confined to the same wall plugs, so I can't explain the deal with the coffee maker other than to say recording equipment is ultra sensitive, especially when using condenser mics, and other sensitive equipment. Not to say yours is the same problem, but thought I'd share my experience. Now, I make sure the coffee maker is off before recording!
Just my tad bit of learning!

Hey losguy,

Very interesting...ok, I tried something I had not tried before. I unplugged the audio output going from my soundcard to my
playback mixer, then plugged my headphones straight into the audio output of my soundcard, then I recorded 10 seconds
of low mic level in Sonar (low level. so that on playback I could hear any background noise), then I turned the track volume
and trim all the way up and even normalized the track, NOW I don't hear any of that noise, but...as soon as I hook my soundcard
output back up to my playback mixer, the noise is back again. I am not a beginner about audio connections, but I am not real
familiar with groundloops, I have just been lucky I guess with other setups and not had this problem. Actually I have a 2nd computer
that I can hook up the same playback mixer using the same type of soundcard, and this 2nd computer does not have any of these
weird noises like my other computer does.

Here is a summary of my computer sys and how my system is hooked up....

Audio Hookup:

Computer is powered by UPS power supply with surge protection---soundcard audio output plugged into 1/4" inputs of playback mixer
(playback mixer is Behringer Eruorack small mixer 6 input / stereo output) then output from playback mixer to line input of playback
amplifier (nothing fancy, just a um oooh, eeek, should I say it, ok, Radio Shack Optimus, ok no snickering, these are hard times!) But
the important thing here is...my other computer, when hooked up the same way, works perfectly fine with no hiss and no mouse
movement noises or faint beeping sounds in background. And both computers are hooked into the same UPS power supply.

Computer System Summary:

System Manufacturer VIA Technologies, Inc.
System Model VT82C692BX
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 1 GenuineIntel ~666 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG, 3/14/2000
SMBIOS Version 2.2
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\System32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.0 (xpclient.010817-1148)"
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 296.82 MB
Total Virtual Memory 1.72 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.31 GB
Page File Space 1.22 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

ORIGINAL: losguy

Listened to your noise, and it really sounds like a classic case of ground loop. Either that, or some source of bleed exists between the rest of the system and the soundcard, including the computer it sits in, or possibly somewhere along the signal chain in the rest of your system. Unfortunately, ground loops are the hardest nuts to crack, because so many things can cause them.

Due to sheer proximity, the computer is the most likely culprit. Does your soundcard sit near any other cards? You really want to have at least one PCI slot of buffer space on either side of it. If it can be on or near the far end, then all the better.

Beyond that, it gets a little tougher. If you're using a mixer, unplug everything from it except the monitors (and amp if they're passive) and see if you still have the noise. Then only plug in the Gina output to the mizer (or monitor/amp if you have no mixer). Check for noise again. If still no noise, plug your line-level sources into the Gina inputs and check for noise again. By now you should get the idea.

BTW, you see the trouble I'm having because you told me nothing about your surrounding system. In dealing with noise, you absolutely must provide details of all connections in place at the time the noise occurs.

You might try making use of the balanced I/O on the Gina. In situations like these balanced lines are a Godsend. You might need to use a 1:1 transformer to properly balance any line-level sources to the Gina that are currently unbalanced. Also, second on Steven Bell's suggestion about grounding and/or ungrounding, though it works best when ground-lifting on balanced signal lines.

Hi losguy

I just put up a new post about all this nosie problem I was having, I tried something earlier tonight that seems to
have gotten rid of all the noise, I unplugged my computer power plug and put one of those "adapters" like you
would use when plugging in a grounded power tool into a wall outlet that only has "2" pin recepticles...and the
noise is gone!!!! I cranked the volume all the way up and listened on headphones for the typical
noise and buzz sounds that I was used to hearing and they were gone! Then I took that adapter off, just to test
what I had done, powered the computer back up, and the noise was back. I couldn't believe it, I never thought of trying that before.
So if I understand this correctly, putting that adapter on the computer power plug gives me either a floating ground or at least doesen't provide
a path for "stray voltage" to re-enter my system and come back in my audio...does that sound correct???

Thanks again for your input.......... lockwiz

ORIGINAL: losguy

ORIGINAL: lockwiz
Hey losguy,
Very interesting...ok, I tried something I had not tried before. I unplugged the audio output going from my soundcard to my playback mixer, then plugged my headphones straight into the audio output of my soundcard, then I recorded 10 seconds of low mic level in Sonar (low level. so that on playback I could hear any background noise), then I turned the track volume and trim all the way up and even normalized the track, NOW I don't hear any of that noise, but...as soon as I hook my soundcard output back up to my playback mixer, the noise is back again. I am not a beginner about audio connections, but I am not real
familiar with groundloops, I have just been lucky I guess with other setups and not had this problem. ...

This narrows it down a bit, but not completely. Your sound output may be set for driving headphones rather than a line out. Since you're in XP, go to Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices. Click the Volume tab and look at the bottom pane of the window entitled "Speaker Settings". Click "Advanced" and make sure that you have selected "Desktop Stereo Speakers". Click "Apply" then "OK". Ideally, you would leave it set like this and plug your headphones into your mixer headphone out. While you're at it, click "Speaker Volume" and adjust the level to midway, but really this should beset to match the input sensitivity of your mixer line in.

Actually I have a 2nd computer that I can hook up the same playback mixer using the same type of soundcard, and this 2nd computer does not have any of these weird noises like my other computer does.

Check your 2nd computer for the above settings. It may be set for speakers and not headphones, which is the right setting.

Here is a summary of my computer sys and how my system is hooked up....
Audio Hookup:
Computer is powered by UPS power supply with surge protection---soundcard audio output plugged into 1/4" inputs of playback mixer
(playback mixer is Behringer Eruorack small mixer 6 input / stereo output) then output from playback mixer to line input of playback
amplifier (nothing fancy, just a um oooh, eeek, should I say it, ok, Radio Shack Optimus, ok no snickering, these are hard times!) But
the important thing here is...my other computer, when hooked up the same way, works perfectly fine with no hiss and no mouse
movement noises or faint beeping sounds in background. And both computers are hooked into the same UPS power supply.

You left out a critical part: How does audio get to the soundcard?

Best of succes to you... let me know how it goes!

Noticed this thread was still live too, and thought it was important enough for a cross post

xackley | RE: What's this NOISE...Solved..I t... (in reply to krizrox)


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My 1965 Fender Princeton Reverb is still wired with the original 2 prong plug. Guess what happens to when I plug it in the wrong way, touch my strings and another piece of equipment at the same time.

It is really scary until you get used to it and use it as a coffee replacement.

Don.

ps: my room is gf protected, but it does not shut down when this happens.