Pops and Static through Speakers on Sound System on PC

[Voyager22]

I have recently been hearing some pops and static through my sound system on my home-built PC. It does not happen all of the time and it is sort of random. Am I dealing with a grounding problem somewhere? I have a pretty good set up speakers and a woofer connected to my Soundmax audio on the PC. Thanks for any suggestions.

Windows XP Pro
Asus P4P800SE Mobo
1 GB Ram
120 GB HD
Soundmax Audio
Intel 3.0 GHz CPU

 

[FredDibnah]

Hi,

Check that everything is screwed down well. What PSU do you have fitted? Generally the cheaper the PSU the more prone they are to creating line noise. If it is a good PSU then you might consider a UPS to filter out possible mains supply problems. After that it is down to checking cables and problem programs.

 

[Scorch76]

Voyager22,

I had a similar problem with my system awhile ago. Does the static and popping show up when you attempt to turn up the volume or is it when your volume is at a set level? What I found and what fixed my problem was that the system main volume was maxed out and when I went and turned up the volume at the speaker level was when my stuff would start to pop. What I suggest is make sure you don't have any of the volume controls maxed out at anytime. I hope this helps.

Scorch

 

[dakota81]

Anyone have a Nextel cell phone near you?

 

[Wxguesser]

If it was a ground problem, you would hear a steady 60Hz hum. Also, if power related, wiggling the power cord to your speakers would make it come and go causing the crackle and pop but that should be fairly easy to isolate.

Another suspect would be the brick power supply (if you have one) to the speakers as it is supposed to filter the AC to DC for the speakers to use. If the filtering were bad, you would again get a constant 60Hz hum.

Does this crackle and pop happen with the same audio playback, or is it completely random? I ask because some artists are purposely mixing LP type crackle and pop into their CDs/mp3s to simulate the old vinyl sound. The usual "cold" digital sound argument is the reason they do this.

Along with turning up the volume on the speaker system itself, a dirty potentiometer can cause hideous crackling and popping. If this is the case, with the power off, exercise the pot by turning it rapidly through its entire range of motion about a dozen times or so. If you can get to it fairly easy, obtain some contact cleaner and spray it in the pot to clean it while rotating it. This used to be a problem on older stereos and I have an older set of speakers (Reveal) with this problem.

As a last possible solution, it could be a dirty connection between your sound card and your speakers. Wiggle the connector in the sound card gently and see if the noise happens then. If not, check the connection at the speaker. If either one of these is the culprit, try spraying the contact cleaner in the jack and then inserting and removing the cord several times. This will usually clean out dirty contacts within the jack.

Hope some of this helps.

Jim W. A+
You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!!

 

[garebo]

The actual speakers are made of paper and sometimes they crack. Can you take the front off and have a look at the speakers?


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