Buzzing/Humming/Screeching sounds when playing games only

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Bob Farkas

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Aug 24, 2013
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Hi everyone!

I have a very weird problem with my speakers whenever I play games, such as Diablo 3. When opening the game, in full screen or windowed mode, I immediately hear strange buzzing or screeching sounds coming from the speakers. I do not hear the sounds when not in a game.

The buzzing sounds are consistent depending on what I'm doing in the game. For example, if I click the options menu in The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, the buzz changes. When I click one of the tabs at the top, the buzz changes again. The sound of the buzz is different depending on what I'm doing, but it is always constant. I suspect that the buzz is a result of my video card being under heavy load.

I also hear very minor/minimal buzzing when using the scrollwheel on my mouse, but that's only been today actually once I switched the power chords and stuff. I don't recall that happening before. I'm sure if I switched everything back to the way it was, the mouse wheel would not do that anymore.

Sometimes when I load a saved game and there is no video card activity, the buzzing stops. Or say Windows interrupts the game by asking me to give it firewall permissions - the buzzing stops temporarily in that instance as well.

Now, my sound card is an external Edirol FA-66. My speakers are actually studio monitors - Behringer Truth B2031's. My onboard sound card is disabled in Control Panel.

I want to note that even if I turn the volume down in Windows to 0%, I still hear the buzzes. I can only fully eliminate the buzzes by turning off the speakers or turning off the power to the sound card.

Each studio monitor has 2 wires - one for power, and one to connect to the sound card. If I pull the power cord from one of the speakers, and the jiggle the other power chord on the other speaker, the humming actually stops or is greatly minimized. The moment I replug the power chord to the second monitor, the buzzing starts up again in both speakers. Changing the chords around does not seem to isolate the problem.

Now, the problem actually started when I got a new computer, and before then, I was using the same video card and speakers and there was no buzzing/screeching problem at all, so I suspect the problem has a lot more to do with the new motherboard.

Also, my new motherboard did not have a firewire port on it, so I had to get an external firewire card since that is how I connect my external sound card.

The cabling inside the computer is very neat, and nothing is loose.

The power supply is a 700W thermaltake.

My video card is an HD Radeon 7xxx series.

I suspect the problem has to do with electromagnetic interference, but I haven't the feintest clue as to how to fix that.

I have tried everything I can think up to remove the buzzing problem, but I have not been successful. There have been many people to have reported on the exact same problem as me, but all of their threads were unanswered. I have read at least 15 different posts, and none of them provided any solutions that worked.

So, I am trying personally to see if anyone knows the answer. I would really appreciate it because the buzzing sound is extremely annoying, and basically makes the games unplayable unless I crank the actual sound to a level of volume that overpowers the buzzing.

Thanks for your help!
 
Solution
Are the power cables grounded ie have 3 pins.If so you would need to disconnect the ground wire from one of the speakers.
Any EM radiation would occur within the PC case,you could try moving the GPU as far from the PSU as possible.
Make sure that the cable between the sound card and the speakers is a good quality SHIELDED one.

kyle arn

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Jul 10, 2013
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I have taken what you said. I have two thoughts. 1 is that the game has a frequency that the speakers cannot Handel. And yes the buzz may still occur from the game even if you turn the volume all the way down. 2 you're sound card is going bad. to replace the sound card is going to be complicated and expensive. 3 try using headphones and see if the buzz still occurs. if not than your speakers are the problem and you will need to replace them. If you do hear the buzz than it is your sound card. If this does not help let me know.
 

Bob Farkas

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Aug 24, 2013
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I don't think it has anything to do with the game itself producing sounds that the speakers cannot handle. The speakers are studio monitors, and sound much better than regular computer speakers. Their frequency response is far superior to the speakers most people use.

It is also not specific to a particular game. Any and every game produces this buzzing, some worse than others. There is a recognizable pattern of when the video card is active, the buzzing is more noticeable.

The sound card has not gone bad. It works perfectly. I can still mix music in Sonar just fine. It is a high quality card, and is built very well.

There is no buzz with headphones. The problem has to do with the speakers. It sounds like electromagnetic interference, as both speakers require separate power cables. If I have both speakers turned on, but disconnected from the sound card, the buzzing stops. The buzzing only occurs when everything is connected, and mostly when the video card is under load.

Here's a link to the speakers:

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-B2031A-High-Resolution-Reference-Monitor/dp/B0002MRCLQ
 

kyle arn

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Than as i said before it is a frequency that the speakers cannot Handel. If the sound does not occur with the headphones than it is your speakers. and sense your sound card is in good shape. then it is the speakers. even though the studio monitors can pick up most frequency this may be the problem. Try messing with the EQ to see if it works. If not check the Bit rate. And if that doesn't work then you need new studio monitors.
 

Bob Farkas

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I don't think that makes sense though. I can watch a high def video of the exact same game, and it sounds fine. I can mix music and boost any frequency of any sound, and the buzzing does not occur. I can even disable the sound entirely within the game - not just mute the sound in windows - and the buzzing still occurs. The buzzing occurs irrespective of any sound being sent to the speakers.

It is extremely likely that the sound is being caused by something electrical. The headphones are not powered like the speakers, and so the buzzing does not occur for that reason. As I said in my original post, if I unplug one of the studio monitors, the buzz is eliminated. It only occurs when the power is running to both speakers. If I run the power to the left or the right, the buzzing stops. If the problem was the speakers as you suggest, then why does that occur?

All of this evidence leads me to think it has nothing to do with the sounds outputted by the game nor the speakers themselves. The problem is the interaction of everything together. This is what needs to be corrected, but I don't know how to fix it.
 

makkem

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Hi
From what you said I would say that this is Electro magnetic radiation from the GPU(changes with what is displayed).
It only occurs when playing games because this is when it works hardest.
I think it is being picked up by the 5V line for USB power and being picked up by the sound card.
It may be being exacerbated by a ground loop because the speakers have individual power lines.
Does each speaker have a different power supply or is it two cables from one supply.
Note,due to the design of the audio amplifier driving your speakers there is no way it can output frequencies that your speakers cannot handle,this would only be the case for a tweeter in a multi driver speaker box and is the reason for crossovers and it would also manifest as distortion of the signal and not new sounds.
 

Bob Farkas

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Aug 24, 2013
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Yeah, I was going to also say it was a bit irrational to think that every game developer on the planet - including blizzard - was designing games to output frequencies that $500 speakers could not properly handle.

If what you're saying is true, how can I fix it? The computer case is on the hardwood floor. My monitors are on my desk. The sound card is on a glass end-table, a few feet away from the case and 4-5 feet away from the speakers.

The power cables for my speakers are of the same type as the power cable for a computer itself. I have tried running them to either my surge protector or another outlet altogether. Either way, I get the same buzzing sadly.
 

makkem

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Are the power cables grounded ie have 3 pins.If so you would need to disconnect the ground wire from one of the speakers.
Any EM radiation would occur within the PC case,you could try moving the GPU as far from the PSU as possible.
Make sure that the cable between the sound card and the speakers is a good quality SHIELDED one.
 
Solution

kyle arn

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I am indeed sorry i had talked with others that are great technicians that is what they proposed. But i and them work best when we can see every thing at once. what makkem suggests seems most reasonable.
 

Bob Farkas

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Okay, I think you're on the right track. In this new case that I have, the power supply is actually in a different spot than it has been in every other computer I've owned in the past. It was usually placed at the top of the case, but now, the powerchord runs much lower, and it is much closer to the graphics card. Unfortunately, I don't think that can be helped. I see no way to move the power supply in the case. Funny that the case should be designed this way. :(

I am not sure if the cables connecting the speakers to the sound card are shielded, or if they are of good quality. When I bought them, I was told they were better than a typical trs cable that people use for guitars. but I also didn't really like the store owner that much. There just wasn't really anywhere else to go at the time to get them on such short notice. They are the ones with the 2 black rings.

I am familiar with the 3 wires in them, and that one of them is a ground. Should I open them and do something about that?
 

machinarioum

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Jan 6, 2014
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in my own case the problem was that the amp was too close to the computer. I put a meter away and it was ok
 

ryanhutchings

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Mar 7, 2014
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I had been suffering from the same problem as the OP, having consistently worried that there was something wrong with the cabling of my sound and graphics cards the solution provided here was actually my issue, poor quality cable going from the sound card to the amp. I will be purchasing a much better quality cable in the near future. Thanks for the solution.
 

BakaBaka

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Apr 9, 2014
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Don't plug a speaker monitor into a power strip that is sharing power distribution. Give each speaker monitor it's own plug-in.

It has to do with the power draw of each device sending electrical feedback through everything on the power strip. It just so happens the speaker is more "vocal" about it.
 

Fernon

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Sep 14, 2015
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None of these worked for me. I solved it by doing something rather simple. In my amp from my edifier c3x there was another input interfering with my pc input (in my case the tv signal). Plugging this one out of the amp solved my problem. Hopes this helps ;)
 

The Man86

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Dec 18, 2015
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I had the same thing.. Found the solution.. Just reduced the volume of your monitor on the monitor setup and increase the volume in windows.. It worked no more distorting sounds.. Yes ofcourse the VG248QE has a crappy speaker but u get what you paid for.. Look on the bright side Graphics are smooth..
 

Mark_103

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Jan 6, 2016
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Not sure if you've solved this problem, but if you remove the grounds from both speaker cables, it'll fix your problem. It worked for me after I browsed this thread for a while.
 
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