Filtering high pitched sound with a software

[Myntekt]

Hello,
My microphone has a good quality (it's from a headset but does the job using skype and all) but sometimes it does a high-pitched sound. It's not constant. Sometime it does, sometimes it doesn't.
I have no idea what is causing it so I just thought of getting a software to filter it out.
So.. Is this possible? If yes, which one?
Thanks

 

[ssddx]

i'm not sure of a "reliable" and "real-time" software for what you need...

but what you're looking for is a software based low-pass filter (blocks out all audio above a certain frequency range)

you might need to look around a bit to try and find software of this nature (software low pass filter), but at least i was able to give you a term to search under to help limit your results.

--

i'd try to fix the problem if you can as that may be easier... are you sure its not microphone feedback? if its a 3.5mm headset, using different jacks? etc.

 

[Myntekt]

I never got an email for this so I thought people just didn't answer. Sorry. I really don't know what is causing this, but the headsets (3.5mm) are connected to an external USB sound card. Connecting it directly to the PC stops this noise, but it sounds worse. I'm not sure whether the problem is the sound card it self, in the cable, or in the USB ports in the back.

 

[ssddx]

if it is a low quality cheap usb soundcard stick... its probably the soundcard.

its not the cable. its either the soundcard or usb. try the soundcard on another pc to see if it still does the same thing. if it does, its the soundcard. if it doesnt, then its the usb. easy way to verify..

 

[Myntekt]

if it is a low quality cheap usb soundcard stick... its probably the soundcard.

its not the cable. its either the soundcard or usb. try the soundcard on another pc to see if it still does the same thing. if it does, its the soundcard. if it doesnt, then its the usb. easy way to verify..

The problem is that this happens randomly, like once/twice a day max for some seconds. The sound card is the Asus Xonar U7 by the way. But how do you know that it is not the cable though? And if it is the USB, is there a way to fix it?

 

[ssddx]

unless you're picking up lots of crazy EMI from other devices on an unshielded cable which shouldnt have as much effect on digital as analag anyways you shouldnt be getting odd noises from the cable. it would also not go away but be a constant assuming the source of EMI was constant anyways. normally cable issues are spotty connectivity/sound caused by a broken cable which is not your problem.

the xonar u7 is not a cheap card and is fairly respectable so shouldnt be making any trouble for you unless it is defective. i would try it on another computer as i suggested above as a check to see if it is a problem with the card or not.

it could also be caused by a software issue. whether bad drivers, windows glitch or other bug. can be a bit hard to track down this one... which is why i suggested testing the hardware on another pc first to check for easy things first. based on the rather rare nature, i'm going to say this is quite probable.

generally usb issues arent as random as you say and are more constant things like ground loop or frequent disconnects instead of something that happens once a day. if it was ground loop, thats a fairly easy fix (using a powered/grounded usb hub often does) but thats not your issue based on what i've heard. random disconnects are often faulty drivers (get updated drivers) or a memory controller not working correctly (try different usb ports, pcs often have 2 controllers) and you would have noticed issues on your other usb devices regardless. based on the rather rare nature of the issue i'm going to say not likely usb but it is plausible.

 

[Myntekt]

Thank you for the replies. For some reason I have not been getting email notifications so I just forget about the thread. I have re-installed windows for a reason other than this, and the issue has still been happening after that. So I guess it is not a software issue. Something that I noticed, which may be related, is that if I put the microphone on max and listen to it (connected directly to the PC, without the soundcard), all I hear is a subtle noise (not pitched though, the sound you normally hear maybe on skype calls), and if I do the same with the sound card a very weird inconstant noise (something that sounds alien-movie-ish with sometimes a very high pitch) comes out. Now I don't know whether the actual microphone is causing this, or if it is the soundcard itself. I don't have another microphone to test this though.
I'll try this out on a different PC, but I can't do that until next week since I don't my laptop with me.

 

[shujnparo]

try the soundcard on another pc to see if it still does the same thing. if it does, its the soundcard. if it doesnt, then its the usb. easy way to verify..