Guitar effect program = very loud electrical interference?

sgtmattbaker

Distinguished
Aug 21, 2009
13
0
18,560
I downloaded gnuitar and was using it as an effects pedal for my bass. I was able to use it a couple hours ago but I came back and now it starts off with a gradual hum and gets to the point where it would hurt someone's ears to hear the sound. If the program closes it goes away but I have no idea why this is doing this. I have tried unplugging the speakers and using headphones but the sound is still there. I also cannot turn my subwoofer all the way up (more than 3/4 starts giving me humming in my speakers).

I also noticed a few weeks ago if I had a microphone plugged in to the mic port (next to the three speaker ports) I would get this awful EMI sound that went away when I plugged it into line in.

When I tried to do rakarrack sound effects in linux (having guitar plugged into line-in) I got EMI/some awful sounds from every single effect I used.

I have an Asus p5b deluxe wiif-ap, soundblaster audigy 4 (nonpro), intel core 2 duo e6600 overclocked to 3.15 (stable; I don't think I over-volted it).
I have an aluminum case and the case is sitting on carpet.

I have no idea about how to get rid of EMI but it would sure be nice to be able to go effects processing and other more advanced audio stuff...
 

sgtmattbaker

Distinguished
Aug 21, 2009
13
0
18,560


I figured it out, it was my soundblaster audigy card getting the EMI. How do I fix that? I seem to remember thinking my soundmax HD audio 7.1 was doing that EMI stuff when I first got it and that is why I bought a sound card. I am going to test out the recording input on the onboard and see if I was just crazy.
 

sgtmattbaker

Distinguished
Aug 21, 2009
13
0
18,560
Edit: If I plug all three speaker wires into the onboard (green/gray, orange and black) and then plug the stereo array mic in (not a normal mic) I get a terrible hum. The speaker wires by themselves produce not noticeable interference. If I plug the stereo mic into the audigy 4 (if the green/gray is also plugged in to the audigy; the normal mic was doing this on the audigy, not just the stereo array mic) I get the same/similar awful hum.

So to summarize:
soundblaster audigy 4 causes speaker and subwoofer EMI when green/gray, orange and black speaker cables are in it and if the speaker (mainly subwoofer) volume is turned up or the guitar effects program is running (gnuitar windows xp). If a microphone is plugged into the pink mic port it immediately produces a very loud hum. Using line in for a microphone does not do this.

when the green/gray, orange, and black speaker cables are plugged into the onboard audio there is no noticeable EMI interference with the speakers; I was able to turn the subwoofer all the way up without any humming at all. There was no humming when I plugged a normal microphone into the mic port but when I plugged the stereo mic array that came with the motherboard it gave me an absolutely awful hum. When running gnuitar it gives off an almost imperceptible hum but not deafening like the audigy.

However, if I have a microphone plugged into the audigy and the speakers are in the onboard I get the terrible interference sound when running the gnuitar program.

How do I fix all these EMI problems? I would like to be able to use my mics (stereo mic included) on either device, my speakers to their full capacity and would prefer not to have an awful hum when using the sound card I paid for (I also don't think the onboard works on Ubuntu so I kind of need it).

Please help, this is very annoying.

Edit: I noticed while using the speakers hooked up to my onboard audio (and the stereo array mic hooked up to my audigy as my recording device) that I get a slight EMI sound when moving the pen of my wacom tablet around near its slab. It doesn't do it with all movement but it is definitely noticeable.

I live in a room with fluorescent lights but the ceiling is 10 feet high and the closest light to the PC is 13 feet away.

On a side note, why can't I do a normal "edit" of my posts?