Fire Lancer :
had exams so didnt get a chance until now, didnt even have movie maker software installed...
http
/www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKdHx4nwTdI
thats the same thing my laptop does.
the sound is either the chipset or the main processor.
i can make it change by double clicking on something and putting a load on the processor.
i dont know if its a ground loop or if there is a lack of voltage filtering.
either way, its a disturbance of another circuit connected to the same power supply.
that 'other' circuit might be first in a chain of events, therefore what you are hearing is excess voltage 'bleeding' or 'spilling' into another circuit.
the fact that you can hookup the desktop's output into its own input suggests that there is no interference in the voltage of the desktop soundcard.
whatever that USB device is.. it doesnt have a proper circuit to keep itself isolated.
and usually a usb device wont have a circuit specifically designed to isolate itself electrically from whatever it is connected to unless there is a 'lift switch'
sometimes called a 'ground switch'
sometimes called an 'earth switch'
instead of the electricity being clean and pure.. there are spikes or fluctuations caused by either northbridge, the southbridge, or the main CPU.
the spikes need capacitors that can dull those spikes.. which eliminates the noise.
imagine you have voltage going to the northbridge.. and the northbridge uses what is needed and the voltage continues on to the soundcard.
without any power filtering capacitors, the voltage is going to go down whenever the northbridge drinks up some electricity and then the pressure spikes up whenever the northbridge stops drinking the electricity.
the reason speakers dont have the same interference on headphones is because there isnt a second power supply.
often times you dont hear the interference unless one source of electricity is blending / mixing with another source of electricity.
there is a push and pull relationship between the two power sources and that can cause the waves / fluctuations to come back.
IF there are power filters.. but they are being faced with waves / fluctuations .. the caps can lose their ability to remain stiff.
its like walking.. but you have your arms out and you are leaning from side to side trying not to completely fall over.
when you are dealing with sensitive electronics, simply putting one foot in front of the other is not enough.
walking on the edge of your shoe is enough to cause dramatic problems.
you need a USB audio device that can filter the interference.
maybe one with an electricity isolator.
maybe choosing an alternative method of powering the USB device would work.
maybe you can find a USB adaptor that isolates the two devices being connected.
and if you are really tech savvy or good with a soldering iron.. maybe you should disconnect the power pins from the usb socket and choose to power the USB device with 5 volts from a different source.
if you are not really tech savvy.. the electricity in your laptop is like water, and there is something inside the computer that is drinking that water and backwashing in it.
capacitors .. or 'stiffening caps' will stand there with their hand on somebodys chin, so that whenever somebody is done drinking, the cap will push the mouth closed so there is no backwash.
there is obviously a difference between closing the jawbone and sealing the lips.
choose your capacitors wisely.
you might be able to take your laptop and USB device to an electronics repair shop and ask them to modify the circuit so there isnt anymore interference.
but you have to trust the people to check circuit impedance and use new components that wont shorten the lifespan of the rest of the circuit.
laptops are supposed to run on DC current.
DC is pure and constant.
AC current is the one that flutters like bird wings at 60hz
and usually AC current is transformed into DC current immediately after entering the product at the power plug.
an electronics repair shop might tell that excess voltage to exit.. but it could cause too much voltage to exit and the entire system is thirsty for voltage.
its usually best to stack up the power so that the extra power is there if/when needed.
but just like a turbo on a car.. if there is no blowoff valve, you are gonna have lots of pressure with no where to go.
that extra electricity will start to raise voltages once the stacks fill up.. and that could damage something.
i have had audio interference like that on my laptop when connecting to my radio in the car via the auxilery port.
and if i use a USB soundcard.. the same thing happens because the USB soundcard gets its power from the laptop .. and there is no power filtering.
its kinda cute because i have a power inverter connected to the same car battery that the radio is connected to.
then the laptops power adapter plugs into the power invertor.
in my case, it could be the laptop itself, it could be the power adaptor, and if neither one of those have power filtering, it could be coming from the power inverter.
i never ever did buy a battery for my laptop.. but if you have one, you could try running the laptop off of the battery and see if the problem goes away.
it would be a temporary fix until you look into something that is dedicated towards electrical isolation of the usb socket.
the reason why it works (if and when it does) is because the battery circuit should have some extra power filtering.. OR the electricity that the battery provides isnt as chaotic compared to plugging the laptop into the power inverter.
therefore the weak power filtering already there will be enough to stop the voltage spiking.
and hey..
it might not be the electricity that is running through the circuit board.
there might be an electrical component that is too close to another electrical component and one of the components is leaking static and causing the noise.
maybe a self-powered USB hub will break the electrical connection and feed the USB audio device clean power.
OR
maybe the interference is being injected into the audio output.
i think an electrical repair guy would use an oscilloscope to visually see what you are hearing.
and they might use some kind of device that is sensitive to static to see if there is any electricity radiating from a component on the circuit board.
i dont want to tell you that there is nothing you can do about it.
but you need to know one solution might not work because the problem is elsewhere.
you said the USB audio device connected to the laptop makes the same interference..
algebra tells me that the problem is with dirty voltage.
and the only two ways to fix that are:
get a power filter that connects inbetween the laptop and the USB audio device
OR
use a self-powered usb hub that disconnects the electricity of the laptop and uses its own electricity from its own power adaptor.
a self-powered usb hub may or may not eliminate the problem.
because there are four wires in a usb socket.
two of them are 5 volt electricity wires .. two of them are data wires.
IF the problem is severe, the interference will be sent across the data wires.
and that means your usb controller is sending and receiving data even though there is all that electrical chaos going on.
if the usb data is at a different frequency and/or amplitude.. its relatively easy for the usb controller to continue without 'listening' or 'hearing' errors.
BUT
maybe the extra voltage on the usb controller is causing it to run hot.. which might make the controller die early.
okay.. now for the biggest thing.
the laptop might have done this when it was new.. and the designers have already known about it and compensated for it so nothing dies early.
(maybe they left it like that so it dies early on purpose)
but its possible that the components on the circuit board have grown old and weak.. which started to make the interference.
for people who enjoy electricity.. this situation would make them feel like a kid in a candy store.
there are many options and if you dont try each one, you wont know which one is the best solution.
i am not an electrical repair person.
i have had no training.. i am using logic and reasoning.
but i suppose my interest in electronics have helped me setup a virtual repair table based on what can and cant happen.
i've payed attention in science class when learning about electricity.
but i have no hands on experience doing these things myself.
i simply use my brain and view the problem in my head.. then come to a conclusion based on what can and cannot happen.
i have done some reading since i am interested in electronics.
and interference is not a very rare thing.. it is often asked about.
people in the electronics industry know about the interference.. which is why your usb controller isnt totally confused from listening to electronic interference.
one solution to the problem might be a filter that strips the audible frequency from the signal and leaves everything else the way it is.
kinda like a crossover that strips the bass from audio and lets the midrange and treble play.
replacing or modifying a power filter isnt something any untrained person can do.
but trying to avoid the problem is something anybody can do.
so again..
try running the laptop on the battery (if you have one and if the battery holds a charge)
or try to seperate the laptop power supply from the USB device with a self-powered usb adaptor.
i really dont know if all self-powered usb adaptors break the connection.
what should happen..
the 5 volt supply from the laptop usb socket plugs into the usb hub and the hub doesnt use the pins that carry the 5 volts.
instead, it simply reads from the data pins and channels power from its own power supply into the sockets that are used to split the usb socket.
i'd say good luck only because there is more than one possible problem and more than one way for the possible solution to fail.
its a hit or miss situation.. so if you aim, you might miss.
the soundcard on the laptop will probably always have the problem unless you take apart the laptop and filter the voltage going to the laptop.
but if the interference is caused by something that is too close to the sensitive soundcard.. you have to replace whatever is too close with something that wont do the same thing.
i was wanting to get a USB microphone preamp.. and i havent completely come to terms with having the same problem you have.
a high quality USB device meant for audio should filter the electricity before using it to avoid such interference from entering the audio path.
**edit**
i have windows xp and movie maker wouldnt save the videos in 720p or 1080p
but after doing a search on the web.. i came across an article that lets you download high definition profiles.
the article went on to tell me where to put the files so that they could be used.
i know your video didnt have any actual video.. but you can still benefit uploading a high definition video because the audio quality is higher when selecting a high definition version of the video on youtube.
not really important now.. but you might find it useful in the future