I have my HTPC connected to my SONY surround sound receiver and my speakers are making a buzzing noise. The connection goes directly from my sound card to the SONY receiver. I used the cable that converts from the standard sound card plug type(I can't remember what it is called) to RCA.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. The buzzing is very annoying.

What make/model of sound card are you using ?

If you want to know, the standard sound card plug is refered to as an 1/8" mini plug.

Can you describe (or have a picture or link to a picture) of the miniplug end... specifically how many "rings" does it have ? (these are generally the little "rings" of plastic used as insulators between channels.

cheers,
gs

GadgetSmith,

Thanks for the response. Here is a picture of the cable. It has 2 rings. The sound card I am using is a RealTek. It is the builtin sound card on the motherboard.

Click to view attachment

It sounds like, excuse the pun, you have some type of RF interference. Try turning off various high powered devices around your home to try to find its source.

DJ

If you have the PC connected to cable TV, try disconnecting that.

That looks like a decent cable already, but you might also try a different 1/8 to RCA cable...

You have a ground loop problem, get a ground loop isolator fron Radio shack and you'll be all set

I don’t think it is a ground loop problem. Ground loops generally just hum but brain described it as a buzz. Still it would be worthwhile testing for a ground loop just in case

DJ

What happens when you wiggle it?
...just a little bit!

Sorry couldnt resist, but really, if you move the plug in the pc around a little does the tone or pattern of the buzz change? If it does then its a contact issue. It might not be seating properly. If it doesnt then its probably RF interference. A lot of Halagen manufacturers use sub standard transformers that will produce noticable hum. Poor ballasts on FL lights too. Oddly enough I had this happen once and it turned out to be an air pump for my fish tank...

SJ

Do you have a digital optical out port? You could escape the problem entirely with a Toslink connection.



peace

If it get worse when you move your mouse really fast then you have some interference inside your pc...sounds really crazy I know...But if it is the case buying a new sound card and moving it to the bottom pci slot does the trick.

Thanks for the tips everyone. When I get some time I will troubleshoot with your suugestions and report back.

You might also try shutting off your lamp and see if the buzzing stops. I’ve noticed that the ballast puts out interference all over the TVs in the house on the lower frequencies (chan 2 – 10). It’s so bad it looks like having 4 vacuums all running at the same time. Although I don’t have a solution for it yet.

I had just a minute the other day to look into this. The HTPC case had a blue led that lights up the front. I disconnected that and the buzz appeared to go away. Is that possible? I will do more checking this weekend as I intend to watch some movies since it is raining.

Meant to post another fix but it looks like you've cleared up the issue, and yes it is possible since your blue led's are powered by electrical current.

In case the issue ever resurfaces, make sure you disconnect and remove that interference-prone cable that connects your cdrom to your soundcard. It is no longer needed since digital audio can now directly pass through the pci bus, rendering that interference-prone cable obsolete.



http://images.tigerdirect.com/skuimages/large/C184-09442.jpg

We had this problem at Church. Turned out it was those small compact flourescent lights they replaced the incandecent bulbs with was causing the problem.

Funny it was an LED in your case.