Hissing speakers

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Torajirou
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Belgium

Hissing speakers

Post by Torajirou » Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:04 pm

Hi

I bought some time ago a set of Creative P5800 speakers (5.1) and I'm really getting tired of the (almost) constant hissing they make. I've tried the usual tweakings : muting mic/line-in, nothing works. What's more, I've tried to connect my sound card to my stereo and there is no interference; my sound card is not the culprit here. Maybe there is something I overlooked, but it seems to me that these speakers are just crap, period.

If this is the case, could you guys recommend some really quiet speakers (I suppose that's a problem of EMI shielding... maybe cables)? I was thinking about hi-end Logitech ones (like the Z550), but they cost a lot and I want to make sure that they won't have the same issue.

Thanks!

jessekopelman
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Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:28 pm
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Post by jessekopelman » Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:47 am

First thing you should try is plugging the speaker power unit into a different outlet. If you can, try moving the whole setup to a different part of your home to test it. Lots of time speaker noise is from noisy wiring and/or spurious emissions from other equipment (sometimes belonging to neighbors if you live in an apartment complex).

Torajirou
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Belgium

Post by Torajirou » Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:58 am

I moved house recently, no change at all. I doubt moving it again somewhere else in my appartment would make a difference, but I suppose I could give it a try...

Traciatim
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Post by Traciatim » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:41 am

You just need to turn them down. Unless it's actually interference from something. Do they hiss if you plug another audio source in to them, do they still hiss if you turn the volume all the way down? If not turn them all teh way down, then turn them up until you notice hiss, then turn them down slightly. Now just use the volume control on your PC to change the volume. Possibly mark where you have it set so that if you need more volume than this, when playing a game or soething, then turn them up too... but that would be unlikely.

Torajirou
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Belgium

Post by Torajirou » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:49 am

I've already tried playing with the volume level. They start hissing even when the volume is set to the lowest setting. No tweaking helps :(

tgdrums1990
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Post by tgdrums1990 » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:55 am

Ok.

1.) Do they hiss when turned on and the input plug(s) are are disconnected from any source? If they don't hiss, it's not the speakers.

2.) If they start to his when plugged into your pc, make sure your pc is properly grounded, and that you pc speaker system is not grounded, assuming it has a 3 power pin plug as well.

I hope that helps.

Torajirou
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Belgium

Post by Torajirou » Wed Oct 17, 2007 3:39 am

tgdrums1990 wrote:Ok.

1.) Do they hiss when turned on and the input plug(s) are are disconnected from any source? If they don't hiss, it's not the speakers.
I'm pretty sure they will, since they hiss even when the computer is turned off. I'm going to try that anyway.
tgdrums1990 wrote: 2.) If they start to his when plugged into your pc, make sure your pc is properly grounded, and that you pc speaker system is not grounded, assuming it has a 3 power pin plug as well.

I hope that helps.
How can I ensure that my speaker system is NOT grounded ? Should I look for 3-pin to 2-pin plug converter ?

Thanks for your help

gudmann
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:17 am

Post by gudmann » Wed Oct 17, 2007 3:55 am

If it is ground hum (ground loop ), try something like this :

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/GLI1-X1.html

Torajirou
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Belgium

Post by Torajirou » Wed Oct 17, 2007 4:41 am

It's really definitely not a "hum" (don't know if this is a generic term or if it relates to the actual noise it makes), rather a hi-frequency whine/hiss.

Torajirou
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Belgium

Post by Torajirou » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:42 am

I just checked :

1) Hissing goes on when I unplug my speakers from my PC
2) They're not grounded

:(

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