There is no silence

scrupul0us · Oct 24, 2007, 03:05 AM

With no sound being generated from my PC (sb audigy card) and i view the Peak meter there is still movement and a slight high-pitched whine from the speakers...

any ideas?

thanks

mkk · Oct 24, 2007, 03:30 AM

Is your system running off a grounded power outlet?

Russ · Oct 24, 2007, 04:14 AM

If you see a signal on the peak meter, then one of the sliders at the bottom on the Ins and Outs page of kxmixer is probably not muted.

scrupul0us · Oct 24, 2007, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkk

Is your system running off a grounded power outlet?

unfortunately my home was built in 1949 so the outlet im tied into ISNT grounded... however; my system is ran through a nice surge protector... what i might try doing is tapping that surge protector through my big APC power unit... it has two surge only outlets nd maybe that will clean any dirty signals getting into the PC

however though; before i bought my home and lived @ my moms house which was all newer construction, i remember having a similar issue....

i plan to move my office in my house regardless and it will have its own dedicated breaker on a new grounded cable... if nothing else it'll be hooked up correctly

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ

If you see a signal on the peak meter, then one of the sliders at the bottom on the Ins and Outs page of kxmixer is probably not muted.

i went so far as to mute EVERYTHING and there is still the exact amount of motion in the peak meter

Russ · Oct 24, 2007, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scrupul0us

i went so far as to mute EVERYTHING and there is still the exact amount of motion in the peak meter

What DSP config are you using? If it is something other than the default, post a screenshot of your config.

Try connecting the peak plugin to different points in the DSP, and see if you can figure out at which point/plugin the signal is first encountered.

scrupul0us · Oct 25, 2007, 01:12 AM

as for DSP im talking vanilla out of the box...

im still getting the hang of the DSP after enh, 4 years

so ill use the meter as a logic probe i guess

ill get back to ya on more details... any more suggestions?

Russ · Oct 25, 2007, 01:33 AM

Well the noise may not even be related to the signal that you are seeing in the DSP (i.e. it (noise) could be something with the speaker system, or wiring problems, or noise from cooling fans in PC, etc), it could be 2 separate things, but with no input, you really should not see anything on the peak meter, so I would start with that.

Try to figure out which plugin the noise is originating in.
i.e.
If it is prolog, then (again) something is not muted on the Ins and Outs page of kxmixer.
If it is Fxbus, then some software (or OS) is playing sound.
If it is an effect, then it could just be a bad setting with that effect.

Try to eliminate that signal in the DSP, and then see if the noise goes away with it.

You may also try resetting AC97 (button on AC97 page of kxmixer) to be sure something is not screwy with the codec settings.

scrupul0us · Oct 25, 2007, 02:19 AM

ok... ive tracked it down to the surrounder+ plugin... everything is silent until it leaves there...

speakermode: 5.1
surround: on
VcenterA: 1.00
VrearA: 1.00
VrearW: 0.96
VrearD: 12.0ms
Use Subwoofer: unchecked

and the drop down is set to: 5.1 movie mode

Russ · Oct 25, 2007, 02:38 AM

Hmmm, I am not sure why that would happen with Surrounder+, did you check all 12 of the top output pins of xrouting?

Also, the next obvious question is, if you skip Surrounder+ (or just disable it so that nothing is sent to the speakers), do you still hear the noise in the speakers?

scrupul0us · Oct 25, 2007, 12:27 PM

nW, nE, sW, sE all have noise coming OUT of xrouting... i admit i only checked the top two pin outs on xrouting before posting

btw the noise registers between -108 and -102 of the peak meter

everything in xrouting is muted or set to INF

Russ · Oct 25, 2007, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scrupul0us

i admit i only checked the top two pin outs on xrouting before posting

Yeah, I figured as much since Surrounder+ would be an unlikely cause. It is probably a bad setting with the Reverb plugin (too much feedback, etc).

In any case at -102 dB, it is probably not the noise you are hearing.

As I said previously, the noise can be caused by any number of things...
I would start by trying to rule out the speaker system... Try other speakers or headphones, and see if you still hear the noise.

Beyond the above:

Make sure your speaker wiring is not wrapped around power cords, and is routed away from EMI sources (as much as possible anyway) like the computer monitor, etc.

You could try moving the card to another PCI slot, further away from any fans and the video card, etc.

You could try plugging the computer and speakers (if using powered speakers) into a different wall outlet.

It is hard to say, especially if your system is not grounded (BTW: A surge protector is not going to help much if it is not grounded). If your APC has enough power to run your system (computer, monitor, and speakers) on battery power alone for a short time, you might try doing that just to see if the noise stops.

scrupul0us · Oct 25, 2007, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ

Yeah, I figured as much since Surrounder+ would be an unlikely cause. It is probably a bad setting with the Reverb plugin (too much feedback, etc)..

BINGO!... i changed the first slider in reverb lite from 100% to 0% and it cut the noise on the peak meter all the way... im doing this via remote desktop so ill have to check for audible noise when i get home...

thanks for the help so far!

Oct 24, 2007, 03:05 AM	#1
scrupul0us DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 17 Rep Power: 0	There is no silence With no sound being generated from my PC (sb audigy card) and i view the Peak meter there is still movement and a slight high-pitched whine from the speakers... any ideas? thanks

Oct 25, 2007, 02:38 AM	#9
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	Hmmm, I am not sure why that would happen with Surrounder+, did you check all 12 of the top output pins of xrouting? Also, the next obvious question is, if you skip Surrounder+ (or just disable it so that nothing is sent to the speakers), do you still hear the noise in the speakers? Last edited by Russ; Oct 25, 2007 at 02:45 AM.

Oct 24, 2007, 03:30 AM	#2
mkk Cthulhu/Dagon 2012 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 4,490 Rep Power: 132 System Specs	Is your system running off a grounded power outlet?

Oct 24, 2007, 04:14 AM	#3
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	If you see a signal on the peak meter, then one of the sliders at the bottom on the Ins and Outs page of kxmixer is probably not muted.

Oct 25, 2007, 01:12 AM	Thread Starter #6
scrupul0us DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 17 Rep Power: 0	as for DSP im talking vanilla out of the box... im still getting the hang of the DSP after enh, 4 years so ill use the meter as a logic probe i guess ill get back to ya on more details... any more suggestions?

Oct 25, 2007, 01:33 AM	#7
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	Well the noise may not even be related to the signal that you are seeing in the DSP (i.e. it (noise) could be something with the speaker system, or wiring problems, or noise from cooling fans in PC, etc), it could be 2 separate things, but with no input, you really should not see anything on the peak meter, so I would start with that. Try to figure out which plugin the noise is originating in. i.e. If it is prolog, then (again) something is not muted on the Ins and Outs page of kxmixer. If it is Fxbus, then some software (or OS) is playing sound. If it is an effect, then it could just be a bad setting with that effect. Try to eliminate that signal in the DSP, and then see if the noise goes away with it. You may also try resetting AC97 (button on AC97 page of kxmixer) to be sure something is not screwy with the codec settings.

Oct 25, 2007, 02:19 AM	Thread Starter #8
scrupul0us DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 17 Rep Power: 0	ok... ive tracked it down to the surrounder+ plugin... everything is silent until it leaves there... speakermode: 5.1 surround: on VcenterA: 1.00 VrearA: 1.00 VrearW: 0.96 VrearD: 12.0ms Use Subwoofer: unchecked and the drop down is set to: 5.1 movie mode

Oct 25, 2007, 12:27 PM	Thread Starter #10
scrupul0us DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 17 Rep Power: 0	nW, nE, sW, sE all have noise coming OUT of xrouting... i admit i only checked the top two pin outs on xrouting before posting btw the noise registers between -108 and -102 of the peak meter everything in xrouting is muted or set to INF