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Getting a hiss from Asus Xonar ST/Marantz 2226B when I move the mouse.

MrSparklez

MrSparklez

Active Member
I'm not sure if this belongs here since it involves a computer.

So I have an Asus Xonar ST connected to a Marantz 2226B receiver, it sounds great but when I'm in a game or using my browser I get this hiss from the speakers, especially when I move the mouse cursor over all the tabs I have open.

This hiss does not go away even if I change the output from AUX to TAPE 2 on the receiver.

Things I have done to try and troubleshoot this: Try using some other PCI connector on the motherboard, I tried turning the sound down in Windows to 0 but the hiss is still at the same volume, I tried increasing the volume on the receiver but the hiss is still at the same volume.

I don't get a hiss when I use the Headphone out on the soundcard with headphones.

Any ideas to what this could be ?

The receiver works perfectly with a record player and a CD player, the hiss only stops when I'm not doing anything on the computer.

Could this just be some sort of weird compatibility issue with the receiver and the sound card ?
 
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this is one of the reasons a lot of people go with external dac's

inside a pc case can be a pretty noisy enviroment for sound cards and all.

however.. don't despair (yet at least).

you may want to open the pc case up and try to route any cables (especially power cables) a far away from the sound card as possible.

you might also want to try disconnecting anything connected to the front panel audio / usb ports and see if the issue is poor shielding there (frequently cases have poorly shielded front panel connectors.

you may want to try moving the mouse to a different usb port and or try swapping mice

and then also you might want to try unplugging stuff (you can) that is also plugged into the same outlet(s) as the audio gear and see if any of that is causing the noise... my netbooks power supply would make make interference noise when plugged in and charging my netbook.. moved the charger to a different outlet and problem went away.


EDIT... doh also if you haven't tried it maybe try a different cable also...
 
I have the same soundcard and I never get anything like that from it. It is dead silent. Try reinstalling it, maybe there is a bad connection or something.
 
If the mouse if wireless that could be placed too close to the amp. If USB try a another. The old ball mice on old crts when they were shot you would see the interference on the screen.
hope it helps.
 
So I managed to sort of fix this, I tried taking my graphics card out and only using the onboard graphics. That seems to have fixed this. Oh well now I have to replace my graphics card. :(
 
MrSparklez said:
So I managed to sort of fix this, I tried taking my graphics card out and only using the onboard graphics. That seems to have fixed this. Oh well now I have to replace my graphics card. :(
Click to expand...

Interesting, so the graphics card may be transmitting either on the bus, or through air inside the PC causing the hiss??

I wonder if there is a component on the graphics card they forgot to shield.

Do the math, and consider an outboard DAC connected via USB, if that doesn't get the isolation you need, go with an optical connection between the PC and DAC.

If your receiver has an onboard DAC connect the PC via an optical cable and declare victory.
 
Its probably re-transmitting bus noise into the sound card. I have a feeling that replacing it with another may not solve the issue. A DAC should though.

I've frequently had that mouse noise on PCs with onboard cards. The better sound cards tend to not be as bad about it but all of my computers now are freebie salvage jobs from work that take halfwit sized cards. I don't happen to have any laying about, so I just use the noisy onboard thing and put up with the buzz.
 
Hello

I sugest that before taking any action (change video card, sell the xonar or buy an external dac ) just replace your atx power supply with a new decent one and give it a try!
 
dimanag said:
Hello

I sugest that before taking any action (change video card, sell the xonar or buy an external dac ) just replace your atx power supply with a new decent one and give it a try!
Click to expand...

I corresponded with an engineer last night that had selected the xonar and bench tested it, he is a very happy customer.

I think you would have to "pry the xonar out of his cold dead hands".

I don't know if the power supply is the bad boy, but it may be worth a try if you love the xonar as much as the the engineer does.....
 
I have an Xonar Essence STX and I love it. Before I purchased mine I was aware of complains about them picking up internal noise from the computer but learned this was addressed with more shielding in newer models, and I just love the on board headphone amp. If you think it is necessary go external I would really take a look at the Xonar Essence DAC's.
 
MrSparklez said:
I don't love it that much, I have a decent power supply from Thermaltake that has some efficiency certification. I also like to have the ability to use the dac with a laptop. I'm thinking of buying an Audioengine D1 or http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=120&cp_id=12008&cs_id=1200801&p_id=11567&seq=1&format=2 .
Click to expand...

Here is additional information provided by the Engineer in response to your problem. Again, he bench tested with tone generators and oscilloscopes in addition to his ears....

"I've seen reports of cases of video card interference. In my case, the sound card is as far from the video card as the computer allows and on a separate bus, so I don't particularly suspect interference from the video card. I would expect some variation in noise to occur with different computers. I did try additional filtering of the power to the card and also a different power supply, with no significant improvement in overall noise level. The noise I observe is not so serious that I have investigated further. In the acoustic environment of most of my listening, I don't hear the sound-card noise unless I specifically stretch conditions to make it audible.

I haven't tried 24x96 for any application. I think the improvements over 16x44 would be audible only in rare, golden circumstances."
 
I gave up using onboard sound some time ago. Even the Xonar suffered severe suckage here ... as mentioned, there's just too much going on with the primary bus on a computer and a lot of potential interference.

Possible cheap fix would be to add a powered USB expansion card like I did on my HTPC. I was getting some weirdness similar to yours even using my Maverick outboard dac and was able to clean it all up. The PCI/e card I got creates it's own USB channel and adds three external USB ports and pulls power directly from the power supply so major isolation, and every little bit helps. Only thing plugged into that card are the DAC and ADC.
 
that's sounds like... leakage back. I sometimes run a separate usb hub. Perhaps your Irq on the buss is shared? Some changes in the bios settings?
 
What mainboard do you have?

What USB port do you have your mouse plugged in to? Mainboard back panel header or pc case front usb port? The case front port is normally plugged into a socket on the mainboard that is sometimes run off of a different usb controller than the rear panel.

I have the STX version of this card and have not had your problem, but I've read of some cards where the shielding is painted where the mounting screws make contact, meaning that the shielding doesn't have a good ground, making it ineffective. If so carefully scrape the paint off of the shield where the mounting screws are (top and bottom).

Have you tried using a different mouse?

Cheers,
James
 
Bratwurst7s said:
What mainboard do you have?

What USB port do you have your mouse plugged in to? Mainboard back panel header or pc case front usb port? The case front port is normally plugged into a socket on the mainboard that is sometimes run off of a different usb controller than the rear panel.

I have the STX version of this card and have not had your problem, but I've read of some cards where the shielding is painted where the mounting screws make contact, meaning that the shielding doesn't have a good ground, making it ineffective. If so carefully scrape the paint off of the shield where the mounting screws are (top and bottom).

Have you tried using a different mouse?

Cheers,
James
Click to expand...

Intel i5 3570K, ASRock Extreme 4, 8GB Mushkin Silverline, Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 120GB, Seagate Barracuda 1TB, Gigabyte HD 7950, Asus Xonar ST, Corsair 330R.

This is my setup, I have tried using different mice, I always have them connected to the motherboard, I will look into the card not being grounded properly.

Thanks for the help :)
 
Binkman said:
that's sounds like... leakage back. I sometimes run a separate usb hub. Perhaps your Irq on the buss is shared? Some changes in the bios settings?
Click to expand...

I checked the bios for any settings regarding the graphics card and sound card being shared on the same bus, it didn't have any.
 
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