RFI/EMI in my earphones?

[yuntrips]

I am plagued by what sounds like EMI or RFI coming through my earphones. It varies from a sort of buzzing to a whining, or the sound of metal being ground by a very fine abrasive. It's hard to describe because it varies widely. It seems to coincide which any significant electrical activity in my build, i.e. visual changes on the video display (even when the mouse pointer moves), disk activity, etc. It isn't real loud, but it's there and i;'s driving me nuts.

Anyone ever run into something like this? Ideas?

Use the pulldown to see my system specs.

Thanks.

 

[p_o_s_pc]

i had that problem really bad at one time. It got better when i redid the WM so maybe it is a shielding problem? try moving all power wires away from it as far as possible if it is on the front ports(the one on the case)

BTW antec has been known to not have the best jacks and to make alot of noise... If your good at soldering and know of a way to better shield the wires from interference that could be an option

 

[yuntrips]

Shielding is what I thought, too. Yes, the phones are plugged into the Front Panel Audio jack. I should probably try them in the front speaker jack on the rear panel to rule out the audio chip. By the way, what is WM?

It'll be hard for me to keep that wire harness away from the power cables. The audio header is on the bottom left of my MOBO.

 

[p_o_s_pc]

WM=Wire management.(moving the wires for looks or airflow) My audio header is also on the bottom left of the board and i am using the Antec 300 and had the same problem till i moved the power wires now it isn't nearly as bad. But yes try the jack on the back of the motherboard

 

[Polaris573]

I had a pair of cheap headphones with a long wire plugged into the headphone jack of a cheap pair of speakers. It was so bad I could make out words from a local radio station in the interference. For a couple days I thought I was going crazy or being haunted by ghosts. Problem wasn't nearly as bad if I used the plug on my soundcard and bypassed the speakers.

 

[KainXS]

lmao polaris

 

[yuntrips]

WM=Wire management.(moving the wires for looks or airflow) My audio header is also on the bottom left of the board and i am using the Antec 300 and had the same problem till i moved the power wires now it isn't nearly as bad. But yes try the jack on the back of the motherboard

Alas, the front speaker jack on the mother board will not work for the headphones. Only the headphone jack on the front panel will work. Do you think ferrite cores on the front panel wire harness might work?

 

[p_o_s_pc]

Alas, the front speaker jack on the mother board will not work for the headphones. Only the headphone jack on the front panel will work. Do you think ferrite cores on the front panel wire harness might work?

to be honest i don't know.

 

[Wile E]

I have this problem when I put my sound card next to my video card. If you had a sound card, I would've told you to try a different slot. Might be worth grabbing a sound card to try instead. It would sound better at least.

 

[MK4512]

Funny, I had this problem yesterday!

Route your audio cables away from your main power sources, including your fan power, as those are terribly shielded...

I routed mine on the very inside of my case, right under my graphics card, and after that no more static/whine.

Also, if you want perfect quality, then pick your back audio jack. Its a direct link from the mobo to the jack which means theres no chance for interference, but if you route your cables correctly, you should have the same effect on your front panel audio.

 

[theonedub]

Alas, the front speaker jack on the mother board will not work for the headphones. Only the headphone jack on the front panel will work. Do you think ferrite cores on the front panel wire harness might work?

I had HORRIBLE emi on my front panel audio even after moving the wires as best I could away from the power cables. So just yesterday, while looking through some of my extra cables, I stumbled on a Ferrite Choke/EMI Ring filter wrapped the front panel wire around it 2x (wouldve done more if it were longer) and the interference is near gone @ idle, and very slight at full load (GPU folding & CPU crunching). Try it out, but as always ymmv.

 

[Solaris17]

Alas, the front speaker jack on the mother board will not work for the headphones. Only the headphone jack on the front panel will work. Do you think ferrite cores on the front panel wire harness might work?

i was actually going to suggest this.

 

[sneekypeet]

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=ferrite EMI ring&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Wrap your audio cabling through one of those.

Sorry didnt read all the way through....exactly what that ferite core is for.

 

[xBruce88x]

i'm having the same problem... now to find a ferrite core

 

[p_o_s_pc]

i'm having the same problem... now to find a ferrite core

wouldn't the shack have them
http://www.radioshack.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2032273

 

[sneekypeet]

yeah even the clip on style will work.

 

[yuntrips]

I actually walked down to my local Shack and picked up two of the clip on style ferrite cores. I'll try them tomorrow. Thanks for all the feedback folks.

 

[Mussels]

i've had this problem with cheap onboard audio before, my solution was just a dedicated sound card.

(also, it was far worse when using front panel audio)

 

[xBruce88x]

yea... walking requires me to go through the bad neighborhoods lol... i think i'll wait and drive after i get the spark plugs done in my truck tomorrow. looks like the $3 ones are just cheap enough for me to afford (i have like $5 in the bank right now) and it looks like they'll fit nicely on the audio line for the case.

 

[MK4512]

Found a post that explains how to remove all of your static on an Antec 300, and since they're both from the same company, I think this might work. Worked great on mine. All static is gone.

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?p=11145597

 

[Homeless]

I used to have that problem with my radeon 4850. When high fps scenes occurred and a few minutes after that, I would get this really annoying EMI sound through my headphones regardless of the soundcard used. It's not really a fix, but I swapped it out with a nvidia card and haven't had the problem since

 

[yuntrips]

Nope... the ferrite chokes are on the cable but the EMI is still there and just as "loud". I really don't want to rip my case apart to get at the ground wires on the plugs... what next?

 

[MK4512]

Nope... the ferrite chokes are on the cable but the EMI is still there and just as "loud". I really don't want to rip my case apart to get at the ground wires on the plugs... what next?

Sure? It's quite easy, you just unscrew it and clip off one little wire...

Anyways, looks like your outta options... If it is your grounding, no other fix is going to work. As even if you get rid of the static, the grounding is going to mess with the end result.

 

[Solaris17]

Nope... the ferrite chokes are on the cable but the EMI is still there and just as "loud". I really don't want to rip my case apart to get at the ground wires on the plugs... what next?

wrap the wire around it once or twice see if that helps.

 

[yuntrips]

Sure? It's quite easy, you just unscrew it and clip off one little wire...

Anyways, looks like your outta options... If it is your grounding, no other fix is going to work. As even if you get rid of the static, the grounding is going to mess with the end result.

Clipping the wire is not the problem. Getting at the wire I need to clip is. There doesn't seem to be an easy way to get under the front panel where the jacks are. Are you familiar with the Antec 902s configuration?