Noise from computer (win7) from scrolling on IE coming through on headphones. How to stop this?

[Blackdawn]

Hi,

I'm playing Wave(lossless) files from Windows Media Player through to my headphones. I'm getting some noises when I scroll on websites. Any idea how to reduce this noise?

Thanks

 

[iMark]

I also get a bit of noise when I listen to my MacBook through earphones. I think this sort of problem is inherent to computers. I think the only way to solve this is to get a separate headphone amp but they are not cheap.

If it only happens when you scrolling on IE you could try if you get the same noise when you use another browser. It might not work but it's a lot cheaper than buying a headphone amp.

 

[BernardLanguillier]

Have you tried using another player?

Cheers,
Bernard

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Your problem is easy to describe and solve.

Your computer is a sea of electrical noise and some of that noise is spilling into your headphone out circuit on your computer. It happens to a varying extent on all computers.

It's most noticeable when you have the volume cranked up and you pause or stop a track, then use your mouse or track pad.

Buying a headphone or regular amp will not solve your problem - but you will need one.

What you need to do is buy a good DAC. Plug it into the usb socket on your computer and then connect the output sockets on the DAC to your amp.

So what's going on here? Simple. Inside your computer is a cheap component called a DAC. It's converting the stream of 1's and 0's that make up all sounds on your computer and changing them into an analogue audio signal. That signal is then amplified by another cheap and nasty little component - the headphone out amp inside your computer. I've got a mac, but even with them the headphone out amp is still at the very cheap end of the scale. Hence the size of their profits!

Given the amount of electrical activity going on inside your computer, electrical noise is very loud and will as mentioned earlier spill into audio circuits - it's very difficult to avoid and keep costs down.

By having your audio signal sent from your computer in it's simplest form i.e. binary and then having the conversion to an analogue signal being done by an external DAC you can reduce or even completely remove all noise.

The difference will astound you.

Some recommendations then. I'll assume your on a budget. The best cheap DAC is the HRT Music streamer II - £145. Used with a Slee Novo headphone amp - £250 and you'll never want to go back to what you had before. Money no option - you wont get much better than the Lehmann Audio Black Cube USB -£950.

Enjoy your sounds!

 

[PJPro]

Please describe your setup. Are your headphones simply plugged into your PC?

 

[Blackdawn]

Thanks elkel.

My specs are - Windows Media Player playing lossless wav files (I've tried others but prefer this) through onboard sound card (192 KHz 24-bit 8 channel audio), on desktop win 7 PC. It does have Coaxial and Optical SPDIF out and headphone out. The sound is pretty good but annoying with these noises. Only happens when scrolling so far. Doesn't always happen either, only sometimes

My first upgrade and the cheapest (already ordered) is to upgrade my soundcard. Have decided on separate Asus Xonar. If this removes the noises and gives me improved playback I won't need an external DAC or amp.

Will report if the new card is an improvement and reduces the back ground noise, especially from scrolling.

 

[Blackdawn]

An update-

I've received my new soundcard (Asus Xonar DS). It is now fitted and working well with the drivers from the Asus site. I also have an Asus Deluxe motherboard and and their products seem of really good quality. Really pleased with the sound. An improvement over the onboard card with Realtek sound. The annoying noises have also gone since the upgrade so that when I scroll on websites I don't get hums and clicks coming through on the sound. The background white noise is also much reduced. I've listened to various styles of music already from rock to classical and world music, all sound really very good.

The card is really great and sounds brilliant running Wav lossless through into my headphones using WMA player. Very pleased as the sound card was a baragain and probably saved me hundreds compared to a separate DAC and amp route. It's worth ripping your cd's at the highest possible bitrate.

Next possible extension to the PC based music centre is to get another amp and run my Dali speakers with it using existing files on the PC. This is for another day though and I'm happy with the headphones at present.

Thanks for the help posters. The new soundcard has transformed my PC music listening experience. I would reccommed this route first before spending hundreds on separate DAC/headphone amps.

 

[Blackdawn]

I'll also add that the soundcard has a swappable OP amp socket so may have a play with different OP amps at some point.

 

[Alantiggger]

A good soundcard works wonders for music