USB sound card issue

[Amatt]

Hi there,

I recently purchased an USB sound card (focusrite Scarlett 2i2) along with a pair of active speakers. When everything is connected the speakers make a buzzing sound which only gets louder by turning the speakers up (turning the PC output or the level on the card does not affect this). When I load up a program the buzz gets more intense almost to a whitenoise with random beeps. I have isolated the speakers and cables which are both working fine. I have also had a replacement audio interface and tried a better quality USB cable so looks to be something internally in my PC.

Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Amatt]

Turns out this was being caused by a ground loop and I had to invest in an "Isolator" unit to eliminate the noise. Supposedly the only other way to get around this issue is to remove the ground from your PSU (I wasn't a fan on this idea for obvious reasons).

Just posting this in case anyone else runs into this issue.

 

[Ralm]

Yeah it sounds like Power issue as well.

Doesnt that sound card get independent power??
Well, I have Corsair AX850w with a Asus Xonar Essence STX and 0 noise.

And dont isolate your powersupply for the ground or you can risk in damaging some of your computer components.
One of the biggest enemies for PCs is static and if you dont have a way to send it away, it can damage some components.

 

[Amatt]

Unfortunately the sound card doesn't get its power independently (this would also eliminate the issue). I did look into it, but I do not require the higher end gear that have this.
Guess I'll have to put up with a bit of buzz for now as there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it apart from that Isolator unit.

 

[Ralm]

Hi there again,

I would recomend you, if you have the money, to adquire one of those higher end UPS for consumers. The ones that provide a filtered power.

I never tried it, but since they filter the power to deliver a sinewave, etc whatever it was, I think the noise issue could go away.

But as I said, Im not sure, Is just an ideia I had and something worth keeping in mind.