MrDismal

I don't know anything about grounding issues/loops. First of all, what is a stand off? What to check with my I/O's on my Mobo? I'll try uninstalling my RAID drivers when I get home. I do have USB 3, none of my devices are USB 3 compatible so should I uninstall them? I don't wanna cause more issues uninstalling usb though. I don't trust myself messing with my mobo too much, it's brand new and I have habit of messing shit up.

Everything is disabled audio related in Device Manager except my USB Soundcard. The only bitrate I can set is 44.4khz or 48khz. I've tried different variations (there isn't many settings in the M-Audio control board). The only other thing I can think of is uninstalling ASIO4ALL drivers. I used CCleaner to uninstall any Realtek audio drivers. And, I've reinstalled my soundcard drivers many times. (Would it help if I did it Safemode? Never had a problem with this before). I did happen to come across something strange. I had a spare USB cable from my MPD24 drum pad and plugged it into my soundcard. The squeaky buzz noise/interference was reduced by at least 70%! The thing is, I've tried various other USB cables which did not help. Maybe this one was shielded better? After a while though, the sound did reappear and it's been going from good to bad and vice versa ever since. Do you think it's a good idea I fork out for a really "good" shielded USB cable? Plus an isolator to see if this fixes it? Know anywhere where I could get one from? Thanks for ya help man! I wanna get this fixed ASAP

Good suggestion, paavonurmi. I was hoping this would be the issue, but unfortunately it didn't work. I also installed an NVidia HDMI Audio disabler. I looked in my device manager and had: 4 x 'High Definition Audio Device" (Which is most likely my onboard card - which I have disabled in BIOS) I have also disabled them through Device Manager. & My M-Audio Audiophile. My BenQ monitor has HDMI but I'm not using it. Only just my DVI connected to my Video card. I've looked around to see if there is a disable function for this but couldn't see one.

Done another test which I plugged my pre-amped speakers to my onboard sound card - still buzzing!!! I've read up about these little fellas. They connect right on my speaker cables. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ground-Loop-Isolator-Noise-Filter-Amp-Car-Stereo-/220805388206?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item336906d7ae#ht_1873wt_905 Any thoughts? People have had luck with them.

I've done a few more tests. I tried a powered USB hub I flogged off from work. Didn't help at all. I also tried a USB cable that had an EMI ferrite. Still noises/buzz/shit. I had a spare USB mixer/sound card I had lying around. But this did the exact same thing once Windows installed it upon just plugging it right in. This obviously indicates it's not my DACs. Plugged my monitors into a completely different wall socket / vise versa for the DAC. No dice. Other test which consisted of changing my PSU from my old computer to the new one. Still interference. So I switched back. Ground loop it is then. So could you please recommend some cheap ways of configuring my connection. I don't know much about electronics/ground loops/light bulbs I've read up on some stuff that looked like a box that breaks the loop.. but still - I'm not sure about this stuff and I guess I'm worried I'll go out and sporadically buy stuff (which I know I'll do) and it won't do anything to help my cause. Any guidance would help me a lot! Thanks!

^^^ Genius post. Anyway - if you read this guys post, it seems as though his symptoms and setup is very very similar. I am also using RCA cables. http://serato.com/forum/discussion/327712

I have definitely used the 64-bit drivers. Sorry, can't remember the rest of my old system. So here are the rest of my new specs; Windows 7 64-bit Geforce GTX560 Ti Intel i7 960 3.2 Ghz Gigabyte - GA-X58A-UD3R Motherboard 6GB Ram DDR3 - Kingston @ 1333Mhz Antec 750W TruePower ATX Power Supply Blu Ray Drive - LG OCZ Solid State Drive - 60GB Seagate 1TB Barracuda 7200.12, SATAIII, 7200rpm I have 2 extra case fans (I've had the same amount previously) M-Audio Audiophile USB sound card I've tested everything you have mentioned. Besides the powered USB hub - which I don't have. I dunno what a TI chip is - and what benefits would it bring. Are you saying that this chip will be a high possibility of fixing my issue if I did end up going with a Firewire card? EDIT: The noises are not as intense anymore - but still def there. Something else interesting which might narrow it down for you. I took out the power cable, and USB cable. So there is NO power going to the Sound card. No weird noises. I then added the USB cable (So now I have only my cables going to my monitors and my USB cable to the computer. As soon as I inserted the USB cable there was noises. (But only when I move a window or do something on my computer. Sitting idle is fine. I then added power, no change in the intensity of the noise. So it's definitely the USB... right?

Just one other thing mate, if I do end up deciding it is best to buy a new sound card, would I be best going with a USB 2.0 or Firewire? Would firewire be less "electronically interfered"? I'm still going to try and get the M-Audio card working since I like it, it's simple, easy to use and has been stable up until now.

Hi Bill, thanks for the reply. >First, does your DAC have its own driver? Yeah it does. I disabled my onboard soundcard before installing any audio drivers. And the only drivers that I installed were my M-Audio Audiophile external sound card ones. >If you describe your old computer configuration (including operating >system and player s/w) and the new configuration, you might get >better quality advice. My old computer had a higher Watt PSU (I think 850w my new one is only 750w) Old specs: Windows 7 64-bit Radeon GPU P4 Duo @ 2.4 Ghz 4 GB Ram 850W PSU And the same External audio card New specs: Windows 7 64-bit Geforce GTX560 Ti Intel i7 960 3.2 Ghz 6 GB Ram 750W PSU And the same External audio card Some things I had already tried are: -Tested different USB ports -Installed latest MB drivers -Tried Internal Sound Card (worked fine) -Installed an extra 2 USB ports (connection on MB) -Unplugging all USB devices and only kept mouse and keyboard (both are corded so no radio interference) Nothing seemed to fix it. I'll try those things you have mentioned tonight when I get home from work. The reason why I don't think it is an electrical interference is because it's happened before and it was only software/driver issued. But, I could be wrong it could be worse than I thought. Gah, I hope I don't have to fork out another couple hunj for a new Sound card. Can I also mention, that this only runs on USB 1.0 so it is quite old. First started using it about 2006/2007.

Hi, I'm having a major issue with my Audiophile USB soundcard. Before upgrading it was working perfectly. Now that I got my new computer today I plugged it in and installed it as normal but sound does not work in games - it just makes an ugly grumble sound (I can play music and the windows sounds work fine). What else is strange is that when my computer is just idle, it makes these weird static noises kinda like a cliche digital computer sound you'd hear, through my speakers. It goes in squeaky beeps too. When my mouse moves it gets worse, and even worse when there is Hard disk activity. I remember having this same issue a while ago when first installing windows 7 - but managed to fix it somehow. I tried messing with settings inside the M-Audio application, changing USB ports. And I did infact try disabling 'C1E' and 'Intel EIST (Speedstep)' in BIOS to no avail. If ANYBODY knows anything else to try please let me know as this issue is evil!! Drivers are (Windows 7 64-bit SP1) Audiophile_6_0_1_5_10_0_5131.exe