White noise with KRK and M-Audio Fast Track.

**dope** · 08-13-2012, 11:04 PM

Hey,

First of all, reaseach has been unsuccessful so far.

Second, I'm not sure this threads belongs here, but it does more than in any other categories.

Third, you probably hate spending 100% of your time on a forum sorting out other's people problems, and I'm sorry to add this, I wish everything was flawless.

So, the deal is that i'm having issues with my KRK's and my soundcard which is an M-Audio Fast Track.
Since I bought the soundcard and the monitors (at the same time), I experienced a tiny bit of white noise only perceptible when everything is absolutely silent. It was annoying but I had to deal with it, but it's getting bigger and now pisses me off seriously.

Strange point but that can help finding the solution : I hear modulation in the sound when i'm doing something on the computer. For example if I open my web browser, the sound will be a little different. It modulates aswell when I move my mouse etc.

I made a quick video so that you get it, unfortunately you can't hear the noise in the first part because the recording (iPhone) is crap and has it's own noise that covers the KRK's.

Because of all that, and especially the sound getting bigger because of a game is launched on the PC, I think it's an issue related to power. So I decided to change and plug the monitors to another power strip, nothing changes.

I hope it's detailed enough and that you have an idea, cause this is really annoying especially for production work...

Thanks

**liam1895** · 08-13-2012, 11:11 PM

Im more than sure it would be the soundcard man. Check your soundcard settings and make sure everything looks right. Make sure your using the right audio drivers for it too.

Let me know how you go!!

**dope** · 08-13-2012, 11:15 PM

Originally Posted by liam1895

Check your soundcard settings and make sure everything looks right.

Besides sample rate and latency, there's nothing else..
As far as I know, the drivers are up to date. Anyway, even with the 1st ever released driver this should not happen.

I'm thinking EM interferences but I don't have a single idea how to be sure, and how to counter that.

Oh and btw I edited my post, I just checked there IS white noise even if the m-audio is not the selected output in windows. My bad.

**liam1895** · 08-13-2012, 11:25 PM

Originally Posted by dope

Besides sample rate and latency, there's nothing else..
As far as I know, the drivers are up to date. Anyway, even with the 1st ever released driver this should not happen.

I'm thinking EM interferences but I don't have a single idea how to be sure, and how to counter that.

I was more thinking make sure you were using the M-Audio ASIO Drivers but nvr mind.

Try turning off the monitor output and see if your getting static noise through the headphone output if you are then you know its the soundcard if not its likely a monitor problem.

**dope** · 08-13-2012, 11:43 PM

Interesting, I didn't thought about this

So, one thing you must know is that on this soundcard, when I plug headphones, no more sound is routed to the speakers.
When I plug them, no white noise in them. But even though no signal should be routed to the monitors, there's still the white noise coming from them.

And by the way, when the KRK are not hooked to the soundcard, no white noise.

Therefore, we can assume that it's not a soundcard problem. Or at least not a software related problem, nor a monitor related problem.

I see 2 possibilites left :

Connectivity problem (soundcard output) : I doubt it
EM interferences : Probably

Or maybe I missed something, I don't know.

**liam1895** · 08-13-2012, 11:53 PM

Originally Posted by dope

Interesting, I didn't thought about this

So, one thing you must know is that on this soundcard, when I plug headphones, no more sound is routed to the speakers.
When I plug them, no white noise in them. But even though no signal should be routed to the monitors, there's still the white noise coming from them.

And by the way, when the KRK are not hooked to the soundcard, no white noise.

Therefore, we can assume that it's not a soundcard problem. Or at least not a software related problem, nor a monitor related problem.

I see 2 possibilites left :

Connectivity problem (soundcard output) : I doubt it
EM interferences : Probably

Or maybe I missed something, I don't know.

Make sure you have got a pair of insulated TRS or RCA cables or it will act like a radio receiver haha, this doesnt happen that often in my experience as the cables would have to be pretty long. If you suspect its EM interference maybe move any radio or tv antenna's away just to try and see if this was the problem.

Preferably use balanced TRS for monitoring.

You'll honestly be seriously surprised how hidden the problem could be I mean I once had static coming from my monitors because I used a 3 prong power cable rather than a 2. Genuinely check EVERYTHING if you believe it's a monitor's problem. In most cases it will come down to something you would have never expected haha.

Let me know how you go

EDIT: Does the static still happen when your PC is powered off?

**16b441khz** · 08-13-2012, 11:54 PM

noise in this sense is usually a poorly shielded cable, are the balanced? if not then get some. Noise is typically a hardware issue and not software so i doubt its drivers. Go through and check the power strip that the monitors and your audio gear is hooked up to. 90% of the time noise is related to these issues (cables and power) after that its hard to tell without being there and looking at it all.

**dope** · 08-14-2012, 12:56 AM

I'm kind of a noob regarding cables and stuff, but they are like 3 meters long and jack 6.35mm, i thing it's 1/4 inch (not familiar with the metric system tho). The only way I have to plug them into the KRK's is a slot named "TRS balanced".

I guess they are balanced, it's not superhigh quality but it's not cheap stuff either, the guy at the place where I buy all my gear (serious national store) gave them to me, and he must know what he's doing.

Are there any visual clue to see if they are balanced ? Or any test I can run ?

EDIT : I tested powering off my PC.

There is still a TINY bit of white noise, and the volume of it changes when I change to volume fader behind the KRK's. I guess it's normal since they are amplified speakers, anyway, it's not a big deal and doesn't causes any problem.

And when everything is down, the "sizzling" (right ?) goes away.
But it comes back as soon as the PC is on windows's logging screen.

Thanks to this test I distingished that there are 2 things :

1) a tiny and super low white noise that is ok, but here as soon as I power the monitor (plugged to the soundcard or not)

2) a more electronic sounding "sizzling" that is awful (still low but you can hear it even without paying attention).

Should I get better cables ?
Can someone who has KRK's aswell can tell if they have the tiny white noise aswell ? It's not a big deal but if I can get rid of it i wouldn't say no.

I hope it's not as messy as I think it is and that you get my explainations.
And thank you for your help guys, i didn't expect such thing that fast.