Another "For the love of god help me get rid of buzzing/mic noice!" thread

T

TheForumTroll

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Oct 11, 2009
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So, I have quite a lot of noise on my microphone and to not annoy those I talk with I'd really like to fix it. Sadly I have no idea how. The noise is either from all the stuff I have connected in my living-room or from the power outlet as it is a problem in both my PC and my PlayStation 4 (same headset). Below is my setup and info:

Hardware:
  • Onboard sound card (ASUS Sabertooth P67)
  • PlayStation 4
  • TRITTON 720+ 7.1 Headset


Connections:
  • The sound card is connected with optical into the headset box and USB out
  • No ground loop (no ground in this old house)
  • No loops (everything is connected in the same wall outlet)

Is it my onboard sound card that is the problem even though I use USB for the mic? Would buying an external sound card fix it?
 
If its low level buzzing its usually a ground issue or short within the cable in the microphone to the jack. Try your headset mic on another pc or port to test it?
 
Since it's USB a sound card wouldn't fix the problem.

It won't do anything for the PlayStation, but have you tried tweaking the gain in Windows? It could be set too high. Try turning it down a bit.
 
Could the complete absence of a ground be the problem? It is there for a reason, and the equipment you are using was designed with a ground being present.

What happens when you unplug everything except say your PS4 or your PC?

You need to eliminate absolutely everything that could be causing it before you will find a solution.

It could be the headset itself as well.
 
Thank you for giving me something to try and think about.

I know grounding is important but there's no way for me to do so in this rented flat. I have tried following your other advice and I found out that the microphone works as an antenna. It catches the buzzing through the cabling from the air. Seems I need a new headset better protected against electrostatic or whatever it is.
 
You just need any kind of metal that goes into the ground. the pipes from a sink or radiator is fine.
It can hoerver get dangeorus for your neighbours if you decide to throw water on the pc and short it. but for a test i would try it.

I ussually did get ground this way in a lot of old apartment with no ground in the outlets.

just get a pices of wire and remove the insulation at the end.
unscrew a littles screw on the device at a metal surface. .ege on the pc it would jsut be on of the chassis screws.
sre it back in holding the unisolated art of the wire.
Then connect the other end to your sink or radiotar.

Its a 5 min setup and worth it to test if its grounding issues
 
I tried grounding with a piece of wire with no change. I also tried listing to the mic while moving around in the room to see if I could figure out if it was anything specific that made the noise but no luck there either. If anything putting the mic behind the TV made it more quiet(?!).

I tested with another microphone too and this one was a bit better but it still had a lot of buzzing and noise. I had to turn the mic volume all the way up to 80+ (no boost) for it to be loud enough even though I'm not whispering or anything. Could it be that the problem is the microphones input levels are just too low compared to the noise floor? I have no idea if my main headset suck balls or not but I only have the Tritton (USB) and a very cheap and old ACE (jack) so I've no idea what to do next except throw money at it and cross fingers.


What is my best option? Would a wireless headset to USB be better? I don't get that it is so noisy when it is pure digital!
 
try a filter/choke before tossing money at it.

edit: its not truly "pure digital". the lines between the mic/headphones and the box are not digital and they still carry power.
 
TheForumTroll said:
Yeah great advice, I'll build myself a new house! This is why I come here. Amazing!
Click to expand...
Or you could just get a power filtering UPS device. The better models do a AC-DC-AC conversion which removes impurities in the power.
 
B00nie said:
Or you could just get a power filtering UPS device. The better models do a AC-DC-AC conversion which removes impurities in the power.
Click to expand...

Hmm, that might be a solution but how much is a UPS good enough to remove all that noise? Searching drowns me in stuff I have no clue about.
 
I've gotten rid of some of the noise after I disconnected everything as advised, but 90 % is still there. To rule out even more I've tested with a cable directly between mic in and headphones out with software from Passmark and Rightmark. It isn't perfect but it removes pretty much all the noise. So with that in mind can I rule everything else out and blame the two headsets?


rezerekted said:
That's why renting is better. :)
Click to expand...

It is a rented flat luckily. Still, you can buy a lot of stuff for the cost of moving..
 
I had this issue once and it was due to the motherboard but you have it on PS4 too so that is not the issue. I fixed my issue by buying a ground loop isolator. I doubt it is the headphones themselves but borrow a another pair from someone and check. You can buy power line conditioners but they are expensive and are mostly used by audiophiles.

Doesn't the lack of ground in your flat break electrical codes? I believe it would here in Canada.
 
I did test with another set. It is with jack instead of USB though, but it had it too.

Did you read the part about my test with a cable directly between MIC IN and headphones out? By my logic the problem has to be external, after the PC.
 
Yes, I read it and was just relating an experience I once had.

Go look into power line conditioners. It won't be cheap though and is not guaranteed to solve your issue either.
 
Test the jack equipped set with your phone. If that buzzes too, you have serious EMI problems in your house (or you forgot to take your meds, take your pick).

Fluorescent lights in the room can cause all sorts of funky stuff.
 
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