Question Hum in Studio Monitors

[SugaSurge]

Hi! I hope I’ve put this under the correct forum.
So I know this problem is on here a lot, but I think my situation is, yes similar, but also somewhat unique in the sense that what I’ve read here hasn’t helped me yet. So, I just recently built my first pc (Ryzen 5 1600, Asus gaming tuf x570) and am getting humming in my Yamaha HS5 monitors that I’ve never had with my laptop. I’ve tried different outlets and unplugged them from my Scarlett and plugged them directly into my computer and still the problem remains. I am using balanced cables and no cables are touching each other. I was thinking maybe it could be the PSU? I have a gold certified Corsair RM 650W. Would a power conditioner work if the PSU was the issue?
Thank you all for your help! I’ve been a lurker for a long time and am so thankful for everyone on here as I’ve never needed to reach out until now.

 

[Xilzeroth]

Your Not Alone,
I have been dealing with exactly this since i built my first PC in February 2020. literally since Day 1.I have this exact issue, humming from the moment i start my Computer. The only thing i have a inkling of is the PSU. It may not be it exactly, but perhaps some internal connections are not working properly. If i Wiggled my Power cord while pushing it in a little tighter at the location it was plugged into on my power strip, i could get it to stop....occasionally. sometimes it'd be for a month, sometimes 5 minutes. Almost exactly as a old crappy phone charger had to be plugged in and hanging sideways just right or else it wouldn't charge your phone. This is the day that cure stopped working so now i'm here lol. Same scenario, volume doesnt effect it, but the gain on the back of the monitors does.

I have two Rokit 5 KRK's going straight into a Presonus Studio 24c with balanced cables. The presonus is connected to my PC with a double sided USB-C cable.
Specs:
EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G+, 80 Plus Gold 750W, Fully Modular
OLOy WarHawk RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin
GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI LGA 1151 (300 Series) Intel Z390 SATA 6Gb/s
Intel Core i7-9700KF Coffee Lake 8-Core 3.6 GHz
DIYPC Skyline-06-RGB Black Dual USB 3.0 ATX Full

Everything i have tried that has failed
Replacing power cords to pc, and speakers. including the balanced cords.
Unplugging all USB devices except for the Presonus
Going from pc soundcard directly to speakers instead of using Presonus
Turning off and unplugging/disabling all microphones
Using different power outlets/Surgeprotectors combinations.
Rebuilding the computer itself.

Temporary Fix( not for me anymore)
Wiggling and pushing the power cord of the computer into the surge protector tighter. It effects the sound im hearing to distort and sometimes disappear completely. but recently this has stopped working for me.

 

[SugaSurge]

Your Not Alone,
I have been dealing with exactly this since i built my first PC in February 2020. literally since Day 1.I have this exact issue, humming from the moment i start my Computer. The only thing i have a inkling of is the PSU. It may not be it exactly, but perhaps some internal connections are not working properly. If i Wiggled my Power cord while pushing it in a little tighter at the location it was plugged into on my power strip, i could get it to stop....occasionally. sometimes it'd be for a month, sometimes 5 minutes. Almost exactly as a old crappy phone charger had to be plugged in and hanging sideways just right or else it wouldn't charge your phone. This is the day that cure stopped working so now i'm here lol. Same scenario, volume doesnt effect it, but the gain on the back of the monitors does.

I have two Rokit 5 KRK's going straight into a Presonus Studio 24c with balanced cables. The presonus is connected to my PC with a double sided USB-C cable.
Specs:
EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G+, 80 Plus Gold 750W, Fully Modular
OLOy WarHawk RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin
GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI LGA 1151 (300 Series) Intel Z390 SATA 6Gb/s
Intel Core i7-9700KF Coffee Lake 8-Core 3.6 GHz
DIYPC Skyline-06-RGB Black Dual USB 3.0 ATX Full

Everything i have tried that has failed
Replacing power cords to pc, and speakers. including the balanced cords.
Unplugging all USB devices except for the Presonus
Going from pc soundcard directly to speakers instead of using Presonus
Turning off and unplugging/disabling all microphones
Using different power outlets/Surgeprotectors combinations.
Rebuilding the computer itself.

Temporary Fix( not for me anymore)
Wiggling and pushing the power cord of the computer into the surge protector tighter. It effects the sound im hearing to distort and sometimes disappear completely. but recently this has stopped working for me.

Well, my friend, I just purchased a power conditioner (Furman SS-6B) so I will let you know how that goes when I receive it in the mail.
So the only similarity between our builds was the 80 plus gold PSU. For mine, I do have one that's pretty much double the power I need in case I upgrade in the future. (Mine is a 650W) What about you? Is your computer using most of the 750 watts? That's the only thing I can think of.

 

[Xilzeroth]

Well, my friend, I just purchased a power conditioner (Furman SS-6B) so I will let you know how that goes when I receive it in the mail.
So the only similarity between our builds was the 80 plus gold PSU. For mine, I do have one that's pretty much double the power I need in case I upgrade in the future. (Mine is a 650W) What about you? Is your computer using most of the 750 watts? That's the only thing I can think of.

i cant figure out my exact usage, but all processes say usage is very low in task manager. My friend that is really good with computers says that my set up is no where near capacity for a 750W.

We have different computers, but there set up the same way. we are both using monitors with a DAC. That is another reason i think our issue is being caused by the same source. iwonder if regular cheap speakers will have the same issue.

Please let me know those results though man, I was thinking of getting one of the Ground loop Isolators and trying them out. Ill be watching the thread man, good luck!

 

[SugaSurge]

i cant figure out my exact usage, but all processes say usage is very low in task manager. My friend that is really good with computers says that my set up is no where near capacity for a 750W.

We have different computers, but there set up the same way. we are both using monitors with a DAC. That is another reason i think our issue is being caused by the same source. iwonder if regular cheap speakers will have the same issue.

Please let me know those results though man, I was thinking of getting one of the Ground loop Isolators and trying them out. Ill be watching the thread man, good luck!

Well, the audio interface isn’t the problem because I’ve plugged in my speakers directly into my computer using quarter inch to 1/8 and get the same noise. And it may or may not happen with cheap monitors. I just think it’s definitely an electricity thing. No hum in my headphones. Who knows what the wiring is in my apartment.
And for the ground loop isolator were you going to try the Hum X thing?

 

[Xilzeroth]

Well, the audio interface isn’t the problem because I’ve plugged in my speakers directly into my computer using quarter inch to 1/8 and get the same noise. And it may or may not happen with cheap monitors. I just think it’s definitely an electricity thing. No hum in my headphones. Who knows what the wiring is in my apartment.
And for the ground loop isolator were you going to try the Hum X thing?

Yes, my headphones work just fine as well. and i tried direct to my computer also and it didnt work. the Hum X is what i was looking at, but first im trying to see if any of my friends have a spare psu i can try out first. Have you try wiggling the power cord for your PC to see if it affects that sound at all? that worked for me a while so thats how i know it is electricity related as well.

 

[SugaSurge]

Yes, my headphones work just fine as well. and i tried direct to my computer also and it didnt work. the Hum X is what i was looking at, but first im trying to see if any of my friends have a spare psu i can try out first. Have you try wiggling the power cord for your PC to see if it affects that sound at all? that worked for me a while so thats how i know it is electricity related as well.

So I just got my furman in the mail. I am sad to report that it did not affect anything. :-(

 

[Xilzeroth]

well, as soon as i get some extra cash im going to get a new psu i think. if it doesnt work out i can donate it to a friend, but im getting desperate. i really wanted to get into music production, dj stuff, and anything else musically related. its a horrid experience not being able to use my monitors currently.

 

[SugaSurge]

well, as soon as i get some extra cash im going to get a new psu i think. if it doesnt work out i can donate it to a friend, but im getting desperate. i really wanted to get into music production, dj stuff, and anything else musically related. its a horrid experience not being able to use my monitors currently.

Well, let me know how that goes! I hope it's not my PSU. I mean it's a Corsair gold that was $120. I was just thinking maybe too much juice than what I need would cause this problem?

 

[Corwin65]

Can you try to connect them to something other than the PC to see if you still get a hum?

 

[SugaSurge]

Can you try to connect them to something other than the PC to see if you still get a hum?

I have connected them to two different laptops and they don't get the noise.

 

[redeye998]

I was about to create a new post describing the same thing.
Some notes from my side:

• The noise starts as soon as I enter Windows (not in BIOS)
• It seems to be a PROCESSING noise. When I am trying to render something, or when I open a game, the noise becomes heavier. Sometimes even the moving the mouse creates noise.
• There's absolutely NO NOISE coming from the headphones, which are connected to the same sound card unit.

I have 2 Rokit 5 speakers, AT-M50X headphones, everything connected in a Scarlet 2i2 2nd gen sound card.
PSU: Corsair RM750X (supposed to be S-tier)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming

I have connected the soundcard as it is on 3 laptops and there's no noise at all (one Macbook Pro, one old Acer, and a newer Dell one).

I've read somewhere it might be a motherboard issue, but I haven't confirmed it yet, since I'd need to be doing multiple tests with multiple PSU and motherboard combinations.

Please let me know if you find anything.

 

[Xilzeroth]

Pretty sure its a motherboard issue. i just tried running with no gpu today, issue is still there. disconnected periffs and other non essential items from the pc/motherboard and it still persists. i even ran my psu externally so it wouldnt even be inside the case and its still happening. tried taking it to a friends house with different outlets and its still happening. the one thing i did that has eliminated the sound from one speaker is plugging it into a an non grounded plug (cheater plug). this is however dangerous as your electronics wont have the safety ground. it allows you to plug in 3 prong plugs into old school outlets not made for them, so long as you ground it yourself. this only worked for one speaker cause i only had one cheater plug. i did however test it on my computers power cord instead of my studio monitor and it eliminated the noise entirely in one speaker, and 80% of the other was gone, however i am not leaving it like that. i plan on buying another cheater plug for my other monitor though as id rather them be in danger than my pc.

I CANT STRESS ENOUGH THAT WHAT IM DOING IS WRONG (depending on who you ask i guess). the cheater plug is a cheap work around. From what i have read so far/researching, we need an isolation transformer. im not exactly sure how it works but heres an excerpt from google.

An isolation transformer is a transformer used to transfer electrical power from a source of alternating current (AC) power to some equipment or device while isolating the powered device from the power source, usually for safety reasons.

off to do more research, good luck

 

[Xilzeroth]

so from what i read on other sites is that as long as my computer is grounded, my studio monitors will be grounded through it if they are hooked up to it in anyway shape or form.

I cant stress enough that i dont know electricity very well, only a basic understanding. currently my problem is solved. here is what i did.

went to a hardware store and bought two "GE Polarized Plug adapters", one for each studio monitor. this eliminated the chance of them picking up a ground loop apparently because i did not ground them to the same circuit as my house.

My computers power plug remains grounded and unchanged, all plugged into a single power strip. static is gone. i hope this helps everyone out, really trying not to leave anyone hanging just cause i got mine fixed.

 

[SugaSurge]

so from what i read on other sites is that as long as my computer is grounded, my studio monitors will be grounded through it if they are hooked up to it in anyway shape or form.

I cant stress enough that i dont know electricity very well, only a basic understanding. currently my problem is solved. here is what i did.

went to a hardware store and bought two "GE Polarized Plug adapters", one for each studio monitor. this eliminated the chance of them picking up a ground loop apparently because i did not ground them to the same circuit as my house.

My computers power plug remains grounded and unchanged, all plugged into a single power strip. static is gone. i hope this helps everyone out, really trying not to leave anyone hanging just cause i got mine fixed.

DUDE! I don't know why I never looked into this. I literally just went to the hardware store and got two of these and IT WORKED FOR ME TOO! Thank you kind sir/ma'am.

 

[SugaSurge]

I was about to create a new post describing the same thing.
Some notes from my side:

• The noise starts as soon as I enter Windows (not in BIOS)
• It seems to be a PROCESSING noise. When I am trying to render something, or when I open a game, the noise becomes heavier. Sometimes even the moving the mouse creates noise.
• There's absolutely NO NOISE coming from the headphones, which are connected to the same sound card unit.

I have 2 Rokit 5 speakers, AT-M50X headphones, everything connected in a Scarlet 2i2 2nd gen sound card.
PSU: Corsair RM750X (supposed to be S-tier)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming

I have connected the soundcard as it is on 3 laptops and there's no noise at all (one Macbook Pro, one old Acer, and a newer Dell one).

I've read somewhere it might be a motherboard issue, but I haven't confirmed it yet, since I'd need to be doing multiple tests with multiple PSU and motherboard combinations.

Please let me know if you find anything.

As I replied to the other person about this. The cheater plug worked for me! I just plugged both of them into 2 different cheater plugs into the same power strip that the computer is plugged into and there is no noise! Well if I put my ear to the monitors there is an audible white noise, but it's WAY less than it was and when I am in my listening position, I can't hear anything.