Solve : Speaker Static?

1.	Solve : Speaker Static?
Answer» Just STARTED tonight. Seems like speakers are transmitting noise/static from harddrive. Never ran into this before. REBOOTING did not help. Will try speakers on a working PC to make sure they are ok but the fact the noise seems to be harddrive vs continuous static tells me something more significant is wrong. Any tips on troubleshooting will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.Never heard of a HDD making noise in the speakers. But it could happen. Please give e some detail about your PC. Is it a laptop? With a laptop, static in the speakers is often from the battery and charger. On a Desktop, it could mean the power supply is under stress. Also, broken wires in the loudspeaker box can cause random noise or noise that seems related to something.Quote from: Geek-9pm on October 22, 2015, 04:45:15 PM Never heard of a HDD making noise in the speakers. But it could happen. Please give e some detail about your PC. Is it a laptop? With a laptop, static in the speakers is often from the battery and charger. On a Desktop, it could mean the power supply is under stress. Also, broken wires in the loudspeaker box can cause random noise or noise that seems related to something. Old desktop - HP Pavilion a1600n. Tried connecting speakers to front ports and uninstalled/installed Realtek drivers. What I mean by harddrive noise is that the static is always there but it seems to modulate with Harddrive activity. Maybe just my imagination. Speakers are el cheapo HP Notebook speakers. Probably need to check them on another PC before I go any further. My PS is probably long overdue for failure so it could be the problem. How would I check that other than replacing it with a known good PS?In the noise dis coming from the PC, it can be measured with a voltmeter.You will need a plug to get access to the output of the sound card. Or use a 3.5 mm lug and touch the tips of the voltmeter to the shell and tip tabs of the plug. Set the voltmeter to read millivolts AC. normal sound levels are about 100 to 2000 millivolts AC. A noise level greater than 10 millivolts would be bad and would indicate either trouble with the sound card or a power supply issue. About 2 or 3 millivolts would be normal. My best guess is that the audio output jacks are dirty or the cable to the speakers is cracked. Quote from: Geek-9pm on October 22, 2015, 06:32:02 PM In the noise dis coming from the PC, it can be measured with a voltmeter.You will need a plug to get access to the output of the sound card. Or use a 3.5 mm lug and touch the tips of the voltmeter to the shell and tip tabs of the plug. Set the voltmeter to read millivolts AC. normal sound levels are about 100 to 2000 millivolts AC. A noise level greater than 10 millivolts would be bad and would indicate either trouble with the sound card or a power supply issue. About 2 or 3 millivolts would be normal. My best guess is that the audio output jacks are dirty or the cable to the speakers is cracked. Thanks Geek. When you say "plug" are you referring to the jack in the picture? What do you mean by "lug"? Would the dirty output jack be the male end on the speaker wire or the female jack connection on the sound output or both? What is the best way to clean the output jacks? I checked this morning when the PC was in sleep mode. You could still hear static. Don't know if that points to anything in particular?Good news (I think). Plugged in EAR buds on front HEADPHONE jack and audio is clean. That should rule out problem with on-board sound and PS, right?Good job! About the male and female 3.5 mm connectors, typically the female, inside the PC gets dirty and fails to make good connection. But you found that it was the speaker unit that is failing. Expect a loose wire, a bad capacitor or even a rectifier. Quote from: Geek-9pm on October 23, 2015, 07:36:13 AM Good job! About the male and female 3.5 mm connectors, typically the female, inside the PC gets dirty and fails to make good connection. But you found that it was the speaker unit that is failing. Expect a loose wire, a bad capacitor or even a rectifier. Geek, I think you nailed it. Upon closer inspection, I could see bare wire on the MAIN audio input wire right as it connects to the speaker. I didn't see it before because it is partially covered by the rubber bumper which protects the wire from bending. Doggone rubber bumpers....

Answer»

Just STARTED tonight. Seems like speakers are transmitting noise/static from harddrive. Never ran into this before. REBOOTING did not help. Will try speakers on a working PC to make sure they are ok but the fact the noise seems to be harddrive vs continuous static tells me something more significant is wrong. Any tips on troubleshooting will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.Never heard of a HDD making noise in the speakers. But it could happen.
Please give e some detail about your PC.
Is it a laptop?
With a laptop, static in the speakers is often from the battery and charger.
On a Desktop, it could mean the power supply is under stress.

Also, broken wires in the loudspeaker box can cause random noise or noise that seems related to something.Quote from: Geek-9pm on October 22, 2015, 04:45:15 PM

Never heard of a HDD making noise in the speakers. But it could happen.
Please give e some detail about your PC.
Is it a laptop?
With a laptop, static in the speakers is often from the battery and charger.
On a Desktop, it could mean the power supply is under stress.

Also, broken wires in the loudspeaker box can cause random noise or noise that seems related to something.

Old desktop - HP Pavilion a1600n. Tried connecting speakers to front ports and uninstalled/installed Realtek drivers. What I mean by harddrive noise is that the static is always there but it seems to modulate with Harddrive activity. Maybe just my imagination. Speakers are el cheapo HP Notebook speakers. Probably need to check them on another PC before I go any further. My PS is probably long overdue for failure so it could be the problem. How would I check that other than replacing it with a known good PS?In the noise dis coming from the PC, it can be measured with a voltmeter.You will need a plug to get access to the output of the sound card.
Or use a 3.5 mm lug and touch the tips of the voltmeter to the shell and tip tabs of the plug.

Set the voltmeter to read millivolts AC.
normal sound levels are about 100 to 2000 millivolts AC. A noise level greater than 10 millivolts would be bad and would indicate either trouble with the sound card or a power supply issue. About 2 or 3 millivolts would be normal.

My best guess is that the audio output jacks are dirty or the cable to the speakers is cracked.

Quote from: Geek-9pm on October 22, 2015, 06:32:02 PM

In the noise dis coming from the PC, it can be measured with a voltmeter.You will need a plug to get access to the output of the sound card.
Or use a 3.5 mm lug and touch the tips of the voltmeter to the shell and tip tabs of the plug.

Set the voltmeter to read millivolts AC.
normal sound levels are about 100 to 2000 millivolts AC. A noise level greater than 10 millivolts would be bad and would indicate either trouble with the sound card or a power supply issue. About 2 or 3 millivolts would be normal.

My best guess is that the audio output jacks are dirty or the cable to the speakers is cracked.

Thanks Geek. When you say "plug" are you referring to the jack in the picture? What do you mean by "lug"? Would the dirty output jack be the male end on the speaker wire or the female jack connection on the sound output or both? What is the best way to clean the output jacks?

I checked this morning when the PC was in sleep mode. You could still hear static. Don't know if that points to anything in particular?Good news (I think). Plugged in EAR buds on front HEADPHONE jack and audio is clean. That should rule out problem with on-board sound and PS, right?Good job!

About the male and female 3.5 mm connectors, typically the female, inside the PC gets dirty and fails to make good connection.

But you found that it was the speaker unit that is failing. Expect a loose wire, a bad capacitor or even a rectifier. Quote from: Geek-9pm on October 23, 2015, 07:36:13 AM

Good job!

About the male and female 3.5 mm connectors, typically the female, inside the PC gets dirty and fails to make good connection.

But you found that it was the speaker unit that is failing. Expect a loose wire, a bad capacitor or even a rectifier.

Geek, I think you nailed it. Upon closer inspection, I could see bare wire on the MAIN audio input wire right as it connects to the speaker. I didn't see it before because it is partially covered by the rubber bumper which protects the wire from bending. Doggone rubber bumpers....

Solve : Speaker Static?

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