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Nasty sounding noise, static, buzz, from playback monitors
I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on what might be causing nasty sounding noise coming from my Behringer Truth monitors. I hear it while I am playing music or dialogue through them and I still hear it when there is no music or dialogue coming through.
I thought I may have had some bad cables and I went out and bought new cables and it sounds about the same if not worse.
I have them plugged directly into my Macbook Pro’s Audio out via the headphone jack.
I currently do NOT have them hooked up through any kind of mixer. Would that help with the buzz, noise, static, I am hearing if I did?
When I remove the cable from my laptop the noise goes away. I just had my Macbook Pro sent out to Apple for another issue and was told they would fix anything that was wrong on top of what it was sent to them to get fixed. Not sure if there is something causing interference that is causing all this noise to occur.
Thanks!
Cre8tive Minds Entertainment, LLC
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6 Replies
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Plug a pair of HP’s into the computer, is there buzz then? If so then there’s a problem in the comp or in the HP jack. If you connect the speakers to another source is there a problem? Are both the comp & speakers ac power connected to the same outlet or two different power sources. Try a ground lift plug (3 to 2) on the speaker power cord and see if that helps. Report back after testing.
Eric
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Hello Eric,
Test #1:
Plugged a pair of HP’s in the jack and there was NO noise at all. Music was very clear.Test #2:
I plugged the monitors into the HP jack on the side of my HDTV that I use for playback (video editing) and the audio coming through there was excellent with no noise. So my guess is that something is causing interference from the monitors to the computer via that cable.Test #3: My left monitor speaker is plugged into a multi-strip with about 10 other things. I removed the monitor from that strip and plugged into its own outlet on another wall. Plugged the cable into the computer and instantly all the noise and static returned.
Test #4: I removed both 1/4″ plugs from my monitors and plugged them directly into my Zoom H4N Audio Recorder and did a sample recording and it was clean as a whistle with no noise at all! The other end of that cable which is a standard headphone plug was still plugged into the computer.
Cre8tive Minds Entertainment, LLC
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Hello Chuck,
I see you bought new cables.
Please tell us what cable you are using to feed the monitors. What’s on each end of the cable?
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide -
OK, try this. Disconnect everything from your power strip except the computer & the speakers and see what happens. If the signal is clean then plug in and power up each component until the buzz returns. The first component that causes the buzz most likely has a grounding issue which might be cured with a ground lifter plug if it has a 3 prong power plug. Also be sure all components and power strips are fed a/c from the same outlet so the grounds are all common.
Eric
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I just found the problem! I have a 4 TB Caldigit Raid on my desk that is the closes to my right monitor speaker. When I unplugged the AC from the Hard drive all buzz, noise, and static went away. I plugged it back in and it all came back. So there must be some sort of interference with that particular hard drive or perhaps I have it to close to that monitor. I will do some more tests but I think as of right now that has solved my issue. The cable I am using has two 1/4″ plugs on one end and a 3.5mm plug on the other end. As for the brand of cable I am not sure. It was something one of the guys at Guitar Center recommended that I get.
Cre8tive Minds Entertainment, LLC
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Excellent News, Chuck.
I don’t know if your Behringers are model 2031, but their web page says, “Magnetic shielding allows placement near computer monitors.” I guess that doesn’t include RAID arrays.
FYI, I also use an Ebtech/Moreley HE-2 between my Mac’s 1/8″ out and powered monitors.
https://www.ebtechaudio.com/hedes.htmlIt does a very nice job of scraping the noise off. If after moving the RAID array, you still have low level noise. Try one of them. Go unbalanced to the HE-2 and balanced XLR to the monitors.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
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