Speaker hum when I connect my external computer monitor

[Sean Oneil]

Computer speakers are horrible. They pick up any type of noise there is. Having a cellphone even near them is going to cause a really loud hum. You should return them.

Sean

[Steven Gonzales]

You might have a ground loop problem. You might want to try a high quality isolation transformer on the audio:

https://www.jensen-transformers.com/ci2rr.html

Here’s an article on the subject of ground loops in audio:

https://www.rane.com/note110.html

[Chuck Reti]

[Chuck Reti]

[Sean ONeil] “Having a cellphone even near them is going to cause a really loud hum.”
(Sorry for inadvertent blank post above.)
The digital signal that the current generation of GSM/G3 phones generate gets into almost everything, not just nearby speakers.
On both studio and EFP shoots, we have to make sure crew and talent cell phones are in the full Power OFF, not just ‘silent/ring off’ mode to avoid the buzz getting into both wired and wireless mikes. Same with studio headsets and intercoms. Have heard this even on radio programs when talent’s phone gets into the audio board. This will occur all by itself, when the cell phone and nearby tower sites need to communicate with each other, not just when a call is in progress.
As to the OP’s hum problem, it does sound like a ground issue, which can affect audio monitoring regardless of the equipment price or manufacturer. Besides the recommendation to try an isolation transformer (though i suspect everything’s on wall warts anyway), sometimes careful re-dressing of power and audio cables can help. Make sure speakers and speaker leads are nowhere near power supply or mains cables and especially transformers.

[Colin Mcquillan]

You could give this a go!

https://www.maclife.com/article/iphone_buzz_kill

Other than that,, well,, you are plugging into the KRK’s unbalanced,, Make sure the wire going from your computer to the speaker isn’t running along side any AC cables, power adapters, so on… If you have to pass over an AC cable, do so at a 180Deg angle.

Also, try to use a decent cable. If you’re using a thin radioshack’ish mini-plug to RCA cable with thin to no shielding, you will pick up all sorts of ugly frequencies.

Colin McQuillan
Van. B.C.

[Sean Mcphillips]

Ok, so I have a bit of work ahead of me to figure this out.

I’ll post here again once I’ve had a go at it.

Cheers,

Sean

Sean McPhillips

[David Bogie]

q[Sean McPhillips] “I’ll post here again once I’ve had a go at it. “

And please go back to all of the other forums where you have posted this same question.

You’ve gotten a weird range of mutually exclusive advice and suggestions on how to handle interference caused by many different sources. We would like to know what worked and what diddn’t.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[Fixer Aka robert smith]

I concur with the ground loop suspicion and isolation transformer recommendation.

[Sean Mcphillips]

Ok, so I’ve found a ground loop isolator that sounds like it’ll solve my problem here…

https://www.minidisc.com.au/xitel-ground-loop-isolator-p-423.html

My next question is, if that fixes the problem, do I still have to worry that there is a ground loop problem in the building? Is it inherently dangerous or just a fact of life?

I understand that a power conditioning unit would be another possible fix and probably a good idea generally but to solve this problem, at AU$60 v AU$500+ I’d rather go with the cheap option at this stage.

Does that sound reasonable?

Thanks to everyone for their input.

Sean McPhillips