Speaker noise.

E

EugeneS

New member
hello,

i've installed the studio into another room and I still hear some noise from my speakers. Have to mention that in my previous room speakers worked fine, until yesterday I've opened Ableton and it started to produce the noise.
about the noise: from one speaker there's just white noise, a bit dirty but sounds like white noise. But for the second speaker, there are some louder noises when there's some activity on the computer.

I suppose there is something with electricity, because even with the computer shut there's noise.
or maybe cables?

KRK rokit 6

---------- Post added at 06:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:55 AM ----------

bought two new cables now, nothing changed. There's still same noise.
 
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fluorescent lights in the new room?

new setup has your monitors closer to your computer so that there is induced noise from hard-drive activity?

using ts cables instead of trs/xlr to connect from interface to monitors? - ts are unbalanced and therefore not very good at rejecting induced noise in the signal line (see above for possible sources for induced noise)
 
I expected that only you can reply to this thread, bandcoach)) so, thank you!

emm, fluorescent lights.. yes, in this new room there's 8 small fluorescent lights. But again, in my previous room there wasn't, and i heard there the noise one day until I changed the room.
hard-drive activity? I hardly believe this is the problem, I worked almost half a year even closer and it was okay :)

about cables.. the noise is still there even with my computer off. So, no audio interface is involved in the connection. I even tried to connect just one speaker into another room of the house, nothing changed. I read somewhere that this might be because of the speakers are connected from the same electric source as the computer. btw, didn't work for me)

the thing to mention.. and it was from my father) he's not a specialist, but has some experience. He said that in that room, which was in another apartment was quite cold, so when i brought them here, in the inside might have happened something. He said to wait a little, but don't know if it will work)
and yes, the day when i started to hear noise I've brought there an electric warmer. Maybe because of that sudden temperature change smthing happened to the speakers?

I rlly hope you understood me)) Thank you again and wait for your answer! cheers!
 
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Maybe there is leakage of power..that might be causing the noise..
 
noise due to condensation due to temperature changes is unlikely - more likely to short the units out all together.

Running them on a different circuit to the computer may exacerbate the problem rather than cure it.

re your flourescents; could it be a dying ballast unit? i.e. the little starter units that increase the power to turn the light on initially. Some older and dying ones end up generating noise as a side effect of the eventual decay
 
okay, no condensation is involved)

fluorescents.. I've said that there are 8, but i don't think are fluorescent. That are small, blue color lamps.
the room is lightened with one powerful fluorescent curved lamp. And there's another line fluorescent lamp, which has a starter, if i understood you correctly. btw, i've unplugged it, same noise.
Actually, that second speaker which was louder, now is the same as the first. So now, to tell the truth, I hear the noise only when I'm close to the speakers, but I'm really worried about the crackles when I turn on or off the speakers. Could damage badly the speakers, isn't it?

I've read on forums that people had this noise from the very first plug. But in my case it was only untill recently) that's why I want to resolve this, if possible :)


leakage of power? how I can check that?


====

here we go, again that same speaker is making louder noises) like a buuzzzzzzzzz.. it seems to me that it is due to some action..
and the volume of tracks is really low, compared to first speaker which produces just white noise. maybe the speaker is damaged from inside?
 
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can you capture some audio and upload it?

power leakage is a misnomer

buzzing in speakers are down to one of three things usually

  • lighting controllers/dimmers at something other than full power where the power cables for the lights are parallel to the audio lines
  • noise on the audio lines induced by poor power in the (audio) generating device(s), i.e. your interface or your computer
  • faulty or dying power conditioning capacitors in the power amplifiers connected to the speakers - this can sound like a small motor boat engine putt-putt-putt-putt-putt-putt-putt- caused by the capacitor charging and discharging as it begins to fail

Fixing each is a different set of tasks

The last one usually requires replacement of the capacitors in the power circuits - a task best left to a qualified electronics repair man
 
huh, weird, weird things happening))
that buzzing speaker is dead. There's a voltage changer (110-120V and 220-240V). So I changed back and forth, now I can't power up the speaker.. that is quite frustrating.

could I give to an electronic device specialist, or there's something special inside these speakers which he will not be able to repair?

I wish I had some people with speakers around my area, but there's none, so can't check if it is just due to my bad speakers.
as for the the sound it used to produce.. it's like a bzzzzzzzzzzz-ing with periodic louder crackles, when there was some activity. But overall, an electric sound ) nothing to do with a boat motor :)

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Check to see if the AC mains voltage is matched to the correct operating voltage requirements. If the AC mains voltage is higher than the selected voltage it is possible that the fuse needs to be replaced. For example, if the AC mains voltage is 240VAC and the selected voltage on the active speaker is set incorrectly to '110-120VAC', than the fuse will break to protect the active speaker electronics.

That's what I did, changed the voltage. As I understood, the fuse is broken. I tried with the fuse of second speaker, and it is dead anyway.
 
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never a good idea to change the voltage on the back of power supplies - things blow up real fast - in your case you not have only blown the fuses but also the filter caps and the voltage regulators as they will have been driven too hard by the internal power transformer.

If set to to your local voltage then the step down ratio is as specified, if you change it to half of your local voltage then because it is being driven at twice the expected voltage (and therefore power), the step down voltage will be double that expected, causing the power supply electronics to fuse and fail. You may have even fused the transformer as it will not be rated for the power being pushed through it

take them to a repair man - they should be able to cope with the requirements of fixing it
 
yeah, fail)) I was always thinking what's inside of a speaker. Now I'll have the opportunity. :) tomorrow will take them to a specialist.

one last question (i hope :) ) - will the noise disappear?

btw, sorry for taking your time! thank you, appreciate this very much!
 
no way to tell if the noise will disappear as there are no certain signs as to its cause to begin with......
 
yes, it is possible that there were grounding issues, but most of the power supplies we see in use today are double insulated so that ground issues do not come into play.

still we will never know now as the units are in need of repair due to other problems
 
so guys, brought back my speaker. now working but with the same noise.
I don't think there's some grounding problems, as the grounding is properly done.
rlly, i've tried almost everything, i feel that there's something wrong with the speaker, something from inside.

here is the recording with the noise, it is really quiet and subtle. btw, with headphones should be hearable.
Zippyshare.com - VOICE100107_001.MP3
 
EugeneS said:
so guys, brought back my speaker. now working but with the same noise.
I don't think there's some grounding problems, as the grounding is properly done.
rlly, i've tried almost everything, i feel that there's something wrong with the speaker, something from inside.

here is the recording with the noise, it is really quiet and subtle. btw, with headphones should be hearable.
Zippyshare.com - VOICE100107_001.MP3
Click to expand...

Either
#1: It's a ground loop, or,
#2: It's EMI, or
#3: It's not a problem at all.

It's possible that you don't have ANY issue. All electronics induce some level of noise, and amplified monitors are usually cranked up high enough at their neutral setting that you can hear the noise when you get close. That's called the "noise floor", and it's normal.

Now, if the noise is louder than normal (which is impossible to tell from your recording, as I don't have any sort of indication of how loud my speakers should be), 95% of the time, you have a ground loop.
The other option is EMI (electromagnetic interference) from high-voltage power lines, microwaves, WiFi routers, cellphones, etc.

To check for EMI, turn, move, and rotate your gear. If the noise changes in volume or character in different positions, you likely have an EMI issue. For example, I'm next to a power substation over here, so when the body of my SM57 is running parallel to the high-voltage lines nearby, I get a loud, fairly bright hum. Facing the mic's body perpendicular to the power lines reduces the hum by probably 90%.
You fix an EMI issue by turning off the offending device if possible, shielding your device from the EMI using something like lead, or moving your device to the area where it is least-affected by the EMI.

To check for ground loops, unplug things! Plug a single monitor into a wall by itself, with NOTHING hooked into it. Is there still noise? If the noise is gone at this point, you have a ground loop issue.
If you do have a ground-loop issue, you fix it by making sure that absolutely EVERYTHING plugged into your workstation is coming off the same wall outlet. I have some daisy-chained power outlets because of this.

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
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as i mentioned before, one speaker is working good, with almost unhearable white noise.
then comes the second, same noise from tweeter, but with a louder buzzing from woofer (if it is called like this. that 6" yellow circle xD). And believe me, it's impossible to listen to that sound even for 10 minutes.

as for ground loop, I've checked. Just one monitor plugged in all rooms in my house )) same noise.
I'll try to disconnect all EMI devices, will write here the result.

and yeah, it's not a normal noise. It irritates so much xD

thanks for an explicit response.


===

with all the EMI devices unplugged, the noise is the same, unfortunately..
 
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EugeneS said:
as i mentioned before, one speaker is working good, with almost unhearable white noise.
then comes the second, same noise from tweeter, but with a louder buzzing from woofer (if it is called like this. that 6" yellow circle xD). And believe me, it's impossible to listen to that sound even for 10 minutes.

as for ground loop, I've checked. Just one monitor plugged in all rooms in my house )) same noise.
I'll try to disconnect all EMI devices, will write here the result.

and yeah, it's not a normal noise. It irritates so much xD

thanks for an explicit response.


===

with all the EMI devices unplugged, the noise is the same, unfortunately..
Click to expand...

Are the settings for the two speakers identical?

If they are, and one has a loud noise which the other does not (under identical circumstances), then it appears that you might have a lemon on your hands and it is time to exercise the product warranty.

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
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