Asrock Extreme7 Soundcard Very Noisy!

[Pablos]

I have the Extreme7 motherboard and PCI soundcard M-Audio 2496. I am connecting the soundcard to an Arcam amplifier which is connected to Monitor Audio speakers.
I am hearing a lot of background noise interference through the speakers which gets worse when moving the mouse, scrolling down webpages, when the hard drives are being accessed etc.
It's not the speakers as they are shielded and I don't think the problem is with the cables. I've also tried my other amplifier but get the same problem. Other devices plugged into my amplifier don't produce this bad background noise.
PSU is Corsair AX1200.
Any help please!!


-edit- I've tried removing my graphics card and using onboard graphics and still the noise is present.

[SaphireX]

Re: Asrock Extreme7 Soundcard Very Noisy!

Have you tried using the onboard RealtekHD audio and connect it to your Arcam amplifier to SEE if you still get the EMI noise? or for that matter using the HDMI from your GPU?
If you still get this noise probably due to EMI double-check the standoffs for your board and ensure that the board is not touching your case at all, or that any backplane parts of your CPU cooling solution are not touching too!

SaphireX

[Pablos]

Re: Asrock Extreme7 Soundcard Very Noisy!

Have you tried using the onboard RealtekHD audio and connect it to your Arcam amplifier to SEE if you still get the EMI noise? or for that matter using the HDMI from your GPU?

If you still get this noise probably due to EMI double-check the standoffs for your board and ensure that the board is not touching your case at all, or that any backplane parts of your CPU cooling solution are not touching too!

SaphireX

Sorry, I didn't seem to get an subscription email for this thread. Thank you for replying :)
I will get the chance to test the onboard sound sometime soon and will post back with the results.
I built this PC from scratch and was quite careful with the standoffs. One issue I came across is that with my Corsair H100 cooler, if I tightened the four screws too far, then the PC would hang at boot so this may possibly be a clue to some short going on somewhere (tentative guess!).

Full PC spec is:

Corsair Obsidian 800D case
Corsair AX1200 PSU
Asrock Extreme7 Z68 motherboard
2600K CPU
Corsair H100 Cooler
X800 GTO VGA card (soon to be replaced)
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB SSD
6 X 2TB WD Caviar Black HDDs
Pioneer Blu Ray Writer
M-Audio Audiophile 2496 PCI soundcard

[SaphireX]

Re: Asrock Extreme7 Soundcard Very Noisy!

Sounds like maybe there is a hairline crack perhaps due to overtightening the H100 or maybe not. If you still have the problem then if you are within your 30-days I guess you know what to do...
Good Luck
SaphireX

[Pablos]

Re: Asrock Extreme7 Soundcard Very Noisy!

Thanks Saphire. It's been well over the 30 days now. I've had the Extreme7 board since it was released.

[SaphireX]

Re: Asrock Extreme7 Soundcard Very Noisy!

O.K. then and it's a longshot try putting small rubber washers on each standoff between the screw and the top side of the mobo before the screw connects to the standoff. That way the underside part of the board is still grounded via the flashed rim of the mobo hole while the top side of the hole is not conductive due to the rubber washer. That might reduce the EMI produced in case there is a hairline crack enough to get rid of the noise...Like I said it a longshot but at least a potential solution other than replacing or R..ing the board.
Please post back your results
SaphireX

[Pablos]

Re: Asrock Extreme7 Soundcard Very Noisy!

Thanks once again SaphireX :)
Will do this at the weekend if I get the time.
I'll update here once I've had the chance to do what you suggest.

[profJim]

Re: Asrock Extreme7 Soundcard Very Noisy!

In addition to SaphireX's suggestions, check out and run:

• DPC Latency Checker at DPC Latency Checker
  and/or
• LatencyMon at Resplendence Software - LatencyMon: suitability checker for real-time audio and other tasks

to see if there are any latency issues with software or drivers on your system.

[LinkinMcOwnage]

Re: Asrock Extreme7 Soundcard Very Noisy!

You need a ground loop isolator. Something like this: Ground Loop Isolator (Stereo) RCA - Jaycar Electronics

I had the same problem when connecting my X-Fi Titanium to a Sansui R-50 receiver.

If you remove the amplifier and the noises are gone, you will be having the exact same experience I had.