Static when using MIC on several PCs

RainingTacco · April 18, 2020

So i have yet another audio problem. I've bought Sennheiser GSP 302 headset recently, and i also have some old microsoft webcam[usb connected]. All of these have pretty bad static that you can hear even when the mic gain is set to 0, with 100 volume[static is absolutely overpowering when at +30dB and 100 volume]. My main PC has B450M Mortar Max and integrated sound card, so do other pc with B85M D3H motherboard and N5010 dell laptop. Funny thing is -when i plug microphone to these PCs/laptop, which are plugged in different rooms/wall sockets i still have the same static. All PCs are plugged to three prong socket which is grounded, but i don't know about the quality of the electric installation and the earthing, it might be inadequate since its an aluminum installation instead of copper. All PCs have Windows 1909 and are updated, have necessary drivers installed. Yes i've tried plugging them to front or rear, it makes difference, but the static is till there and it's noticeable. What's weirder when i plug the microphone and turn it off, there's still the same static. Even just plugging headphones into microphone socket cause quite a lot of noise. So it looks like noise is pretty much innate to the audio system. I know that you can use noise supression or turn the volume down but, you get tinny, emotionless voice when supression is on, and when volume is low your voice is too quiet. So these are not really a fixes of the cause of the problem, but remedies.

So what's causing the static noise? Is it inevitable and present in every system[shouldn't muted/disabled mic not create any static? does the jack and mic act as an antenna and still cause noise?]? Maybe my grounding/earthing is inadequate, and this is causic static? I know how ungrounded headphones sound its a buzzing[i had that in the house when i've used ungrounded source] and i don't have that. I might be wrong but i heard VERY faint[on the verge of being audible] humming when plugged my very sensitive earbuds. But they have very, very cheap cable without shielding so they might act as antenna. Other headphones doesn't have this problem but their impedance is higher and cable is shielded. Im really at a loss, because i want to buy another headset and return this one[its uncomfortable also] but i don't know if it will still have this noise. If it's indeed grounding problem, then external DAC won't help at all, neither will headset with integral DAC and USB.

seabass9990 · April 18, 2020

hmmmm, do you have a home stereo or anything in the house with the same problem? if not its a grounding issue either in your psu or motherboard. does the case give you a shock when you touch it?

RainingTacco · April 18, 2020

2 minutes ago, seabass9990 said:

hmmmm, do you have a home stereo or anything in the house with the same problem? if not its a grounding issue either in your psu or motherboard. does the case give you a shock when you touch it?

No it doesn't shock, even when i touch it or touch it and touch something like water pipes/water heater in my room. As i said it's "grounded". I even tried touching cable to the I/O and water heater and it doesn't help. Im thinking about touching the grounding screws on the motherboard and water heater while the PC is running. Is it safe? I think it should after all these are grounding screws. But i don't think it will help in case there's a bad grounding in the house, like the earth prod/wire for the house being oxidized or poor conducting. There even might be few grounding circuit in my house, i don't really know since it's pretty old. I know for sure that my PC is "grounded" right now, because before it shocked me when i touched it and water heater at the same time, and i got slight buzzing in my earbuds. Now there's no buzzing and no shock, as the neutral wire was connected to the earth wire in the wall socket[bridging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootleg_ground]. As i said pretty old installation. I don't have any buzzing in audio in home theater or in my speakers/headphones, at least not the one i could notice, so it might be there, but i don't hear it even on max volume.