Extremely persistent sound problem....

[Armin H.]

Hi Guys,

 

I’m in despaired need of a real professional.

 

Till now I never came across a PC problem I couldn't solve on my own.

However, this current error on my work computer drives me nuts. After my Gigabyte RX 580 died, I replaced it with a Gigabyte HD4550 that I still had lying around.
Had tried to buy one of the new RX 6700 XT directly from AMD at launch, but was too slow!

But now to the actual problem:

Everything that has to do with sound hisses and crackles. Zoom calls are particularly embarrassing, my colleagues see me but all they hear is noise and crackling. Even simple audio and video playback hisses and crackles. (So, no Linus YouTube video's at the moment. Or over the phone)
Already tested all ground connections. Next I changed the power supply. No improvement here. Driver also can’t be an issue because the new (old) graphics card rums with windows 10 generic drivers. I continued with a new Gigabyte B450M DS3H MoBo. No, that was not the cause of the problem either. All components are installed in an Antec Fusion case, which has an LCD display. To exclude this as a source of error, I shut down the display. Nothing changed!…

 

Who has some advice where to look next?

Every tip would be appreciated!….
 

[Shark800]

are you using a wired headset?

[Armin H.]

Usually I use amp & speakers. But the problem is the same with wired or wireless headset's

 

[Shark800]

is your amp using usb or or pcie express?

 

[Shark800]

also turn of ALL audio enchantments on your speakers and headsets as on my razer headset if it on it means my audio breaks

[Armin H.]

the amp is connected via rear I/O. wireless headset is connected via usb and the cable headset runs usually over the front headset plug.

 

[Armin H.]

as an old school HiFi geek i never use any sound manipulation. no eq or anything.

[Shark800]

have you disabled the audio enhancements?

 

[Shark800]

 

[Armin H.]

yes, first thing I checked. the problem has to be on the hardware side. every other option i tested already.

 

[Shark800]

can you give me some photos of the pcs internals and a specs sheet?

 

[Armin H.]

Here the hardware list of all parts used:
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H now,
previous Motherboard: ASRock B450M PRO4 AM4
GPU: Gigabyte GV-R455D3  
CPU: Ryzen 5 2600x
RAM: 2x8GB G.Skill 3200
PSU: be quiet! 650W Straight Power 11 Modular 80+ Platinum
NVMe: Samsung 970 Evo Plus
HDD: WD Back 6TB 2x
WLan -Bluetooth: Gigabyte GC-WBAX200
Optical Drive: LG BD/DVD

[Armin H.]

Here a HWInfo overview:

[Kadzo]

1 hour ago, Armin H. said:

the amp is connected via rear I/O. wireless headset is connected via usb and the cable headset runs usually over the front headset plug.

 

Did you check have you damaged the front plug or maybe disconnected it slightly while changing graphics?

Also did you do a clean DDU for the graphics drivers just to be sure there is some software weird magic happening? 

 

[Armin H.]

With the change of the motherboard I also added a NVMe to the board and installed fresh Win 10 Pro copy. All connectors are clean.

 

This error happens also on wireless connections. When I bind a simple bluetooth speaker to the pc it has the same sound troubles.

[Armin H.]

Success !….

 

Nobody will believe how simple it could have been!

Turns out all the trouble was caused by the fan of my Scythe air cooler. Damn, 5€ for a new fan could have solved it.

In my case it was sheer luck that I even found the source of the audio troubles.

While looking through the pc I thought, the original air cooler of my 2600x looked a bit measly, changing it out will only take a couple of minutes. And with a bit of luck the unused Prism Wraith cooler from my game pc should fit?

And the cooler did fit perfectly!

 

The real surprise came when I started up the pc! Expecting hisses and crackles, but nothing, just the usual system sounds.

 

Guys, thanks for all your help!

 

Armin