Crackling in headsets

[RikuoAmero]

Hi guys, 

I'm a bit stumped at this.

Both of my headsets (Sennheiser PC 330, uses analog 3.5mm cables, one for speakers, one for mic) and my TurtleBeach PX21 (analog 3.5mm for speakers, USB connection for microphone) are having crackling issues.

My system is a P8Z68 Deluxe motherboard from Asus, using an Intel Core i7 2600K, Zotac Geforce GTX 770 4GB and an Asus ROG Xonar Phoebus soundcard. It was only this morning that I noticed the crackling and popping. I have attempted diagnostics.

At first, I thought it was because I have in the past week moved my mobo and components into an Aerocool Strike-X case, and somehow the open nature of that case's build was causing a buildup of electrical interference inside the case...but that doesn't make sense for two factors

1) The previous case I had all my components in was an Antec DF-85 and I had completely taken off both side panels, as in it too was completely open and I didn't get this crackling/popping then.

2) I have tried both headphones using a USB sound card (Sound-Blaster X-fi Surround Pro from Creative) and I still get crackling from that. I have tried plugging that in to a USB port on both the front and back, I still get the popping/crackling.

 

So anyone got any ideas? Is it possible for two decent quality headsets to just start crackling at the same time?

[Tea1337]

Could be your motherboards audio signal. It may be going bad or getting some interference from some other part.

[dragoon20005]

could be grounding issues

 

 

i say check all power connections especially the mobo power connections

[RikuoAmero]

Update

I don't think it's the mobo, I think it's the headsets themselves, although how two can fail at the same time I don't know. In the last few minutes, I have connected both headsets via 3.5mm cable to the headphone port on my TV, and set my computer to output audio via HDMI to the TV. I then go into the Sound options in Control Panel and tell it to test, and I still get the crackling. Another headscratcher though is that on both headsets, when I test via the TV, I don't hear anything from the right speaker.

[dragoon20005]

Update

I don't think it's the mobo, I think it's the headsets themselves, although how two can fail at the same time I don't know. In the last few minutes, I have connected both headsets via 3.5mm cable to the headphone port on my TV, and set my computer to output audio via HDMI to the TV. I then go into the Sound options in Control Panel and tell it to test, and I still get the crackling. Another headscratcher though is that on both headsets, when I test via the TV, I don't hear anything from the right speaker.

hmm 

 

do you have any earphones like the one that came with your handphone to try out?

 

it weird that both headset will have the exact same trouble

[RikuoAmero]

hmm 

 

do you have any earphones like the one that came with your handphone to try out?

 

it weird that both headset will have the exact same trouble

I've corrected the "no right speaker" problem with audio from the TV. It was a setting in the TV's firmware that I had to change with the remote (why there's a setting to allow only one speaker on headphones I don't know). I'm going to try my smartphone's earbuds now.

Cheap smartphone earbuds get crackling on all three devices (Xonar Phoebus, USB soundcard, TV).

Given that, it's something to do with the computer. I have had it on all night while I slept. When I leave to go to work, I'll turn it off, and see what it's like when I get back home. How there can be interference on both digital and analog connections is beyond me.

[dragoon20005]

I've corrected the "no right speaker" problem with audio from the TV. It was a setting in the TV's firmware that I had to change with the remote (why there's a setting to allow only one speaker on headphones I don't know). I'm going to try my smartphone's earbuds now.

Cheap smartphone earbuds get crackling on all three devices (Xonar Phoebus, USB soundcard, TV).

Given that, it's something to do with the computer. I have had it on all night while I slept. When I leave to go to work, I'll turn it off, and see what it's like when I get back home. How there can be interference on both digital and analog connections is beyond me.

grounding issues may cause the cracking issues

 

it may be caused by faulty electrical wirings and your PSU connections

 

check and resit the plugs

[RikuoAmero]

grounding issues may cause the cracking issues

 

it may be caused by faulty electrical wirings and your PSU connections

 

check and resit the plugs

 

Hmm.

When I swapped cases, I did have to get extensions for the mobo 24-pin and my CPU 8-pin power cables, because what I had wasn't long enough. I got something like this for the CPU

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Startech-ATX12V-4-Pin-Power-Extension/dp/B000O7WFHA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1404201229&sr=8-4&keywords=atx+extension+8+pin

except what I got was one head was 8-pin, and the other end terminated into two separate 4-pins, which I plugged into a single CPU power jack on the PSU. Could that be more than likely the problem?

[dragoon20005]

Hmm.

When I swapped cases, I did have to get extensions for the mobo 24-pin and my CPU 8-pin power cables, because what I had wasn't long enough. I got something like this for the CPU

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Startech-ATX12V-4-Pin-Power-Extension/dp/B000O7WFHA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1404201229&sr=8-4&keywords=atx+extension+8+pin

except what I got was one head was 8-pin, and the other end terminated into two separate 4-pins, which I plugged into a single CPU power jack on the PSU. Could that be more than likely the problem?

is possible

 

cheap extensions do not have proper connections and some may have missing important pins for grounding

[RikuoAmero]

is possible

 

cheap extensions do not have proper connections and some may have missing important pins for grounding

I've ordered a high quality extension cable. Hopefully this will solve the issue. Thanks for all the help, will let you know once it arrives if it solves the problem.

[RikuoAmero]

Update - I've come back from work, and the headsets are still crackling. I'm still waiting on the new CPU power cable extension. 

I still have a question though - earlier I explained how I tested both a USB sound card and the headphone out port on my TV, and still got crackling. I thought digital signals (USB and HDMI) wouldn't be susceptible to interference. Why is only audio affected? Since there's interference on audio going through HDMI, how come the video signal wasn't affected?