Weird static on microphone

[SeifSpeed]

I have a USB headset and recently I started experiencing a lot of microphone static. The weird thing is when I touch my computer case the static stops. At first, I though it was a software problem but when I was doing research I saw a guy talking about power supplies and how they can affect audio, so I tried grounding it by touching it with my finger.

Notes: My case is not touching the ground it kinda on a stand mounted to the wall and I have a Seasonic 550W PSU.

[Sniperfox47]

6 minutes ago, SeifSpeed said:

I have a USB headset and recently I started experiencing a lot of microphone static. The weird thing is when I touch my computer case the static stops. At first, I though it was a software problem but when I was doing research I saw a guy talking about power supplies and how they can affect audio, so I tried grounding it by touching it with my finger.

Notes: My case is not touching the ground it kinda on a stand mounted to the wall and I have a Seasonic 550W PSU.

Is the ground line in your house, or at least that outlet not working?

 

If you aren't already you might want to use a surge protector or UPS with a ground fault indicator.

 

The other possibility is that something could be shorting/faulting to the case inside. Do you have a loose screw inside, or a damaged plastic cover on a power connector?

 

If you touching the case solves it that worries me since, at least to me, it seems to indicate a short inside to the case, or an issue with the ground line.

 

And yeah, it's most likely going to be a power delivery issue. DACs, the chips that take the digital USB signal and turn it into an analog audio signal to drive the headphone drivers, are very sensitive to electrical noise in their power line and it manifests as static-y noise.

[SeifSpeed]

13 minutes ago, Sniperfox47 said:

Is the ground line in your house, or at least that outlet not working?

 

If you aren't already you might want to use a surge protector or UPS with a ground fault indicator.

 

The other possibility is that something could be shorting/faulting to the case inside. Do you have a loose screw inside, or a damaged plastic cover on a power connector?

 

If you touching the case solves it that worries me since, at least to me, it seems to indicate a short inside to the case, or an issue with the ground line.

 

And yeah, it's most likely going to be a power delivery issue. DACs, the chips that take the digital USB signal and turn it into an analog audio signal to drive the headphone drivers, are very sensitive to electrical noise in their power line and it manifests as static-y noise.

Thanks for the reply. 

I checked the case for loose screws and  I couldn't find any, I wrapped all unused PSU cables in an anti static bag.

I don't know if those cover the first possibility but about the second one, the microphone used to work perfectly before this just happened yesterday, I also don't think I have the proper tools to test if my ground line is working.

Do you think laying the computer on the ground will do something? (All that cable management will be gone ?)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Sniperfox47]

3 minutes ago, SeifSpeed said:

Thanks for the reply. 

I checked the case for loose screws and  I couldn't find any, I wrapped all unused PSU cables in an anti static bag.

I don't know if those cover the first possibility but about the second one, the microphone used to work perfectly before this just happened yesterday, I also don't think I have the proper tools to test if my ground line is working.

Do you think laying the computer on the ground will do something? (All that cable management will be gone ?)

Thanks in advance!

 

Maybe. It won't solve the underlying issue though. And if your house does have a ground fault that can be pretty serious.

 

Maybe someone else on here will have other ideas, it's usually pretty quiet at this time so I'd wait a few hours for other replies, but it's still a good idea to pick up a surge protector for your computer.

 

Here's an example one from APC that has an indicator light for ground issues:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M7SPNM1/