noise from computer in monitors

[lejockey]

i have been getting an ungodly amount of noise in my monitors from my computer recently and i was wondering if there was sometihng i can do to eliminate it completely. currently the computer is under the table, about as far from the monitors as cables will allow. i can eliminate the noise if i turn down the sensitivity of the monitors, but then they're way too quiet. any ideas? thanks.

[gcjammin1]

Either get an LCD monitor for your computer or turn your computer monitor off when your tracking or mixing.

Gcjammin1

[lejockey]

well, the noise is not coming from the monitor, it's absolutely coming form the comuter... but it still would like an lcd monitor one of these days.

[gcjammin1]

I wouldn't know what the noise from the computer is. Mine sits right under my mixing board and monitors and the only noise I get is from my pc monitor. It goes away when I turn it off.

Gcjammin1

[EC_Beast]

I'd have to say your monitors aren't magneticly sheilded. Because your computer monitor has a cathode ray tube (CRT) it's basically one huge magnet and it's interfering with the drivers and amps of the speakers and causing some real nasty noise. Either new screen, or new speakers...either will do.

[lejockey]

yeah, the speakers aren't high-end but it's not the CRT they're picking up, it's absolutely the computer. if i turn off the monitor but then move my mouse down to where the dock is (OS X) you can here the interference as i scroll through the icons... that's how i know it's the computer and not the monitor. bizarre indeed.

[MrKeysAOO]

Assuming your soundcard is PCI...try moving that PCI card to slot as far away as possible from the display adapter card and, if you have a wireless mouse or other mouse with a PCI card, move the soundcard away from that card/reciever as well. I've seen this before where there was actually crosstalk between the two cards.

[atma]

i had this issue, it was caused by my PCI soundcard picking up interference from the computer's power supply unit. it was solved when i bought an external firewire soundcard that uses it's own ac adapter (rather than deriving power from the firewire interface, and thus the same power supply unit). the balanced outputs from the card to the monitors also help.

[sonicworx]

Could it be an electrical problem maybe?

I'm just guessing.

[MidiMagic]

Several suggestions:

1. Put some steel shielding between the computer/monitor combo and the rest of the audio gear. I found some cookie sheets at K-mart which did wonders.

2. Put a clamp-on ferrite on the monitor cable from the computer.

3. Put at least 3 feet between the computer/monitor combo and the other equipment.

4. Look for ground loops. Sometimes they can be in the strangest places (mine was in a MIDI synchronizer).

5. If computer and audio cables cross, cross them at right angles.

6. Use balanced line on all audio connections you can do so with.

7. Make sure the keyboard is not radiating computer interference.