There's demons in my speakers.

[Anthus]

Some sort of poltergeist has invaded my house.

Okay, but seriously, for some reason my PC speakers act as some sort of receiver, and pick up -very- faint radio broadcasts. Sometimes I can hear music, and sometimes it is a talk show, or something. Once, I caught the name "Brian Newman", and Google'd it. It has gotten worse, and there is a light static that is always present now too after rearranging my room, and moving my computer. Is there anyway to make my speakers stop sucking? Also, plugging headphones into my speakers makes it worse. It is annoying.

... right now, there is a staticy Nationwide insurance commercial, but I can only hear the details if I put my ear right up to the speaker.

[Nicholas Steel]

Mute the microphone/line in.

[Anthus]

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/8245/sdfe.jpg

It already is muted :[

I toggled them all for a minute, and nothing stopped it. Thanks anyway though.

EDIT: Actually the speakers do it regardless of whether or not the machine is on. They plug into a sub woofer which plugs in the wall. So, it goes Outlet-> Sub woofer-> L/R Speaker-> Line into the computer. Muting the entire system volume also does nothing. This issue is independent of the computer itself. The only solution is to actually turn off the speakers.

[DarkDragon]

Some part of your setup is acting as an antenna. It could be one or several of your speaker wires, or line noise in the AC itself. You'll need to troubleshoot exactly which part of the wiring is the source of the problem, then fix it with e.g. a power conditioner.

[Chris Miller]

You can go to Radio Shack and get a noise eliminator that just clips on the line. They're about $5.

[gdorf]

Callitaday's advice will probably help. These are called RF Chokes and you should be able to easily attach them to the cords. Experiment with their placement until you are satisfied. Experiment with using one on your power cord, too.

[Anthus]

Some part of your setup is acting as an antenna. It could be one or several of your speaker wires, or line noise in the AC itself. You'll need to troubleshoot exactly which part of the wiring is the source of the problem, then fix it with e.g. a power conditioner.

Hmm. It will be hard to narrow it down because of how the thing is plugged in. I wish the Sub Woofer was optional, but it is required to power the speakers.


You can go to Radio Shack and get a noise eliminator that just clips on the line. They're about $5.

Okay, cool. Now, you're not gonna wanna know how I found this out, but placing my tongue on the end, or even very close to the green plug that goes into the speakers causes them to give a very loud "bzzzzzzz" feedback sound. So, it could be this wire, or maybe I'm an antenna o-o Actually, touching the plug to any skin causes this. Also, the same thing happens when it touches the area near the plug-in, but when it is plugged in, it stops. The normal constant sound itself actually isn't that loud, but when there is nothing else on (no heater/ fans/ music) I can hear it very faintly. At this point, I usually just turn them off. It's actually not that big of a deal, I was just wondering if there was a way to stop it.

[King Aquamentus]

Same thing happens with mine, and let me tell you it's not a computer issue. I get this when my volume is all the way down.

[pkmnfrk]

Okay, cool. Now, you're not gonna wanna know how I found this out, but placing my tongue on the end, or even very close to the green plug that goes into the speakers causes them to give a very loud "bzzzzzzz" feedback sound. So, it could be this wire, or maybe I'm an antenna o-o Actually, touching the plug to any skin causes this. Also, the same thing happens when it touches the area near the plug-in, but when it is plugged in, it stops. The normal constant sound itself actually isn't that loud, but when there is nothing else on (no heater/ fans/ music) I can hear it very faintly. At this point, I usually just turn them off. It's actually not that big of a deal, I was just wondering if there was a way to stop it.

That would be a signal generated from the potential difference between the speakers themselves, and ground. Probably harmless, but I certainly wouldn't go around touching it to my tongue!

[Anthus]

That would be a signal generated from the potential difference between the speakers themselves, and ground. Probably harmless, but I certainly wouldn't go around touching it to my tongue!

I figured if it was gonna shock me, it would have done so on my skin. But it was just the plug that goes inot the computer, and as far as I know, those have never been known to shock anyone.

[Nicholas Steel]

You have a potentially faulty electrical product, so you thought you'd expose yourself to some wires connected to it.

[Chris Miller]

That's one way to find out if it's faulty :D

[Nicholas Steel]

Not if it kills you, then you still won't know if it was faulty, though someone else might after discovering your rotting cooked body.

Anyways try placing a light bend at one point in the wire and move it along the wire until it starts getting worse, it would indicate a broken wire in the cable if it does. If it gets worse while playing with the actual connections then the connector is faulty.

[gdorf]

Not if it kills you, then you still won't know if it was faulty, though someone else might after discovering your rotting cooked body.

Anyways try placing a light bend at one point in the wire and move it along the wire until it starts getting worse, it would indicate a broken wire in the cable if it does. If it gets worse while playing with the actual connections then the connector is faulty.

I work electricity all the time and use my tongue/fingers to test connections on occasion. It may not be the smartest thing to do but its reasonably safe if you aren't totally stupid. Almost any time you are working on the tail end of a wall-wart you are reasonably safe from "cooking" your body with electricity.

[Anthus]

I appreciate everyone's replies, but I think I'm just gonna deal with it. I have been for the last year or so, but I only posted about it since it seemed to have gotten worse after moving it to a new location in my room. I'm not really about to spend a bunch of money on a guessing game of causes. I'm almost certain it is not a wiring issue, since it seems like the speakers themselves are functioning as a receiver. This does this regardless of whether or not the machine is on, or whether or not it is plugged up to the machine. To put it another way, this issue has nothing at all to do with the computer, but rather the speakers themselves. Something just came into my mind: I remember way back when my Dad had an old CRT monitor. I remember holding a speaker up to it, and it messed up to colors on the monitor since they both contained magnets. Do LCD monitors contain magnets? I keep my speakers next to my monitor, about three inches away on wither side. My new monitor also has built in speakers near my speakers. Could the close proximity of these different magnets create this interference? If moving my speakers is all it takes, I can do that ^^

If I'm actually listening to music, or watching something, I can't even hear it. If all else fails, I guess I'll just keep my speakers off otherwise.

EDIT: I'm guessing 'no' on the magnets, since LCD monitors don't have a degauss button.