Quick question about suspected poor electrical wiring and occasional audio pops/crackles

[dark water]

Hi KVR,

I've recently been renting out a small bedroom/lounge in a garden annex (because it's cheap; I am looking to move on in a few months' time).

During the past 2 days, my Win7 PC computer seems to have been emitting - both to my RME Babyface soundcard and also (separately) to its own internal High Definition Audio Device speaker - some low level pops and crackles about once every minute.
Curiously, the problem seems to have become noticeable after Reaper crashed on me due to an acusticaaudio Nebula program crashing and freezing the DAW.

I have since tried to eliminate various options as to what is causing this crackling / popping:
1) I checked that it was not my speakers connected to the RME soundcard by also finding crackling when using headphones instead;
2) I checked that it was not just the soundcard by disabling it and enabling the internal audio instead;
3) I checked that it was not just Reaper, as the low level crackling continues when I first start up my computer, and when it is idle on the blue 'windows' desktop, and when it is playing music via Windows media player etc.


I'm hoping that this problem is more to do with dodgy electrical cabling connecting the annex to the house.
I hope it is not something to do with the internals of my Windows pc (Win7, 64-bit, bought 2011 from Scan audio so a good make).

Are there any tips or ideas that you might be able to recommend me trying, particularly if you've been in the situation of having occasional audio pops/crackles yourself please?

I'll now try system restore and last known good configuration to eliminate the possibility that it was just an issue caused by Reaper crashing (which I find hard to believe).


Many thanks in advance,
DW

[NTO]

I share the hard to believe.
Such a disturbance could be impulse noise from some other electrical equipment on the unit wiring, isolate by unplugging those where possible.
Many of the backup power devices include a line filter. If you own, or can 'try but not buy'...

[Deep Purple]

Take a look at where your power cables are compared to other cables - it's possible that the AC current is inducing a current in another cable, particularly anything that is not shielded.

Is it possible that during the move that speaker cables or connectors were damaged?

I agree with you and NTO that the Reaper crash seems to be an unlikely cause though.

[dark water]

Hi NTO and Deep Purple - many thanks for the replies.
Bizarrely it appears that the static hum is solely related to where the computer is located in the room.
Happily my PC has no issues when it is on my bed (where I moved it) compared to on a chest of drawers near the wall. Also, I unplugged everything - both i/o of the computer and also electrical items such as a nearby lamp and electric heater to try to find the culprit - but with the computer in my bed as opposed to the chest (and with all items then put back in / replugged in) the static still has not appeared since earlier today.

Finally I'm going to put the computer back on top of the chest (and with all items put in / plugged in as before) - hopefully the static noise of the past 2 days will now not reappear, but if it does then at least I know it is to do with the absurd reason of where the computer is placed.

I'm thinking that part of the room might be affected by something a bit faulty within the wall (which I can't get to because I'm renting) or maybe it was just a loose-ish cable or briefly two electrical items were interfering with each other.
Bizarre but at least not a huge worry now.

Cheers
Dw

[Kaine]

If it happens again when you move the system back then I suspect or would at least hazard a guess at the socket in question hooked into a different grounding circuit. Is it on a wall that's been built and wired after the rest of the house?

Also, are the speakers on the same multiway or still across the room when you're hooked into that other socket? If you have the amplification source and signal source on two different grounding circuits, then you'll probably run afoul of all kinds of ground loop issues which is what it sounds like from your testing.

[dark water]

Hi Kaine - thanks for the reply. I think you're probably right about the grounding issues, particularly as this problem occurs when the computer is nearest to a certain part of the room.
(I'm thinking that it might also be that there is an issue drawing enough consistent electrical power, as this morning the static noise returned a little and also on a different occasion, the RME soundcard was not recognized by the computer despite being plugged in via USB).

I'm 99% certain that the wall of this garden annex has been built and wired after that of the rest of the house, but I'll only be able to ask the landlord/owner about that when he returns from holiday in a few days time.

With the speakers - sorry currently these are just lowly £25 Logitech desktop speakers (I haven't brought my larger Presonus Spectre S8 speakers down during this move yet), so they are easily moved around next to the laptop.

Happily, I now believe after my testing yesterday that the problem is nothing to do with the computer or soundcard themselves per se. It's just the non-optimal electrical situation of this annex; I'll move my audio items away from interference as much as possible during my short time here until August.

Many thanks again.