General Discussions

I've had this strange issue with my PC speakers for some time now, or it could be my sound card, I'm not sure. Basically after a certain period of time (it's never the same), they'll just start emitting a continuous droning note (out of every speaker, even the sub). I'll unplug them and plug in a set of old 2.1 speakers and it'll be fine. Then after a few weeks or so I'll plug my 5.1 back in and they'll be fine for a short period, only for the process to start again.

I have absolutely no clue what's causing it. I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling the drivers, I've removed my sound card to make sure it's spotless clean and put it back in, etc.

Hm, sounds familiar. I guess the first thing you could do is see if the same thing happens with a different speaker set.

If it happens again with a different set then it MIGHT be the sound card, but doubtful.

If my instinct is worth anything, then I suspect it may have something to do with either the power source and the ground, or unshielded cables. (Here's hoping the Dutch and English terms are the same. )

Aye, tried it with a different speaker set. As I mentioned in my post, this occurs with my 5.1 speakers, but I can switch to a 2.1 set which work just fine and the problem never occurs with them.

Not sure about unshielded cables or the power source - speakers aren't my area of expertise. Given that I can use another set of speakers without a problem I don't think it's the sound card, but I'm not ruling anything out at the moment. I haven't tried it with another 5.1 set (given that I don't own another).

As I also mentioned, when I plug the 5.1 speakers back in after (usually) a week or two, they work fine for a week, so no clue what's going on there.

How do they work in other computers? If the problem occurs on another computer with a similar setup, the problem is a hardware one (something wrong with the speakers) where as if it doesn't occur on another computer then you have a driver problem (update/reinstall drivers maybe)

[Edited by Neo7, 3/25/2012 3:07:42 PM]

And the impedance speaker settings? This can cause heavy humming, if set incorrectly.

Unfortunately I don't have access to another PC with the capacity to take 5.1, but I can always try a single channel on my laptop.

I'll give it a try, thanks.

I just tried switching the power on without any of the speakers actually plugged in and I get the same droning sound, so I'm assuming it's definitely something going on with the speakers. Bugger.

[Edited by Skyheart, 3/25/2012 3:14:05 PM]