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Bad hum from pc to receiver help

post #1 of 17
1/30/07 at 12:54pm
Thread Starter 
I have my PC hooked to my denon avr-4800 receiver. just the other day i started geting a loud hum. i use the pc for music i have stored on the hard drive. it's a dell and they put a 5.1 sound card in there but I don't know what cables to use to get the sound to my receiver so i'm using a standard eighth inch stereo to 2 rca plugs. any help would be appreciated. I have tried everything i can think of to get rid of the noise. the hum does change when i move the plug around and sometimes when i just touch the plug unplugged from the pc it hums also so it sounds like something wrong with the cable. Thanks for any help. Gary.
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post #2 of 17
1/30/07 at 5:49pm

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

Gary,

You need a connector like this. Pay attention to the 1/8" (3.5mm) connector that plugs into the PC. Even though the link is just an example, you can get the Radioshack Gold Series brand for half the price...
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post #3 of 17
1/30/07 at 7:57pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

i do have a 5.1 capable sound card so what connector cable would i need to get that sound to my receiver? would htat also take care of the hum?
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post #4 of 17
1/30/07 at 8:21pm

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

If you can run an optical digital (Toslink) cable to your reciever, I can guarantee no hum, even if you have a ground loop (it doesn't conduct electricity, after all). That's what I do.
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post #5 of 17
1/30/07 at 9:46pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

my sound card doesn't have optical.
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post #6 of 17
1/30/07 at 10:01pm

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

Quote:
i do have a 5.1 capable sound card
what kind/brand/model is it?
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post #7 of 17
1/31/07 at 5:17am
Thread Starter 

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

it is an on the motherboard one that dell installed.
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post #8 of 17
2/2/07 at 7:21am
Thread Starter 

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

so could the hum be a ground loop thing? what sound cards have toslink optical audio connections i'd be willing up upgrade since thats what i wanted anyway but dell had no clue what i was talking about when i bought the computer a year ago. what is spli connections. i've seen cables for that that have 1/8th inch plug on 1 end and rca on the other to plug into the coasial jacks on the denon. any ideas?
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post #9 of 17
2/2/07 at 1:05pm

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

Probably the ground on your audio connection isn't made at all. Are the plugs on both sides properly in place? What started it (if anything you know)? Could the cable (or its connection to one of the connectors) be broken? Did you try another connector already?
Is your PC connected to the same power outlet as your receiver, BTW?


Cees
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post #10 of 17
2/3/07 at 4:41am
Thread Starter 

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

i don't know what started it. just one afternoon it started. nothing had changed. it wasn't a real good cable to start with but it was connected properly. the pc is connected to the same power strip as the computer but it has been for a year and no problems noticed.
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post #11 of 17
2/3/07 at 2:21pm

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

Do you have another cable somewhere laying around (or borrow it from a friend) just to test the connection?


Cees
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post #12 of 17
2/4/07 at 10:45am
Thread Starter 

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

actually i don't have another cable. heres the question, what type of cable would i need to go from the sound card to either the toslink or coaxial connectors on my denon avr-4800 for 5.1 surround. that should hopefully elminate the hum to start. what is an spdif cable and would that work? thanks.
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post #13 of 17
2/4/07 at 9:51pm

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

I use analog from my pc to the Denon 3805. Sometimes I get a hum but its usually because of the 6" cord where it connects with females jacks to the 25' cord. So, check your cords, make sure nothing is touching it and keep it as far away from any power cords as possible..
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post #14 of 17
2/5/07 at 1:28am
Thread Starter 

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

Does anyone know anything about or used the cables to go usb audio adapter/ heres a link. What do you think?

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.as...=112&sku=22327
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post #15 of 17
8/3/07 at 11:06am

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

Quote:
If you can run an optical digital (Toslink) cable to your reciever, I can guarantee no hum, even if you have a ground loop (it doesn't conduct electricity, after all). That's what I do.
I'm connecting my PC to my HT receiver via a coax digital cable and I have a bad ground loop hum too. It goes away when I disconnect the cable.

Any idea what to look for in this case?
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post #16 of 17
8/3/07 at 8:23pm

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

I had a hum from my speakers as well. It seemed to be fixed when I moved the two closer together (getting rid of tension) and put them on different outlets.
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post #17 of 17
8/6/07 at 1:51pm

Re: Bad hum from pc to receiver help

You Might find the following article useful. http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/co...-hum-and-buzz/
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