I just bought a pair of KRK Rokit 5 3rd gen studio monitors. The cable is a 1/8in TRS to dual 1/4in Y cable. Whenever I hook it into my computer I can hear everything the computer is doing through the speakers, especially when I am playing games. Whenever I plug up the speakers to a MP3 or phone, the interference goes away which leads me to believe that the computer is the problem. (hooking it straight to the onboard motherboard audio input)
So my question is should I get an audio interface? If so, is there the one that is the most "bang for your buck?"
I am not doing anything professional, just listening to music and gaming mostly.
Thank You
You could try a good cable that either has ferrite chokes built in, or you can add them separately.
You could also try moving the power adapter for the speakers to another outlet. Ground loops (having to do only with power) can form and create interference/noise in audio or video devices when there is an analog transfer medium between two devices - usually between two devices grounded differently for some reason. The speakers might not be polarized, while the computer is - that's allows a decent potential for ground loop interference/feedback. There are adapters for this that aren't that expensive - generally, they are small sections of cabling that have a ferrite choke already included.
If that's not it, it could very well be the onboard audio, likely the connector on the I/O backplate itself, is picking up RFI from the rest of the motherboard.
A good expansion-slot audio card (or even USB if so preferred) will place some critical distance between some components, and it also usually has better quality components around the connector to minimize the chance the cables or connector will pick up RFI. There is also usually some good power filtering and stabilization on the card itself, which alone may help.
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