Logitech Z560 speaker buzzing woes.. :(

[Conundrum]

Anyone have any idea why the speakers I have buzz so badly? I mean, it's pretty bad. Dell sent me replacement speakers for the first set. I've tried having the speakers plugged into different outlets. Always a power strip or my Cyberpower AVR battery backup. There's just this LOUD buzzing that you'd need to have them about 6 feet away from you at LEAST not to be able to hear it. Even over all the background noise in my computer room alone.

I just don't get it. Any speaker people and/or people that went with the Z560 deal that could shed any light on what might be causing my problem here? Once again, the speakers sound great. The ones I was going to return and the ones I got to replace them.. but that buzzing is consistant. I've never had a set of speakers buzz like this before. For the record, they buzz when you turn them on period. They aren't plugged into the sound card, so that's not a factor. I even moved the sub far away from all my other stuff and it still makes them buzz. This really blows cause the speakers crank out some sweet sound and insane bass.

I need some help here guys.. big time. Help a man walk into the light of a future free from a BAD BUZZ! Heh.

 

[BadThad]

It sounds like your speaker out jack on your sound card is bad. Try gently moving the plug round in the jack and see if the buzzing goes on and off.

Did you try them on a different sound card? I just got a set of those, BTW, and they ROCK! What kind of speaker wire did you use? Try getting some quality wire and try to route the wires away from everything.

Good Luck!

 

[Conundrum]

The buzzing comes even when they're turned on. I'm just using the speaker wire that came with them.

Someone told me that it sounds like the amp is bad for them if they're buzzing so loudly. I'm really bummed that they're buzzing like this. I wish I knew for sure what the problem was so I could fix it.

I think I'm almost to the point where I'm going to return this set to Dell as well. *sigh*

I'll be really pissed if I do though... and find that the new ones they send me continue to do the same thing. I'm going to try hooking them up in a different room and see if there's any difference.

 

[BadThad]

They buzz wehn they're not plugged into the sound card your saying? If so, try plugging them in a diff location...could be bad news.

 

[Conundrum]

I know. I think I'm completely screwed. I'm going to pack one up and ship them back. Tell them that the new set they sent me have the same problem. I took them to the main floor of my house. Same buzzing. Took them to the basement, same buzzing.

Imagine the odds. Two brand new retail Z560s with the same lame problem. I hope I'm not overlooking anything..

 

[Conundrum]

bump

 

[linhpham2]

Sounds like a ground looping problem. I saw a couple of things yesterday at Radio Shack that will fix it.

 

[Conundrum]

I might just head over to Radio Shack tomorrow and tell them the problem I'm having... see if they have any suggestions.

Once I get off my lazy behind and test the speakers in another room I'll know if it has anything to do with either grounding or all the other electronic equipment in here. =-/

Thanks for the advice though people.. keep it coming if you have anymore suggestions. I welcome them...

 

[linhpham2]

You might want to try this:
From 3D Sound Surge:
http://www.3dsoundsurge.com/cgi-bin...umber=21747&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1#Post21747

More Technical info:
http://www.hometheatervillage.com/village.library/hum/tech_bulletins.html

I found this at Radio Shack:
www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cata...y_name=CTLG_002_001_019_008&product_id=27-054

 

[Conundrum]

Thanks for the info man. I finally got it isolated... for the buzz that comes only when the speakers are on. I lugged the sub and two front satellites downstairs with the little pod remote. I hooked them up and they powered up without ANY buzzing what so EVER. So I hook them into an old Aureal sound card and NO BUZZ WHAT SO EVER. Crystal clear sounds.. just like what I had with every set of speakers before this one.

So I bring my stuff back upstairs. Hook it all up, buzzing is back when they power up. So I sit and think to myself. I've tried different plugs in the Cyberpower AVR 900 that I have everything hooked into. I decide to change the outlet it's plugged into. I do it, and still no change. So I say to myself. Hmmm... I think I'll plug the speakers directly into the wall outlet. I do it, power it up.

The BUZZING HAS STOPPED. If I have the speakers plugged into ANY power strip, UPS, AVR, etc... I get buzzing hardcore. Directly into the socket is perfect sound. Only thing I have to worry about is getting a surge. I suppose I could try putting a simple surge protector over here and just plug the speakers into it. Try that and see if the buzz still shows up.

So I think I'm all set. I settle into my chair after plugging in the speakers. I think I hear the buzz again though. SURE ENOUGH! The second they're plugged into my SB Live 5.1 sound card it's BUZZING TO BEAT THE BAND!

Oh... my..... GOD. I've never had problems like this before. How can it be the sound card if I've tried THREE DIFFERENT SETS of speakers in it and they all worked GREAT?!?!?

So frustrating... so very frustrating. I even thought that maybe it could've had something to do with the Hollywood Realmagic decoder card I've got in my Win2k rig. Nope... took the card out and no change. So very frustrating. Do I have to buy a new sound card just to get these speakers not to buzz at me? This is... without a doubt.... the most frustrating should be so simple any idiot can do it thing. Just goes to show you how each computer is a SYSTEM. Everything is only happy as long as every other piece is working properly... and able to talk well to each other part.

I love the sound these speakers are capable of producing. I just wish I knew why the HELL they don't like my SB Live 5.1. Here's the kicker. They will buzz the second they're plugged into the card... regardless of whether or not the tower is turned on. Ugh ugh ugh...

EDIT - The Saga continues. Newest discovery. When my tower is no longer physically plugged in. The PS has the plug pulled from it. I can connect the speakers to the sound card without having the buzzing. So this must be the same ground loop issue that was brought up before. I need to figure out how to fix this problem. Time to look into the ground loop issue. Until it is resolved, there will be no audio joy in this house.

Will there be no end to our hero's adventure? No happy ending in sight? Stay tuned true believers for further updates on my slow progress with this frustrating situation.

I sincerely hope nobody else who bought these ever has to feel my pain.

 

[Conundrum]

Ok.. in the end it turns out the power supply was causing the buzzing in my speakers. Once I replaced it, everything has been working great. Go figure.

It's the PS that came with this Lian-Li PC-60 case. Oh well... now I have a NEW problem. I have it set to 4 speakers with my SB Live 5.1 sound card. Through the back speakers I get rear left and rear right both coming out from the back. It's really odd. Before when I had the buzzing... at least I got sound from all the speakers.

Anyone?

 

[linhpham2]

Are you connecting both the front and rear inputs?

Do you have M3D turn on or off? Are you listening to dvds, music or playing games?

Do you the fade button turned all the way up?

 

[Conundrum]

I have all four connected. It's set to 4 speakers. When I do the LiveWare test where it says, "Front Left..Front Right..Rear Left..Rear Right" the two front are fine. For the back two, both come out of the rear right. No sound is coming out from the rear left.

EXCEPT if I set it to 5.1 speakers. Then the rear left speaker will emit sound when it does the center channel. I'm just playing an mp3 when I hear no sound out of either rear speakers. It's weird. The test will produce sound... but nothing else will.

Go figure. I think I'll check Creative's site later when I have more time. Any help/suggestions would be appreciated. I've tried toggling the M3D button to no avail.

 

[linhpham2]

It seems your in luck. Someone at 3D Sound Surge Forums had the same problem: right rear brighter than left rear speaker.

The problem:
"I've got a new set of Logitech Z-560's with an Audigy X-Gamer and I've noticed when I test the sound with the surround mixer or the creative audigy 3d sound demo that the right front speaker is brighter in sound (and maybe volume, hard to tell) than the left front. Is this normal - does the computer mix the sound this way or should the speakers sound identical? I know that I can adjust the balance but I'd like to know if this is a defect or not. Is it common to get speakers that don't match?"

Responses:
"They try to match speakers best as they can. The better the system, the better they're matched. With your system I would guess that they should be matched close enough for you not to notice. Have you tried this out with a more controlled sound? Like get a long beep or some other controlled sound that you can judge whether or not one speaker is weaker than others. Personally, I have a slight problem with this but I attribute it with an ever so slight loss of hearing in one ear as the center sounds as I hear it with headphones and other systems are ever so slightly off-centered (probably spent a little too much time around the rifle range). You can add this as one more thing that's totally messed up with me."

"Have you played with the sound card mixer settings? Sometimes the levels will be slightly miss-matched at one volume but a very slight change up or down can correct. Not tested the Audigy so can't say for sure there. Try another source if you can as well or at least reverse the front and rear jack on the sound card (so at least you will have a stready test signal).

Mark Muschett
3DsoundSurge"

" Do you have the speakers at differernt levels?

If you have one above the other then the sound will sound quite differernt."


Hope that helps.

 

[Conundrum]

Thanks for all your help to anyone that replied.

It turns out my Hollywood RealMagic decoder card was the problem. The passthrough to my sound card isn't possible. I'll just use it in a different computer. I hardly ever watch DVDs anyway.

Perfect sound.. I don't even have to increase the fade on my speakers at all. 4-Speaker setup is working great. Although I still wonder why they call it 4.1.

What's with the .1?

 

[linhpham2]

4.1 = 4 speakers + subwoofer

.1 is the low frequency effects (LFE) channel = subwoofer

5.1 sound is just = 5 speakers + subwoofer

 

[hconnorjr]

buzzing? if this were an audio amp that draws a lot of current the problem would be the result of 'dirty current' or ground looping. the solution would be to isolate the amp from anything else on that line (such as a refrigerator). ground looping would be taken care of simply by having all the items share the same ground.

but the system you're talking about draws very little current, so this is only a remote possiblity. more likely, it's a bad lot of amp, but it could be in the pre-amp section as well, since these low end items are integrated. i'm assuming you've got a got sound card (check it with a set of headphones or another computer speaker). hope this helps.