what causes 'white noise' that I hear in my speakers?

[p0ntif]

what causes that? Can I get rid of it? could it be poor speaker wire?
poor speakers maybe?

 

[Colt45]

Speaker wire is overrated. copper=copper=copper.

as long as there is no white noise when an input signal is applied, there is no problem.

however, if youre getting white noise while playing back music, you have an issue..




(finished building my first tube amp today , btw
still has some issues though.. and this one is designed for distortion [for my guitar]. Not very good for reproduction..)

 

[CraigRT]

copper does equal copper.. but when there is more copper, it flows better. the longer the length, the more copper you want, too.

better speaker wire can definitely often help noise distortion levels!!!

 

[StattlichPassat]

Speaker wire definitly, but a high-quality receiver is probably the main thing you should look for to lose the white noise. That's the only thing I hate about my Sony- really screws up what you're listening to at loud volumes! :|

On that note, what is a good Dolby Digital/dts 5.1 receiver that will not give me a white noise problem? I'm looking at Onkyo, Yamaha, Marantz...

 

[Colt45]

Originally posted by: Yield
copper does equal copper.. but when there is more copper, it flows better. the longer the length, the more copper you want, too.

better speaker wire can definitely often help noise distortion levels!!!

It's not going to stop the white noise that occurs from lack of an input signal though.


more copper raises the resistance. you don't want to use more copper than you need.

 

[Mrfrog840]

i just wrap my speakers in copper. That seems to take away the problem for me

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: NightFlyerGTI
Speaker wire definitly, but a high-quality receiver is probably the main thing you should look for to lose the white noise. That's the only thing I hate about my Sony- really screws up what you're listening to at loud volumes! :|

On that note, what is a good Dolby Digital/dts 5.1 receiver that will not give me a white noise problem? I'm looking at Onkyo, Yamaha, Marantz...

Denon

 

[ScottMac]

Thicker guage cable has less resistance than thinner guage cable (generally speaking). It depends on the type of signal, the frequency, and the power levels involved.

Most of the time, the white noise is the sound of the idle current in the semiconductors of your output stage.

Nothing you can do about it (other than turn the volume down).

FWIW

Scott

 

[tronester]

The speaker wire is not the culprit here. It is most likely the amplifier. Your amplifier really sucks if you can hear it at normal listening levels, or at all when playing music. I doubt that though. Be more specific when you hear the noise, do you have to crank it? Do you put your ear right up to the tweeter?

 

[Nefrodite]

if your refering to pc speakers, then mute your line in and cd in noisy...

 

[Ornery]

My God, tronester is the only one who makes any sense around here anymore! p0ntif probably has a really simple problem with Play Control settings, and you're talking about screwing around with speaker wire! Unbelievable!

Take a look at your settings for volume of the CD audio, Wave, Mic etc. and make sure they're up above the halfway point. Try having the signal going to your amplified speakers as high as possible without distortion. Make sure the mic and external audio are turned down or off if you aren't using them. Also, try plugging some headphones into the sound card and listen for noise. If you don't hear any, then your speaker amplifier is the culprit.

Edit: Nefrodite is also on target.

 

[p0ntif]

it's actually coming from the rear speakers on my home theatre system . . .
probably because what i'm watching on TV doesn;t use them Just not all that familiar with the setup. thanks!

 

[tronester]

Do you get the hiss during a DD or DTS soundtrack? Or only in prologic or one of your recievers DSP modes?

If its the latter, I get the same thing. The prologic decoder gets the surround information (as well as center) from a 180 degree out of phase signal run with the main stereo signal. Its bandwidth is restricted from 100hz to 7khz. I believe it is some sort of bleed through from the main signal, however I am not sure.

 

[NogginBoink]

C'mon, people! Replacing speaker wire? Puh leaze!

The cause is either the signal source or your amps. Most likely your amps.

The amplifier's job is to take a tiny input signal and, duh, amplify it to a level that can drive the speakers. Along with that gain, it's inevitable that noise is introduced. The amount of noise introduced is one measure of the quality of the amplifier.

If you're using a cheap A/V receiver, manufacturers put in lousy, cheap amplifiers... especially in the rear channels.

If you're listening to stereo music, turn off the rear channels and it should go away.

The only way to get rid of it is to get a better quality amplifier.

(Note that the noise could also be introduced by poor preamps in your source component if you're using RCA (analog) cables from your source to the receiver. If it happens on all sources, it's the amp. If it happens only on, say, the DVD player but not the CD player, it's the DVD player's analog audio outputs that are noisy. But I'm betting it's the amps.)

 

[tronester]

Originally posted by: NogginBoink
C'mon, people! Replacing speaker wire? Puh leaze!

The cause is either the signal source or your amps. Most likely your amps.

The amplifier's job is to take a tiny input signal and, duh, amplify it to a level that can drive the speakers. Along with that gain, it's inevitable that noise is introduced. The amount of noise introduced is one measure of the quality of the amplifier.

If you're using a cheap A/V receiver, manufacturers put in lousy, cheap amplifiers... especially in the rear channels.

If you're listening to stereo music, turn off the rear channels and it should go away.

The only way to get rid of it is to get a better quality amplifier.

(Note that the noise could also be introduced by poor preamps in your source component if you're using RCA (analog) cables from your source to the receiver. If it happens on all sources, it's the amp. If it happens only on, say, the DVD player but not the CD player, it's the DVD player's analog audio outputs that are noisy. But I'm betting it's the amps.)

I seriously doubt it is his amplifier. Its a freakin denon, they arent exactly known for their crappy products... Remember, he said only the noise appeared in his rear speakers. Let him respond to my post - see if it occurs on discrete 5.1 soundtracks or on prologic or other dsp modes.

I get noise from my amplifier when I have a toslink cable as my only input. If I turn the gain on the amplifier to around -15dB I can hear noise. When at 0dB it is quite loud. If I stick my ear right up to my tweeter I can hear noise when at -40dB. Would a better quality amplifier not do that? Sure, but the air conditioning unit in my room is louder than the noise, even at high output levels. His Denon is probably quiter than mine.

 

[p0ntif]

Ok, I never notice it when I play DVDs, only when watching TV and having the setting on Dolby Digital 5.1 at the same time. So I usually switch the DSP and it gets better because then I'm actually getting sound out of my rears, but when there is a pause, I notice a hiss. And I don't have a Denon, not really sure what led you to believe that I did.

 

[tronester1]

Originally posted by: p0ntif
Ok, I never notice it when I play DVDs, only when watching TV and having the setting on Dolby Digital 5.1 at the same time. So I usually switch the DSP and it gets better because then I'm actually getting sound out of my rears, but when there is a pause, I notice a hiss. And I don't have a Denon, not really sure what led you to believe that I did.

NM, I thought you said you had a Denon, someone else must have said that, sorry. You only hear a hiss when switching between modes? Or do you get a constant hiss on the dd 5.1 mode? When watching tv, you could not have been in dd 5.1 mode, unless you have an HDTV with DD decoder. It was probably doing some sound DSP, and that introduced the hiss.