Static at low volume levels

[00sweeney]

Sorry for posting here, I tried to open a ticket but it wouldn’t accept the captcha.

I’ve started to notice static when I use DPS. It may have been there for a while, I just didn’t notice because the volume is so loud, but when I went to use headphones for the first time it was hard to ignore. It goes away if I turn off DPS. Any ideas?

[jimboden]

00sweeney:

What kind of computer are you running DPS on? (Windows, Mac, OS version etc.). I use DPS on a Win 7 64 system and have never seen this problem. I occasionally get static when I switch from Entertainment to Game mode on my Sound Blaster sound card, though, and it goes away if I switch back.

[xaqmusic]

00sweeney,

It is possible that you are hearing the effect of dithering especially on a Mac.  Usually this is audible if you use the volume control in iTunes instead of the main volume control for the Mac.  It may also be possible to eliminate the noise by ensuring all sample rates are equal in Audio Settings.  Click Here for the wiki link on that subject.

Let us know what you find.

[00sweeney]

God, I’m an idiot for not telling you the system info. Sorry, I think it was in my original and I didn’t cut and paste. It’s Win 7 64 bit home premium on a Sony Vaio VGN-NW250F.

[xaqmusic]

Hmmm.  I’ve heard this issue in OSX but not in Windows.  Jim or Joe Beaty, have you experienced this?

00sweeney, does this sound occur with all music or just some?  And exactly how low is low volume?  We would like to replicate this issue.Also check to be sure your microphone or some other input device is not active and putting noise into your system.  Let us know!

 

 

 

[00sweeney]

It seems to happen with any music or movies.  But the microphone idea is a great one. I’ll check it when I get home. Thanks!

[00sweeney]

I disabled the microphone and the problem was still there. And it’s a distortion that’s actually in time with the music, so it seems like it’s the signal. To try and describe it better, I’d say the closest thing is almost a speaker with a blown cone, or one where the wire is a little loose–you can tell it’s music by the rhythm but it doesn’t sound great. Sorry if that doesn’t help. And again, it’s only with headphones. If worse comes to worse I can always turn DPS off, but I’d rather not. Thanks for your suggestions so far.

[00sweeney]

Shit. Not only didn’t it work, somehow disabling the microphone somehow deleted it. There’s no longer a microphone to enable. I know it’s off-topic, but any thoughts on that? I’m not a computer whiz, but it’s not something as simple as reinstalling the drivers–it’s as if it never had a microphone.  I swear I just clicked “disable.”

[00sweeney]

OK, figured out the microphone.

I’m such an idiot sometimes.

[jimboden]

Hi Joey:

“Jim or Joe Beaty, have you experienced this?”

I’ve never come across this problem and have the exact same OS as the OP. As I said earlier, I have experienced static with a Creative Labs high-end sound card when I switch between game and entertainment modes. It happens very rarely and it fixes itself when I switch modes back again. Of course, the OP has a Sony laptop, which is quite different from my setup, which is a mid-tower HP machine. I’m wondering if there is a setting somewhere specific to the Sony which causes this.

[Joseph Beaty]

Hey guys,

Sorry for my late reply to this. I have a Samsung with Win 8 64 and an HP laptop/Win 7 64. I have not once had this happen. I do notice a slight hiss on certain recordings once in a while. This is specific to that file or source material though. Nothing on my whole music or movie library. 00sweeney, DO you use any other audio programs to process your audio permanently before DPS is enabled? Only thing I can think of. Maybe all of your music library has this hiss at low levels before DPS? Let us know.

[Author]

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