new computer, weird noises

[Ranger56]

We got a new Dell Inspiron E1505, and when I plug in headphones, I can hear wear electronic-like noises when a page loads in FF, I minimize or maximize a window, move a window, or something like move the cursor. What is going on here??

[_Aerospace_Eng_]

Sounds like the normal windows sounds.
Start > Control Pane > Sounds and Devices > Sounds Tab > Under Sound Scheme choose "No Sounds" > Click OK

[Ranger56]

It's not that though, it's like the sounds the computer is making or something, while it is doing that stuff, and I can only hear it with headphones.

[_Aerospace_Eng_]

Hmm describe the sound better. Does it sound like a high pitch almost whistle type sound?

[Aradon]

Is it like an electronic buzzing sound?

[JamieR]

I've had that. Through Optical there's no noise, although when I plug a pair of standard headphones into the headphone jack on my PC, I have the kinda noise you've described. The only difference with mine is that it's constant and isn't affected by what I'm doing on my PC. My only guess is that the sound card itself is causing it.
Have you tried different headphones though?
What sound card do you have? Does the noise increase/decrease when you increase or decrease the sound level?

[Ranger56]

Is it like an electronic buzzing sound?

Yes, and it gets louder whenever I do one of the things I mentioned.

[daniel_g]

Sounds like that's going to be a hardware problem. Do you get it only through the rigth hand channel on the headphone, or through both channels? One good way to tell is just to move the balance of the volume control on sound settings.
If you only get the buzzing sounds on the rigth channel, then it means you'r making contact with the ground, which could be dangerous for your headphones.

If you get it through the two channels, it means the filters are not acting the way they should.
Note that no computer will be free of that problem. On mine, for instance, I get it when pump up the volume to more than 70%.

Since you said that's a new computer, maybe you can just exchange it for another one, but before doing that, try another set of headphones.

[Ranger56]

Sounds like that's going to be a hardware problem. Do you get it only through the rigth hand channel on the headphone, or through both channels? One good way to tell is just to move the balance of the volume control on sound settings.
If you only get the buzzing sounds on the rigth channel, then it means you'r making contact with the ground, which could be dangerous for your headphones.

If you get it through the two channels, it means the filters are not acting the way they should.
Note that no computer will be free of that problem. On mine, for instance, I get it when pump up the volume to more than 70%.

Since you said that's a new computer, maybe you can just exchange it for another one, but before doing that, try another set of headphones.
I get it through both channels and it is always the same sound at any volume. I've tried 3 pairs of headphones including music studio quality ones, nothing seems to help.

[Aradon]

I get it through both channels and it is always the same sound at any volume. I've tried 3 pairs of headphones including music studio quality ones, nothing seems to help.

sounds like a problem with the sound card (ha..that's funny). The card is picking up the electronic "noise" from the rest of the elctronics around it.

Or so my theory goes. I get this sound only when I don't plug in my headphones right, but if it's constantly and through different headphones, it is probably the card.

[GO ILLINI]

Ive had this exact same problem with one of the computers at my school.
The computer was using an old sound card and students were saying that there was a buzzing sound the whole time. Well I got onto it and figured out that it came with computer actiuons(moving the mouse and so on)
Plugged in a newer sound card and it worked fine. So I went out and bought a new one and its worked fine ever since. Hell with the budget they give me i could buy as many as I wanted.



-Adam

[Ranger56]

I'll ask my dad about it. What kind of sound card should I get that would fit in that laptop?

[_Aerospace_Eng_]

Ha. I would actually send your laptop back to dell or where you bought it from as self repair is almost always out of the question on new laptops as they usually have a 1 year manufacturers warranty. My sound card is like 3 layers deep in my laptop. I have to take off the keyboard cover, the display, the keyboard, the switchboard, then the top cover and then I'll be at my sound card.

[daniel_g]

Ranger, just as AE said, send it back, so they can either fix the problem or replace the soundcard or the laptop.

If you were thinking in buying a new sound card, then just ask Dell to see if they can upgrade it to a better one. If they say HD as the only option, I say don't do it, since that's just a software upgrade.

[liorean]

Two similar problems I've had:

My iPod is from the early generations. It's frequently spinning the harddrive up, remaining that way for 1-2 minutes and then spinning down. The power supply wavers when this happens, and that sound can be heard through speaker/headphone. (You can actually hear the harddrive spin up if you're somewhere quiet.) No fix for this type of noise.

My mainboard has integrated 5.1 sound. This integrated sound has a loud background humm until I actually open up the bundled sound effects manager. (Starting the sound effect manager isn't enough, I have to double click it in the system notification area to open the window.) Then the humm disappears. This humm disappears if I change to 2.1, 2.0 or headphones mode, but in 5.1 mode I need to do this each time I restart the comp.

[Unknown2]

I have a similar problem with my onboard sound (damaged/faulty connections)... so I'd put it to a hardware fault. I am waiting for my new soundcard to arrive to fix the problem:)

[xichael]

I was just having the same problem: sounds of all sorts coming from the speakers; track pad noise, hard drive noise, CPU noise, all the little hardware processes coming loud & clear through the speakers.

The solution? For me I just had to mute or turn down the microphone channel in the system volume control, and it all went away. I hate to think what results I'll get if I ever have to use a microphone with my computer, but in the meantime, pure silence.

I hope that works for you...