Odd sound coming from speakers.

Recently I've noticed this odd, high pitched, noise mixed with what can best be described as a subtle buzzing coming from my speakers. It doesn't start right when I turn on the computer but usually around the time the desktop loads. The sound also persists with headphones plugged in or if i turn down/mute the volume.

I don't think it's an issue of bad speakers since they sound fine when I play games or music. The noise also seems to be affected by what's on the screen. For instance there's a dell ad that has a slot machine type thing. When the ad spins the subtle buzzing seems to sync up with the ad. When the ad stops the buzzing kind of cuts out. And also when the hdd is really working like when I'm installing a game. The hdd will be installing a bunch of files and the noise seems to sync up with the sound the hdd makes.

Any ideas on what it could be or what I mat be able to do to figure out what it could be?

 

That used to happen with my desktop, the videocard will "buzz" when theres activity. Does it "buzz" when you scroll a webpage? If so I think its the videocard.

EDIT: Oh and it got fixed by a driver update.

 

It seems pretty constant whether I'm scrolling webpages or not. And as far as drivers I believe I have the most current from nvidia. 257.21?

Oh and just to clarify, it's definitely a digital noise. It's not a mechanical sound coming from a busted fan or something.

 

Have a cell phone near your laptop?

 

Same thing for me, I was just about to post it.

Received my R2 today and i plugged it in, installed what I wanted. After leaving it plugged in at 100% battery, I decide t ounplug it to test its battery life. As soon as I unplug it, a very high pitch sound which is hard to go unnoticed starts occuring mainly from the left side of the keyboard (where caps lock is). Its pretty annoying, Im curious whats causing it.

Regards,
K

 

I had/have this on my laptop. It's a gateway, and yeah, it's a very low volume sound. I'll try looking into it, see if that gives you any answers.

BTW, I also had a strange sound come out of that same laptop, but much louder, when my cell phone rang. It was always the same pattern, no matter what the ringtone. I guess it's the wireless or something :S.

 

On occasion, yes. Though the noise still occurs even if I'm not near any known source of interference (ie: cell, microwaves, cordless phones...).

I feel like I've heard this from my stereo speakers that I have connected to my desktop too. I have them positioned behind me when on sitting at my desk and notice a similar sound. Do you think it could just be normal interference with something in my house? In which case it probably isn't something I can solve.

 

OK.....I can't get my gateway to reproduce that sound......

Sorry I couldn't help.

 

Any other suggestions before I decide to call dell tech support and see what they have to say? I feel like it's just a poorly shielded speaker that's picking up interference from the hdd and/or other components in the laptop.

 

UPDATED: Nvidia’s “deadly” flaw and how to fix it – no more squealing! Theo’s Bright Side Of IT

this squealing is normal on desktop cards

 

So could that article apply to my situation with the m11x? It doesn't seem to make any mention of laptop cards. Even if it did I don't think I'd want to be messing around with non-user serviceable parts while this thing is still under warranty. I'm guessing my only two options now are either to deal with it or call dell and see what they can do for me.

 

my m11x dont have any sound like this, but my gtx 285 does .... are sure the sound is the squealing??? this comes from ferrite cores... i dont think that m11x have it inside

 

It's tough to say what exactly it sounds like. Squealing seems like a wrong description. It's a high pitched tone. It's not really loud and sometimes I can't even hear it depending on where I am in relation to the source. I'll probably just end up called dell tomorrow...

 

I hear the same high pitched noise coming from around the speakers. I had something like this on my last laptop. Not really sure what it is but I've always just assumed that I had sensitive ears/hearing. Pretty much everything you've described fits in line with what I experience; the sound is in sync/same frequency as a spinning HDD, emanates from speakers, can't be heard depending on how close you are to the laptop, etc.

It's either a defect or we just have sensitive ears compared to the average person but if it really bugs you go ahead and call dell.