ASUS W3J Buzzing noise when on AC Power

Hello, for some reason my sound output gives a constant electronic hum. The noise increases whenever the CPU is utilized in any way; for example, just scrolling up and down in this window makes it buzz more. Strangely enough, the sound disappears as soon as I unplug and switch to battery power.

My problem seems to be the same as this person's:
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?board_id=3&model=U6S&id=20071222124058578
Unfortunately it seems that ASUS never answered this problem.

Some of my searching has suggested I might need a new AC adapter. Do you think this is the case?

 

That is normal. The sound is interference from the rest of the components of the computer.. this is inherent to onboard sound. The severity of the interference you're getting is most likely a symptom of a grounding or (dirty) power issue. You can try a ground lift/two prong adapter and see if that helps. Good luck!

 

Also try updating your BIOS and audio drivers. Although the person from the other forum had no success with these updates back in 2007, there may be newer versions out that may help.
If the problem still persists and is intolerable, I'd suggest contacting Asus for an RMA as it seems like this is a hardware issue rather than software.

 

It shouldn't be a hardware issue unless the noise is really severe. The first thing to try is to use a ground lift. It's the nature of AC power getting converted to DC, there is noise across the system bus and interference from components that causes that noise. Unless the noise level is beyond background noise when you play audio, it is most likely not a hardware problem.

 

I consider anything tangible such as components causing interference "hardware" issues
Sorry for the misunderstanding; that's what I meant when I said it's a hardware issue

 

Probably, hopefully, shouldn't have to get sent back to ASUS over line noise tho, it's not a hardware defect, despite being a hardware issue