Z96J line out interference, external speakers

Has anyone else noticed a constant background noise when using the Z96J with external speakers? It's definitely most obvious when scrolling in a window using the touchpad. You might not notice it at first, but if you turn your external speakers up, and let your ears adjust, then disconnect them from your notebook and you might see how much quiter life gets.

I've tried muting all unnecessary components in the volume (and line-in volume) control, but this constant noise is still there.

 

Eh...sorry but I haven't noticed it.

 

Anyone?? Anything??

 

Your sure your mic volume is muted? And this only happens when you are on external speakers at very very high volume?

Cat

 

Yea I've double and triple checked to make sure everything that can be muted is muted. If it doesn't need to be on, I have it muted and turned all the way down.

I wouldn't even say that the ex. speakers are very VERY high ... just pretty high. Definitely NOT at a level that would damage them if I were to all-of-a-sudden put on some loud music.

 

Any other Z96Jers noticing the same problem? I know I'm not crazy - I noticed it again today as soon as I hooked up to the stereo.

 

Hey, Joe - this is probably a sign of poor grounding (based on the laptop's manufactured traits - meaning it's inherently unfixable).

Seeing that other people are claiming not to have the same problem, this probably can be remedied.

Try this instead - keep your main system volume at a low level (at 1/3 mark or under). Do the same for any other outgoing volume control, e.g. WAV or whatever you may have. Even in Winamp the volume control should be low.

Then, up the volume on your speaker/stereo. This is always generally the best method/solution to increasing your signal-to-noise ratio. You want your computer to do minimal amplifying while you let your speakers/stereo system do the rest of the work.

So, in summary, the rule of thumb is to keep your notebooks/program volumes as low as possible while increasing the volume of your external speakers/stereo.

 

True squawks, that sounds like it may be the external speakers grounding issues rather than the laptop itself.

There is a sweet spot though, for volume of the laptop/program vs the external speakers/stereo - don't want to spike it to 100% or you may have distortion problems, generally keeping the speakers/stereo around 80% or so is good (depending on the quality of the speakers/stereo it may be a bit higher but usually less than 95%) and then adjust the laptop/program up to the appropriate level to hear through the speakers/stereo at the level you want.

Cat

 

If you can hear it while scrolling it is the same hum/buzz that many other laptops have. it does no come from the internal speakers or sound card. It actually comes from the voltage regulators or capacitors. Not just on asus. Has been cited on dells and most others. Does scrolling in firefox make it go away? or scrolling in general makes it happen?

 

While it does make noise when scrolling, surprisingly it's not too bad. The worst part is that just sitting by itself without me doing anything, it is very noisy.

I've noticed that when I launch Windows Explorer, it gets very silent while the computer is working (for a split second or two), but when Explorer is full-up and ready for me to browse my folders, the constant staticky scratchy noise is right back.

Not noticeable at all when disconnected from external speakers.

 

I've absolutely noticed this. But I've noticed it periodically with other laptops too.

 

After messing around with it some more, I found out it only makes the noise over the stereo system when plugged into the wall. Running on the battery, you can't hear a thing thru the speakers.

Using headphones, I can't hear any interference when plugged in or using battery.

 

It sounds like AC noise is getting through. You could try getting a new power brick but I don't know if the next one will be any better. I've seen many laptops (mostly none Asus) do this.

 

I have a very faint noise like this on my Z33. I've noticed on Toshibas and Thinkpads as well... As well as on a desktop, where I tried and tried to eliminate it but never could.

Solution - turn on some music!

I think it's just a reality of putting so much complex electronics in one place. Same as the issue that some people have had (with many manufacturers) with the Core 2 Duos making noise when they switch power states.

You could try a new brick, or maybe UPS that will do heavy-duty line filtering as well, but no promises it will clear it up... Sorry :\

 

For anyone interested, I figured out the problem. I have a cheap-o A/V switchbox that I use to choose what source I want to play through my stereo (it's an old-school shelf-type system with only 1 Aux input, hence the switchbox). I have the laptop, XM, and the output from my 55" Philips hooked to the switchbox. Turns out, the output from the TV does not play nicely with the laptop when they're both hooked up to the switchbox. If I hook either one up by itself, the buzzing and interference disappears. Also, if I hook either one up directly to the stereo, no problems.

So case closed. And guess what ........ after all this troubleshooting, my stereo blew up yesterday anyways, so now it doesn't even matter!! So at least I have an excuse to buy a real receiver now ... not just one of the all-in-one shelf type systems.

THanks for everyone's input.