Sony VPC Z USB unclean power?

I've got a pair of USB- powered external speakers (the sound itself is supplied by the headphone jack) and whenever I power them through the Z, there's quite a bit of interference at high volume. I've tested the same speakers on a desktop and with an iphone charger, there's very little extraneous noise. Only when I use Z's USB ports along with Z's headphone jack, speakers produce a noticeable distorted noise which is most apparent with no sound. It seems that because Z's USB ports provide unclean power, subject to internal interference with the headphone jack. Any suggestions on what I can do to reduce this interference?

 

The headphone jack does the same crap.
I have a VAIO powered USB dock (VGP-UPR1) with analog audio out on my desk, that doesn't seem to be a problem. When I watch movies in the living room I use a projector and a USB to TosLink adapter and that doesn't have a problem (no electricity on a fiber cable)

It doesn't surprise me that you are having that issue. The F3D laptop buzzes also.

 

Have you heard of other F21 users with this issue? I know I voiced my concern over this on my unit but never heard anyone else say so. Oddly, I picked up a cheap $10 pair of extra headphones the other day and I think the buzzing was less pronounced. Then, it sounded about the same again today for a bit.

 

I don't remember if it was you who said it, it was in the owners thread.

 

Oh yeah, that was me. I'm in the same boat as you then, Anzial. Here's hoping for some suggestions.

 

I am aware of the problem... but I don't really care, I don't use wired headphones, I use Bluetooth. When I hook up speakers it is through some other device that doesn't cause the problem. I am not actively looking for a solution.

 

Yeah, I don't use headphones too often for it to be a problem, either. That and most of the buzzing goes away once something is actually "playing." It's mainly just a pet peeve, like you and I discussed before, having a unit costing a few thousand still exhibiting such a quirk.

 

But the strange thing, the noise goes away if I hook the speakers up to an external power source (iphone charger), so it's not just the headphone jack, there seems to be an interference between USB ports and headphone jack...

 

Have you tried disabling the noise cancelling software? It could possibly be because of it. I was testing out the noise cancelling headsets that came with my Z and noticed that you can change how much noise cancelling you can have. The problem you are talking about sounds kind of like the "interference" when I was messing around with the headset. Hope it solves your problem!