M-Audio FW 410 - static noise

S

skiltrip

New member
My M-Audio 410 is noisey. What I mean is, through my monitors, I can hear static and buzzing, it's quiet.. but it's that annoying frequency that kinda hurts your ears. I can hear it when there is no sound playing and the 410 is idle. Then I hear a different static when I move my mouse. When the processor gets really intense for a second, it'll get quiet, then back to the static again. Definitely sounds like noises are getting out on the firewire that shouldn't be.

Anyone else have any problem like this?

BTW,
I am running...
A8N-SLi motherboard
Athlon X2 3600+ cpu
2GB PC3200 RAM
ProTools 7.4
M-Audio 410
nVidia 7300le video card
Three 7200rpm drives

(this was moved by poster to correct section).
 
Sounds like the power supply sucks. That's GPU noise bleeding into whatever voltage rail powers the DC output from the FireWire card and/or bleeding into the ground bus.

The first problem is that the power supply of the computer isn't providing a solid ground and also isn't providing enough of a choke to dampen the noise on its way across the power supply into other supply rails. Well, okay, this could be the fault of the motherboard sharing the same power rail for the FireWire port and the video card. Hard to say.

The second problem is that the M-Audio hardware sucks as far as noise isolation . I've experienced this myself, so I'm well aware of the issue....

The only way I know of to solve it is to pick a jack you don't use and build yourself a ground strap that connects the ground of an audio plug to the ground pin on a 110VAC power plug, thus directly grounding the interface. It's a pain in the backside, but that should stop this noise dead in its tracks. Just be careful not to connect it to the wrong pin on the 110VAC plug, and be careful to completely cover the hot pin (and maybe the neutral, too) inside the back of the plug with electric tape so you won't fry your interface if the wire ever comes loose. :D
 
skiltrip said:
This is my PSU, a Thermaltake 430watt. I put it in last year.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023

I could easily use of the outputs on the 410 to create a ground, i only use 4 of the 8 for my uses. I'd have to see some pictures or get a more detailed instruction on how to do that though. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Ground-Strap.png
 
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