Member Avatar for Dannathrik

Hey guys.

Just recently I've been using a pair of Philips headphones (SHP2500). After I'm done with them, another member of my family unplugs them for use elsewhere and I plug the computers speakers back in. All of this is through the sound jack in the back of the PC.

Somehow, for some reason, a high frequency pitch now comes out of the speakers at all times. It goes away partially if the sound is turned down (I've tried to live with that, but the sound is too uncomfortably low), or muted (which of course is pointless, considering I need sound).

My mother cannot hear it, whereas I can. I'm only 15 and it's been proven that my mum can't hear frequencies up to about 15,000Hz (as far as I remember =S Something like that, but don't stick with this factor for very long. It's just to give you an idea), but I can say that I can hear ranges at a considerably higher range.

I change my audio settings through Realtek HD Sound Effect Manager.

Lastly, the same whining can be heard through both the earphones and the speakers, through the right channel, so it must be something to do with the computer. It's also accmpanied by a hiss, which developed for the same reasons, but came before the hissing did.

Does anyone know how I can remedy this? Or what is causing it?

Many thanks in advance :icon_cheesygrin:

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by OlyComputers

Dani AI

Generated

Short summary and where to look next

This is a right‑channel, high‑frequency wail plus hiss that appears on both headphones and speakers, is louder from powered speakers, and temporarily disappears after a reboot. Those facts point to either a failing analog output stage (one channel), electrical interference/grounding, or a driver/initialisation problem rather than an acoustic feedback loop. and touched on hardware causes; below are practical tests and fixes that haven’t been suggested yet.

What to try (quick order)

  1. Boot from a live USB (Linux) or use Safe Mode with networking off. If the tone vanishes, it’s almost certainly a driver or software interaction.
  2. Remove all USB and wireless devices and disconnect network cables, then check sound. Interference from USB power or other peripherals can induce ultrasonic noise.
  3. Move the speakers and audio cable away from the PC (and the PC’s power supply/case fans/GPU). Try the speaker power on a different mains outlet. Ground loops and switching noise often show up only when the speaker amp and PC share a noisy mains connection.
  4. Try a cheap external audio bypass (USB audio dongle). If that stops the noise you’ve bypassed the motherboard’s analog stage and confirmed a hardware fault on the board. This is faster and cheaper than internal cards for diagnosis.

If hardware is at fault

A single‑channel problem usually means a bad op amp, capacitor, solder joint, or shielding at the jack. A repair or replacement of the onboard audio (disable it in BIOS and use an external device) is the straightforward fix. As a temporary measure, a narrow software notch (EQ) can reduce the wail but won’t cure the root cause.

Safety note

Avoid long exposure to tinnitus‑provoking tones. If testing makes the sound louder, stop and use a diagnostic bypass (USB dongle) or lower volume until fixed.

Related: — given it disappears on reboot and is channel specific, start with the live‑USB and the USB audio dongle tests to isolate software vs hardware.

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Member Avatar for jbennet

either you have
a) broken the jack with repeated insertions and removlas
b) simply broken the speakers

Member Avatar for Dannathrik

The wail tends to go away if I restart the PC, but this becomes a pain in the backside. I was wondering if perhaps the sound is feedback from within my PC? =S

Member Avatar for OlyComputers

Since you hear it through headphones too (to a lesser degree) it's something wrong with the sound card, either with the jack or the card itself. The reason it's more pronounced on the speakers is because they're powered and will amplify the hum.

I'd suggest getting a PCI sound card, if you know somebody who plays with computers I'm sure they'd have one, or any computer shop would have a basic card for cheap. You can also buy them online here's a good example.

Just to be absolutely sure there isn't an issue with your headphones and speakers plug the headphones into another computer or stereo to see if it happens there too.

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