Squealing like a pig! (onyx content)

[jex]

OK, so maybe not just like a pig, but is starting to p*ss me off.
I finally got my onyx 1640 up and running, but the audio is randomly interrupted with high pitched squeals. I was previously using an edirol m16dx with no problems. Ive searched google but didnt really find an answer. I did find cases in which people had firewire whine, but I think this is different. The audio is just replaced with the squeal for a second or two. When it is playing normally, the signal is nice and clean.
Anyone else experienced this?

 

[Petrocker]

That happned to my satellite when my computer was infected as fuck by virus.
Try contacting mackie.

 

[punkrockacademyfightsong]

I also have an onyx 1640 with firewire and have also had some squeels. For me disabeling my wireless internet solved the problem.

 

[jex]

Strange thing is, I just purchased the computer and I have not connected it to the internet. I did purchase it used, but it has been freshly re-formatted.
I was using the mixer with wdm drivers....switching to asio has helped, but the problem still occurs periodically.
Since Im not using the computer for the web, I'll try disabling the network card in the device manager and see if it helps.
I am curious about one thing though. It seems like the problem is worse if I use an external usb hard drive
while using the mixer. It could be that it only starts after a certain amount of time, but I cant say for sure just yet.
Oh, and if it helps, the computer is a sonica livetracker....its been a big step up from my previous dell pc.

 

[Curse9]

maybe the chipset of your motherboard? i had some problems with a satellite with a pc before, bought a mac and the problem was solved...happy mixing now

 

[colonel kurtz]

i had the same thing happening with my 1640 when i 1st got it...only happened while i was surfing the internet tho - every time another page would load, i'd get the squeal

then i had to format my HD once due to a virus/trojan outbreak, and when i re-installed everything, it worked fine

...at least until the PSU went out on the mixer. then mackie replaced it, and now the PSU went out on the replacement - which has been in a fucking repair shop in STL for a month now

 

[Metaltastic]

Damn Kurtz, that sucks, and doesn't really speak too well of the reliability!

And jex, sucks dude, but at least it's not squawin' like a chicken

 

[drew_drummer]

Download the DPC Latency checker, run it, and post a screenshot of the graph that results.

 

[colonel kurtz]

Damn Kurtz, that sucks, and doesn't really speak too well of the reliability!

And jex, sucks dude, but at least it's not squawin' like a chicken

no shit

i'm just glad the thing decided to break(both times) before the warranty period ran out

the thing performed great for almost 3 years...and now 2 dead in the span of 3 months - although i think the PSU issue has to do with shitty grounding in the old-ass house i live in. i have my gear plugged into a furman PC, which is then plugged into the only outlet in the room with the ground prong, but i suspect that the outlet itself isn't grounded.

i'm moving to a new place soon, though, which has had all of the electric re-wired/replaced recently...hopefully i'll stop running into issues there. as it is now, i can't even reamp anything because of the ground-related noise.

 

[jex]

Download the DPC Latency checker, run it, and post a screenshot of the graph that results.

I ran the dpc latency checker and it does go into the red zone periodically (near the minimum....about 2300 ns)

I cant post a screenshot at the moment because I'm posting from my phone.

Guess I'll try to disable a few more things and see how it goes.

 

[jex]

Well, I was able to get the DPC latency down a lot. Went from ~2300 absolute maximum down to 86 absolute maximum.

I just disabled Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery in the device manager. I dont have a battery meter displayed now, but I rarely run it on battery only.

 

[colonel kurtz]

i had the same thing happening with my 1640 when i 1st got it...only happened while i was surfing the internet tho - every time another page would load, i'd get the squeal

then i had to format my HD once due to a virus/trojan outbreak, and when i re-installed everything, it worked fine

...at least until the PSU went out on the mixer. then mackie replaced it, and now the PSU went out on the replacement - which has been in a fucking repair shop in STL for a month now

so...the guy from mackie's replacement place called me today, claiming he couldn't find anything wrong with the onyx...

¯\(°_o)/¯ how do fix mixer?

 

[Metaltastic]

...how could he not find something wrong if the thing wouldn't turn on? :zombie: (which I assume is how you know the PSU went out)

 

[colonel kurtz]

well the thing still turns on...and i honestly don't know that it's a PSU issue, but there's this horrible, non-stop squeal in the background...almost like someone running a 4k sine wave through the outputs, non-stop. i turned it up for the mackie tech while i had him on the phone, and he said it was probably a PSU/grounding issue, so i went with that.

TBH, it sounds sort of like the sound the OP was talking about, but it's constant, and doesn't cut out whatever you're listening to - it just sits there in the background, fuckin' everything up

 

[jex]

From what I gather the constant "background" squealing is not uncommon. The problem is that there is not a common fix.

As far as my problem goes, I just mixed for an hour with no squeals. It was much easier on my ears lol.

hopefully disabling the battery whatchamacallit is all that is needed.

btw....thx a ton for the referring me to the DPC latency checker. Its a really cool tool to have for a daw computer.