"Static sound" problem; out of ideas to solve/fix

fireberd · 06 Aug 2013

Although I have a recording studio, and am an ex guitar amp tech, its still baffling to me how it works. If you are connecting via HDMI then its a digital signal, but at the source, video game console, it would appear the signal if very low. If you could get that signal up to a higher level, it may be that will fix the problem.

On the other hand the interface card in the PC that is distributing the signals from the HDMI may be the culprit (is there any way of controlling or the audio level there?).

What the Xsplit, or whatever recording software, is "seeing" for volume level is low and thus the noise.

fireberd · 08 Aug 2013

Have you given up on me, or have you found the solution?

PhantoM47 · 12 Aug 2013

Sorry, I had to go away for a few days and forgot to say. My apologies.

I don't think there's any kind of way to "boost" the signal at input level, as it were. What I now think is the most likely culprit is my capture card itself (in a PCI-Express slot). I updated the drivers for that and it seemed to actually make the "static" louder. In fact, I can actually hear it a little bit now when I simply turn up the volume to max on my headset's MixAmp master volume. With the capture software open (native to the capture card or with XSplit) it's even more audible than before I think.

So, I'm pretty confident that it is the culprit. The question now is what can I do to solve it? When I have the time (tonight after unpacking or tomorrow) I'm going to open up the PC, remove the card from my motherboard and see if that makes the issue clear once and for all. Will get back to you ASAP.

fireberd · 12 Aug 2013

Thanks for the update. Let me know how you make out.

PhantoM47 · 14 Aug 2013

Okay, my capture card is out and the sound is the same. After speaking to a friend with the exact same set-up (same mixamp, headset, capture card, etc.) he reckons it's probably the motherboard, which is what I was thinking as well. My sound card is on-board, I was thinking that if I bought a separate one it may be the solution?

Edit:

Extra info just now. Was opening a video player on a web-site (flash based I presume) and when I flicked between full screen and just the normal boxed player, the sound intensified (when it went full screen) as it does when I open XSplit for example. So is there a chance this is a Flash driver issue? A conflict?