tinny metallic buzzing noise

Hey all,

As the title says, i've been getting this intermittent sound artifact mixed into my audio output at random. The best way i can describe it is "tinny, metallic buzzing noise"

It occurs at random (time and duration) and usually goes away after a while (also at random)

Is this a sign of a dying motherboard (i use the integrated audio chips onboard)?
Or is this a sign of damaged speakers / amplifier?

A link to a sound clip of the issue
Playing: buzz.mp3 - picosong

Thanks in advance!

Fan blades touching casing perhaps?

There's no way to rule out any component without isolation testing.

Use headphones or a completely different set of speakers (ideally with a different cable too) for a while. If that's a lot of trouble, maybe start by plugging your amp to the front audio jack if you have one. If you use HDMI, try using that for audio output.

sobranie said:

Fan blades touching casing perhaps?

no...........

alphaniner said:

There's no way to rule out any component without isolation testing.

Use headphones or a completely different set of speakers (ideally with a different cable too) for a while. If that's a lot of trouble, maybe start by plugging your amp to the front audio jack if you have one. If you use HDMI, try using that for audio output.

i highly doubt there is enough interference in the cables for it to be the cause

i tried switching the amp to FM radio and it didnt have that issue, im thinking it might be the computer

You're probably right about the cables, but if you have extras what's the harm in testing?

Even if you don't have the issue with FM, it could still be an issue with the circuitry for that input channel. In the end I think you're probably right that it's the computer, but it's better to be absolutely certain than to "indict" the wrong component.

alphaniner said:

You're probably right about the cables, but if you have extras what's the harm in testing?

Even if you don't have the issue with FM, it could still be an issue with the circuitry for that input channel. In the end I think you're probably right that it's the computer, but it's better to be absolutely certain than to "indict" the wrong component.

thats true, i might plug the inputs into another channel and see if the problem recurs