Annoying sounds

[jnewbiggin]

Some people don't always have the time to call during their open hours, and that has been the case for me recently..

Sorry I've discouraged you from buying with PCS. The actual Laptop seems fine so far, just the charger noise which is becoming torture. After a long complaint letter to PCS I received a mediocre reply and half hearted apology. I will be speaking to them over the phone tomorrow, so no results on this fault so far. I'll be keen to post any news when I have a new charger to show the causes of the fault for everyone else's curiosity...

[PokerFace]

Sorry to hear about your troubles with this. I would be interested to hear the end result. I'm sure that PCS will help you resolve this matter soon.

[NMEBowen]

if you headset works fine its more than likely a problem with the speakers power transformer out of curiosity are both laptop and speaker power blocks plugged into the same multiplug extension? sounds weird but as a test you could try plugging one into a long extesion and taking that to a seperate power ring in the house e.g plug the laptop in downstairs and then use the extension to take power from upstairs to the speakers, sounds like a faf but if this solves the problem a high quality surge protection device should sort the problem for you, hope this helps.

[jnewbiggin]

I've played around with different plugs and sockets etc, however I do seem to keep coming back to the charger being the issue so far - as it itself is making rather odd noises regardless of having speakers connected or not. If I receive a new charger and the static remains then at least that cause is ruled out and I can move on to investigating other possibilities, but the fact that at the moment it sounds like something that I wouldn't allow to pass a PAT is what is making me feel this is the root of the issue.

[jnewbiggin]

I've just actually tried specifically what you suggested with no change. I left the speakers plugged in to their own socket, and ran a longer jack cable into another room where the laptop was plugged in alone, still getting the noise from the charger and interference through the speakers... I really doubt this to be my speakers causing interference, it's either going to be a fault with the charger or maybe something to do with the laptop chassis itself. Either way, not what you expect for paying around £1500!

[jnewbiggin]

Right, here's the solution guys.

It turns out this was 2 separate problems.

Charger:-
It appears the charger I was provided out of the box was faulty, as the new one I've spent almost a month back and forth with PCS to get delivered is functioning silently without the weird sounds.


Sound interference:-
After trying the new charger and getting the same sound problems, it could only be concluded the charger wasn't the cause even if it was faulty. After some research and deciding it was noise from the laptop chassis and caused by ground loop interference, I've installed a Ground Loop Idolater between the speaker photo sockets and the laptop audio cable - problem now seems to be solved. These can be picked up from electronics/audio stores fairly cheaply.

Hopefully PCS support can take this knowledge away with them and save a different customer all the frustration I've suffered.

[NMEBowen]

good to know you fixed it and all is well.

[Rehash]

I have this very same problem, in addition to the firewire chipset being incompatible with Mackie and Focusrite audio interfaces!

I will have to buy an AIT and hope, as in your case, it solves the problem. I will also have to flog my 3-month-old Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP and buy a USB interface.

Absolutely gutted to the pit of my stomach. PCS haven't even apologised, let alone offer a solution, to the firewire chipset issue. Wish I'd have gone for a model with expresscard slots.