Static from Computers as Aux In

[ebick]

Hello,

If I connect my iPod to my Fender Champion 100 Aux, it sounds great. But if I try to use my computer as input I get a horrible static. Does anybody have any solution for this?

Thanks,

Ed

[dirtdog]

Hello,

If I connect my iPod to my Fender Champion 100 Aux, it sounds great. But if I try to use my computer as input I get a horrible static. Does anybody have any solution for this?

Thanks,

Ed

Hey, welcome to the forum, Ed.

what sort of cable are you running between the computer and the amp? What output are you using from the computer? Headphone out?

[ebick]

Hey, welcome to the forum, Ed.

what sort of cable are you running between the computer and the amp? What output are you using from the computer? Headphone out?

I have used a couple of different outs from the PC. First, I had a PreSonus interface hooked up to the PC by USB, and I went from the headphone a Jack of that.

Second.....you don’t want to hear about second....lol


Last, yes, I went directly from the headphone jack of the PC to the amp.

in all cases I tried a number of standard 3.5mm male to male cables. None of them were anything special, just typical inexpensive cables.
And in all cases crazy static. Same cable with iPod and iPad....clean as a whistle.

[dirtdog]

I have used a couple of different outs from the PC. First, I had a PreSonus interface hooked up to the PC by USB, and I went from the headphone a Jack of that.

Second.....you don’t want to hear about second....lol


Last, yes, I went directly from the headphone jack of the PC to the amp.

in all cases I tried a number of standard 3.5mm male to male cables. None of them were anything special, just typical inexpensive cables.
And in all cases crazy static. Same cable with iPod and iPad....clean as a whistle.

Weird, especially if you tried multiple cables and different sources. The problem seems to trace back to your computer (with or without interface) since the iPod/iPad and cables don't seem to be the issue. Could be that you're sending too hot of a signal to the aux in on the amp (e.g., its expecting a line level when the computer might be sending a hotter signal from whatever headphone amp is being used).

Just a guess. Not much info in the Champ 100 manual to go from.

[ebick]

Weird, especially if you tried multiple cables and different sources. The problem seems to trace back to your computer (with or without interface) since the iPod/iPad and cables don't seem to be the issue. Could be that you're sending too hot of a signal to the aux in on the amp (e.g., its expecting a line level when the computer might be sending a hotter signal from whatever headphone amp is being used).

Just a guess. Not much info in the Champ 100 manual to go from.

Thanks for the feedback.

So, I swapped out the PC. If there's nothing playing, there's a clear, consistent buzz. But it's not as horrible as the other PC, meaning that if I play music at an acceptable level to accompany my guitar, it pretty much drowns out the buzz.

There must be something with the source being a PC, but I don't know what I can manipulate to positively affect this.

[OldStrummer]

This is way beyond my knowledge of physics and science, but I do know something about computers. Could it be that the computer's processor itself is the source of the buzz? CPUs are rated at their clock speed, which is measured in gigahertz. The faster a CPU runs, the more it starts transmitting radio waves. That's the main reason it's unlikely you'll see computer CPUs running faster than 5GHz, because they then become radios. The military has used "Tempest" computers in the past which add shielding to the device to prevent it from transmitting its CPU radio waves.

It may be that the faster your computer, the more static you may be hearing because it's generating more radio traffic.