Hello everybody! I hope someone out there might be able to help me out.
I recently built myself a new PC and when I start Cubase the monitors and motherboard starts to squeel with coilwhine. Lowering the buffersize amplifies the whine. The noise dissapear when I turn off “activate multiprocessing” I have tried several cables and outlets and also 2 different audiointerfaces. This phenomenan does not occur in Studio one or Reaper for some reason.
I use a 13600k with a Asus H770 Pro.
How do you know it’s coils that whine?
I would open up taskmanager and look at the processor load as you open these apps to see if there’s a difference. You can also use HWinfo64, a free monitoring software that is safe to use. In it you can see additional data such as more detailed frequencies and temperatures of CPU, graphic cards and memory.
My hunch would be either a motherboard that struggles to provide power to the CPU, or a fan that’s whining and spins up when load increases.
I have tested all case fans including the processor fan and the whine does not originate from the fans. I call it coilwhine because It sounds exactly like it but I cant be sure. This happens with no load at all. Worth to mention is that i have tried 2 different motherboards but they both behave the same with Cubade
Weird cause this sounds like an old onboard audio issue that has been an issue for music cpus since the beginning of computer audio.
But if you’re using different audio cards then it sounds like you’re gonna have jump down that rabbit hole and live via process of elimination.
Mattias advice is solid and a good place to start.
Agree with that as well.
There probably is a load though if it only happens when you launch Cubase.
Only other thing is if you have something in your project that generates a sound and you’ve forgotten you put it in there… say a test generator or something… but that seems unlikely.
Certainly, by “no load” I mean 30 empty channels without any inserts or anything on them. The noise amplifies when multiple channels are equipped, and is audible from both the motherboard and the speakers. For instance, if I lower the volume on the speakers, I can still hear the whine emanating from somewhere on the upper part of the motherboard.
Any usb devices in the setup?
K. Seems like maybe it’s the coils of the VRMs then since they’d be toward the upper part of the motherboard. I would recommend you search for “VRM coil whine” and see if there are reasonable solutions out there. I’d still guess it has to do with the load which could be by default a bit higher when using Cubase. I think all it takes is for the CPU to demand more power and those coils will start whining. Either then replace the motherboard or try to limit max voltage supplied through them (in BIOS).
Not sure why that would bleed into your speakers, but perhaps something funky happens and it gets into some USB connectors or whatever you’re using to get audio out of your computer… and obviously if you’re using internal audio that’s maybe even more likely.
Only Audio interface and mouse + keyboard
Considering that this issue has occurred with two motherboards from different brands, is it possible to attribute it to the PSU? It’s worth noting that the noise can be reduced by adjusting Windows power settings, but it is strange that the issue only arises in Cubase. As Mattias suggested, I will investigate in the taskmanager to determine if there is anything strange going on
Thanks for the info, i will look into it. Windows power plan does affect the noise so i guess it has something to do with the power supplied. But maybe i should try to change the PSU dince this has happend with 2 different motherboards but all with the same PSU. I have heard that the RM750X should be high qua lite but maybe i had bad luck.
Try to turn off any power saving options in your bios. Speedstepping, sleeping, power throttling anything like that. They can and do cause whines and weird noises.
Doesn’t hurt to try it, but I would think the opposite would make more sense.
My thought is… to monitor your system for power saving it would have to be constantly polled to ascertain the current state. Thus introducing voltage changes, sometimes manifesting itself in ciphers and other squirrerly noises.
Try this link for more: Processor P-states and C-states - Thomas-Krenn-Wiki-en.
Had this with a new build so I know this is frustrating after building an audio specific PC.
What did work for me after was simply using balanced cables from Focusrite 2i2 to monitor speakers.
Really hope that helps
Probably it has something to do with a bad PSU, or one of the power cables to either the PC PSU or the Audio interface PSU is not properly grounded.
I’ve heard it’s fairly rare, but some USB setups (chipset, or the way the chipset is powered?) can end up with some kind of ground or feedback loop. I’ve noticed a few things in the music world USB ship with a little USB through filter of some kind…particularly those with Analogue CV synth controller connections onboard (I.E. Arturia Keylab MKII series).
I would do what was suggested and Disable power saving and throttling .
Windows Power Options, Make sure the CPU is set to Min 100%
This is also a feature in Cubase that can be enabled. If you look in Cubase >> Studio Setup you will see a feature check box in advanced options “Activate Steinberg Audio Power Scheme” this is simply a Windows Power Profile. Personally I always keep mine set to High Performance mainly the CPU Min/Max power to 100%. Also make sure your GPU (If you have one) is also not set to power saving during a Cubase session. However as powerful as your CPU is I doubt this will fix your issue but worth trying anyway.
Do you have a discrete GPU? This is usually the cause of coil whine and most fix the issue by replacing the card, some people report that it goes away over time.