Need help with buzzing noise

inson71

I have a buzzing noise coming from my rti-8 tweeters. I have the problem narrowed down, but I am not sure why I am getting this noise. First of all, my set-up consists of a Denon AVR-3806 acting as a preamp. I feed the signal from the AVR to a Parasound 2250 and a Parasound 5125 via the pre outs. I have a Squeezebox touch, directv receiver, and a Denon DBP-2012 blu ray as my sources. Here is the strange part. I have the noise narrowed down to the bluray player introducing noise into the system. More specifically, when I plug the Blu rays hdmi into my Sony KDL46-w4150 the noise begins; when I take it out the noise stops. I can't figure out why I am getting this noise. I am running the audio from the bluray player directly to the reciver via the 7.1 out. Is this creating some sort of loop because I am running the audio to the receiver and the video to the tv from my bluray player? I hooked up my old Denon dvd player this same way and I had the same problem. I am at a loss...please help. James

inson71

I'd also like to add that I have swapped hdmi cables. All do the same thing. Also, I tried the component and composite video outputs. Same thing over those. Why is the video from the bluray player causing this buzzing noise? /frustraded/

littlewoodboats

Just for meanness have you tried a different electrical outlet for the player?

inson71

Does the outlet have to be on the same breaker? /runs to get extention chord/

inson71

OK, tried different outlets. No good; still have the noise. Also, the noise gets louder in conjunction with the volume being raised if that helps.

inson71

After more troubleshooting, here is what I have. There are four hdmi ins on my tv. I have the satellite receiver, bluray player, and ps3 hooked up to 3 of them. I unplugged each hdmi one at a time. When I unplugged the bluray, noise went away. I plugged it back in and unplugged the ps 3; no change. I plugged the PS3 back in and unplugged the directv hdmi; noise went away. Sooooo, it seems I can't have both the bluray and directv receiver plugged into the hdmi inputs at the same time. Something is causing them to not play nice.

tonyb

Maybe too many grounds in one spot. Go to your nearest hardware store and pick up a cheater plug. Thats a plug with 3 prongs comming in and 2 prongs going out. Try it on the power cable for the player or the receiver. Costs you 2 bucks, if it doesn't work your only out a cup of coffee....at Dunkin Donuts, not Starbucks.:biggrin:

inson71

Tony, I need something stronger than coffee right now. I have a few cheater plugs lying around the house. I'll try it on the blu ray and/or the directv receiver.

inson71

Ok, tried cheater plug on blu ray first; no sale, and then the directv receiver; no luck there either. Errrrrrr! Thanks, Tony and littlewoodboats for the help. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know!

Drenis

Does the sound go away when you unplug the cable coming in?

inson71

Drenis, the sound does not go away when I unplug the satellite cable. In fact, I unhooked everything from the satellite receiver as well as unplugged it. The sound still persists. The only way the sound goes away is when I either unplug the hdmi coming from the bluray or the hdmi coming from the directv receiver from the tv. When the bluray hdmi is plugged into the tv by itself, it is fine. When the directrv hdmi is plugged into the tv by itself, it is fine. It's only when the hdmi from the blu ray and the hdmi from the directv receiver are plugged in to the tv at the same time does it make this noise. By themselves, they are fine.

tonyb

inson71 wrote: »

Ok, tried cheater plug on blu ray first; no sale, and then the directv receiver; no luck there either. Errrrrrr! Thanks, Tony and littlewoodboats for the help. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know!

Try it on the Denon 3806, or you main amplifiers.

inson71

Thanks Tony, will do. I am going to get back at it soon. Will let you know if it works. James

miner

Do your HDMI cable cross or touch each other? Are they sheilded well?

inson71

Miner- My hdmi cables are shielded and do not touch each other.
Tony- I tried the cheater plug on every component/ still have the noise.
Drenis- I think you have it. For some reason yesterday I only unplugged one of the two rg6 cables from the Directv receiver. I must have gotten distracted and forgotten to go back and unplug the other. After rereading this thread, I tried everyone's suggestions again. Bingo, yours was right. SO now that I know that the cables coming into the receiver are introducing noise, how do I get rid of it. Could it be the bnc plugs? I've already lifted the ground to the directv receiver with the cheater plug. Keep the ideas coming; you guys are awesome. James

tonyb

Why are you using analog cables from the Direct tv receiver and why BNC connections ? Just curious is all.

inson71

Tony- I'm using hdmi from directv receiver to tv and optical to Denon 3806. No analog. I am running the 7.1 analog out from my bluray to receiver because my receiver doesn't decode the latest dts and dolby digital formats. As far as the bnc, my directrv installer told me I have to have them or my receiver won't work. Is he incorrect? The directv receiver is an hr-24. I believe it is their newest model. It has the newer faceplate.

inson71

Ughh... I meant to say bbc (b band converter) not bnc. Sorry for confusing my acronyms. Getting old is terrible.:mad:

tonyb

Don't know about the Direct tv box needing bnc connections, either way it shouldn't make a difference anyway, was just curious. So which cable did you leave unplugged then from the direct tv receiver ?

What kind of cables are you using for the analog connections from the BDP to the receiver ? Could one of those be bad ? Seems to be a more likely scenario anyway. So are you getting the noise from the audio or the video portion of the BDP ? Video is hooked straight to the TV, correct ? Could it be a setting in the TV'S menu for audio ? Every set is a tad different in how it processes the audio and video. When playing a movie, do you turn the volume down on the tv itself so it doesn't interfere with the surround sound ?

inson71

Tony,
1. when I unplug the rg-6 cables (coming from the switch which comes from the dish) from the directv receiver the noise stops. If I leave those cables plugged into the directv receiver, I can get the noise to stop by unplugging either the hdmi cable from the blu ray or the hdmi cable from the directv receiver from the tv.
2. I am using monster cable analog cables from my my 7.1 channel output of the blu ray player to the Denon 3806 7.1 channel input. I have unplugged all of these cables and the noise persists. As worthless as monster cable is, I don't think these are bad.
3. I seem to be getting the noise from the video end of the blu ray player. I can listen to cds, sacd, dvd audio etc. on the blu ray player without the noise when the hdmi is not plugged into the tv; however, when I plug the hdmi back into the tv, the noise starts.
4. I checked the audio settings for the tv. No dice.
5. Yes, I do turn down the volume of the tv as to not interfere with the surround sound.
Thanks for all your help!

Here's another discovery: I also get this noise when I hook up the monitor out from the Denon 3806 to the tv.

tonyb

Ok, gotcha.....now unplug everything that has to do with Direct tv's box and switch. Hook up the BDP by hdmi and see if the noise is still there. If that goes away then the cable gear is the culprit. Also since your using both the analog out connections and the HDMI out connections on the bdp, make sure in the bdp setup menu you have the appropriate settings for using both.

I'm not up on what Direct tv uses these days for their box and switches, but usually 8 out of 10 times a cable box introduces noise in some fashion.

Have you tried using a different input on the TV if you have more than one ? Did you always have this noise ? Did it start when you added something to the system or change out gear ? You could also try disconnecting everything, even the subwoofer and amps, just leave the receiver and the bdp connected up along with the speakers and see if the noise persists. If it does, then the issue is between the player and tv, or that hdmi cable. Make sure both the tv and bdp video settings match up.
Then add one thing at a time, one cable at a time. You might be a good candidate for a power conditioner. Chasing down these ground loops or added noise can work on your nerves.

CoolJazz

If I followed that right, sounds like a lack of grounding on the antenna side of the satellite receiver or ext. block downconverter. I'd try creating a momentary ground on that side from AC ground and see if that clears the problem. If so, then a call could be made to Directv to come back and get the dish to the same potential as everything else.

CJ

inson71

tonyb wrote: »

Ok, gotcha.....now unplug everything that has to do with Direct tv's box and switch. Hook up the BDP by hdmi and see if the noise is still there. If that goes away then the cable gear is the culprit. Also since your using both the analog out connections and the HDMI out connections on the bdp, make sure in the bdp setup menu you have the appropriate settings for using both.

I'm not up on what Direct tv uses these days for their box and switches, but usually 8 out of 10 times a cable box introduces noise in some fashion.

Have you tried using a different input on the TV if you have more than one ? Did you always have this noise ? Did it start when you added something to the system or change out gear ? You could also try disconnecting everything, even the subwoofer and amps, just leave the receiver and the bdp connected up along with the speakers and see if the noise persists. If it does, then the issue is between the player and tv, or that hdmi cable. Make sure both the tv and bdp video settings match up.
Then add one thing at a time, one cable at a time. You might be a good candidate for a power conditioner. Chasing down these ground loops or added noise can work on your nerves.

I am pretty sure the noise is being introduced by the directv receiver. If I unhook the receiver's rg6 cables coming in from the dish, the noise goes away.I have tried every hdmi input on the tv and component as well as composite. I still get the noise as long as the directv receiver is in the chain.
As far as power conditioners go, I have an old Panamax 1000+ I've had for 14 years. It still works great for power; however, I can not use the coax ins/outs with the directv receiver as the damping factor is too great and won't let hd pass through. As is, my coax is "unconditioned." Maybe a newer conditioner would help. Might have to make a trip to the local Best Buy. Do you think this would help filter out the noise?

inson71

CoolJazz wrote: »

If I followed that right, sounds like a lack of grounding on the antenna side of the satellite receiver or ext. block downconverter. I'd try creating a momentary ground on that side from AC ground and see if that clears the problem. If so, then a call could be made to Directv to come back and get the dish to the same potential as everything else.

CJ

Very interested in your diagnosis. I'm going to claim ignorance here and ask. How do I create a momentery ground? Sound simple, but I'm not sure where to start.

tonyb

What most cable companies do, but not always, is on the outside of your house where the cable comes in, should be a metal stake in the ground with a ground wire attached, sometimes to a splitter, or a clamp of some sorts. You could do that yourself if one is not there. Maybe check your dish, should be grounded somewhere.

Drenis

tonyb wrote: »

What most cable companies do, but not always, is on the outside of your house where the cable comes in, should be a metal stake in the ground with a ground wire attached, sometimes to a splitter, or a clamp of some sorts. You could do that yourself if one is not there. Maybe check your dish, should be grounded somewhere.

We get direct from the line outside, split coax run into the houses here. Nothing like what you describe. I too, had a ground hum on my cable line. Annoying as hell but there isn't much you can do about it. It's not your cable to touch. I doubt the cable co. cares. I eventually had to separate my 2-channel and HT because the hum would be pronounced once I introduced a 3-prong component.

tonyb

Drenis wrote: »

We get direct from the line outside, split coax run into the houses here. Nothing like what you describe. I too, had a ground hum on my cable line. Annoying as hell but there isn't much you can do about it. It's not your cable to touch. I doubt the cable co. cares. I eventually had to separate my 2-channel and HT because the hum would be pronounced once I introduced a 3-prong component.

I got mine direct from a line outside too, from Comcast and AT&T, both use the same stake in the ground to ground the wire before entry into the house. Running a copper cable and stake is something anyone can do. You could either do it yourself or call Direct tv to do it, but good luck on that one. Most cable companies will swear up and down their system is grounded at the box out front but not always the case.

inson71

I have 4 coax (rg6) cables coming from the dish into the house. Once in the house, the 4 cables go to a 6 x 8 multiswitch. Then I have cables going to each receiver in the house. There is no ground at the dish that I can see. The multiswitch is grounded with a wire attached to conduit in my unfinished basement. That is it for grounding purposes, I guess.

Drenis

tonyb wrote: »

Running a copper cable and stake is something anyone can do.

Still not sure what you would attach this too. I've never seen a home with a setup like you describe here.

At this point for me, It's a non-issue. But I knew it right away when I read the OP's description of the issue and associated gear.

inson71

Drenis,
If/when I solve the problem, I will let you know as it sounds like the solution could benefit you too. I know you are happy with your separate set-ups, but I don't have room currently to separate the two.

CoolJazz

inson71 wrote: »

I have 4 coax (rg6) cables coming from the dish into the house. Once in the house, the 4 cables go to a 6 x 8 multiswitch. Then I have cables going to each receiver in the house. There is no ground at the dish that I can see. The multiswitch is grounded with a wire attached to conduit in my unfinished basement. That is it for grounding purposes, I guess.

Lift that ground for a minute and see what happens!

CJ