Guitar picking up electric noises when turning on PC

Wojtek12as said:
Hey !
Recently I discovered that when I turn my PC on, I can hear electric noises through the speakers, something like this:

So, when I put my guitar very close to the PC noise is getting louder. I general when I move guitar around the amount of noise is changing. I don't have this problem with my macbook pro.
Is there any solution to this issue ? Maybe the PC PSU is not good enough ?
Best regards, Wojtek !
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Finally this week I suddenly started to realize that it's my PC through internet searches I get the exact same noise coming from my guitar pickups Identical to your recording. Plus having a Corsair Carbide Spec Delta Tower with tinted glass siding makes it even worse! Now I know! I swore up and down it was my effects unit LOL This forum seals the fact that it's the PC/PC case Thanks guys!
 
I got the Chenbro RM41300-FS81 4U rackmount chassis, unpainted after years of fighting noise from painted cases, since apparently OEM unpainted cases that actually shield EMI don't exist. I wish they had a 5U for bigger heatsinks but Noctua makes good ones that will fit.
Replace all fans with Noctua.
It's long but that's not a bad thing if you have room and it has feet if you want to lay it on the side.
Avoid all windows or LEDs, disable any LED effect in your mobo bios and enjoy not hearing them.

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johnnypig said:
I hope they keep making them then! I miss the old bulletproof steel Antecs.
Here's a cheaper modern Antec:
https://antec.com/product/case/nsk4100
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The old Antecs were good and did a decent job of shielding. The old Corsair cases too. But now everything is as cheaply made as possible with huge holes everywhere and plastic panels. A prescription for EMI disaster.
 
I went so far with a modern corsair scraping paint, soldering and copper taping all over including the window but nothing worked. Maybe a faraday cage but that would cost more than that $200 chenbro 4U.
I was even getting cpu switching noise in my fluence pickups 8+ feet away. No noise gate can fix that wheezy mess.
 
I've got a Fractal Design case. I get EMI from my ups and wall outlet though.
Lol. There's no escaping it. And now I'm wondering if I could make some panels with foil tape to put between them and where I sit.
 
Wojtek12as said:
Guys look:
He is using the same case as I do, I believe and I doubt that he has any problems with EMI :(
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Notice though, he is facing away from his computer, and sitting a little out from it as well. Even my Mac Mini causes noise through my guitars. That is why i have a chair with wheels on it. lol I turn and roll myself into a position where there is no noise, and then i hit record. Unfortunately it plagues all of us.
Also, those guitars are gated like mad or edited in daw, taking out the bits in the breaks.
 
Ben.Last said:
I've got a Fractal Design case. I get EMI from my ups and wall outlet though.
Lol. There's no escaping it. And now I'm wondering if I could make some panels with foil tape to put between them and where I sit.
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I was thinking something similar. If you can shield a guitar with aluminum foil, why not a computer? I’m ask not enough of a computer person to tell you if that will make your computer burst into flames or not, so take it with a grain of salt.
 
I live in a house built in the late 30s with electrical wiring in the rooms from that period, in a historical district. My music room has dimmer switches from sometime a long way back. I thought about replacing the dimmers but I know that's not going to touch the noise emanating from the basement directly below, or whatever is coming from the rest of the wiring. And, I thought about having the room rewired but taking it to current building code... no fricken way because the walls are about two feet of rock-like adobe brick, and our electrical contractor friend told me I don't want to go there.

As a result, I spend a lot of time twisting and turning to lessen the buzzing and playing my guitars that have positions 2 and 4 and thinking the buzzing is a lot better than my tinnitus which never goes away.
 
SammyG has a good video about tracking down noise;




That Define 7 case looks like a great option. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Having this issue as well with my desktop PC. Running all guitar hardware wireless and entirely off batteries doesn't get rid of the noise - it's definitely EMI coming from the PC. I can amplify it by putting the guitar up to the PC. Running fender noiseless pickups and even humbuckers doesn't do a whole lot to fight it; it's crazy loud. I tried taking giant sheets of cardboard and putting 6 coats of aluminum foil around them, and blocking the desktop with it. As well as copper tape shielding the guitar cavities. This did not help, not one single bit of difference. Angling the guitar certain ways is about all I can do, but not ideal. I use the PC for all my practice (online lessons, PDFs, etc).
Before I waste anymore time - would a big-ass steel plate do anything? I'm ordering longer video cables to move the desktop a few feet further, but the room is unfortunately too small to get it further than 4-5 ft. The PC case is aluminum (Fractal Meshify-C) with a 750W psu, i9, and RTX 3080 GPU. Might not help that it's a powerhouse gaming machine. Underclocking everything didn't do much either. If I put my head next to my PC I can actually here the same noise that gets amplified through the guitar. (PC is not connected to anything related to the guitar). I just thought it was very strange that the exact matching sound is literally audible from the PC with no speakers turned on. It's either a lousy PSU, or GPU coil whine. In either case it'll be an expensive replacement so I'd rather shield if there is a way that actually works.
 
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ztbishop said:
Having this issue as well with my desktop PC. Running all guitar hardware wireless and entirely off batteries doesn't get rid of the noise - it's definitely EMI coming from the PC. I can amplify it by putting the guitar up to the PC. Running fender noiseless pickups and even humbuckers doesn't do a whole lot to fight it; it's crazy loud. I tried taking giant sheets of cardboard and putting 6 coats of aluminum foil around them, and blocking the desktop with it. As well as copper tape shielding the guitar cavities. This did not help, not one single bit of difference. Angling the guitar certain ways is about all I can do, but not ideal. I use the PC for all my practice (online lessons, PDFs, etc).
Before I waste anymore time - would a big-ass steel plate do anything? I'm ordering longer video cables to move the desktop a few feet further, but the room is unfortunately too small to get it further than 4-5 ft. The PC case is aluminum (Fractal Meshify-C) with a 750W psu, i9, and RTX 3080 GPU. Might not help that it's a powerhouse gaming machine. Underclocking everything didn't do much either. If I put my head next to my PC I can actually here the same noise that gets amplified through the guitar. (PC is not connected to anything related to the guitar). I just thought it was very strange that the exact matching sound is literally audible from the PC with no speakers turned on. It's either a lousy PSU, or GPU coil whine. In either case it'll be an expensive replacement so I'd rather shield if there is a way that actually works.
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Some thoughts:
1) Although you didn’t say, I’m assuming you’ve tried your rig with the computer off and disconnected from the AFX/etc. and the noise goes away?
2) Your aluminum-wrapped cardboard “block” won’t do very much if it isn’t grounded, and aluminum isn’t a strong block like copper.
3) Speaking of grounds, do you have a for-sure good ground point for your electrical outlets/circuit — and are all devices plugged into the same circuit?

All in all, I’d be looking for a stout EMI-resistant case for the PC first, since solving a problem at its source is usually simplest and least costly. I use a steel rack-mount chassis for PCs, (can’t remember the exact brand but it’s a hefty MF) and mount that in a small ADC 10sp. steel rack with a steel mesh front/rear doors. All parts of the rack are bonded and the rack is grounded to known-good ground point. Silent, even with true single-coils (Dynasonics).

Obviously, don’t mount the AFX in the rack with the PC… 🤪
 
Almost forgot: is the wireless guitar rig an attempt to combat the noise? If “yes”, it would be interesting to know if IT is picking up any EMI — maybe try a high-quality (Mogami/Cordial/etc) cable instead once you’ve shielded/isolated the PC properly.
 
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