Jump to content
Corsair Community

Vengeance 1500 high pitched sound reason


8Ac3

Recommended Posts

Hi Guys,

 

I have been visiting this forum on a number of occasions in the last few weeks hoping to find an updated Windows 8 driver to fix the known issue of the high pitched noise that only occurs when the microphone is active, including just opening the "Recording" tab in the sound properties. Unfortunately this hasn't happened and a lot of people who are having this issue are having to put up with it or are being told to rma the headset as it is faulty, or are using the default Windows USB audio driver.

 

As it pretty much has already been shown that the issue is not hardware related but software related my solution was to run with the default Microsoft USB audio drivers and this has worked to a point, but I do have performance issues in game whilst using mumble at the same time which led me to do some troubleshooting of my own.

 

What I have found is that the issue with the Corsair driver is that there is no option within the "Playback" options for the headset on the "Levels" tab there is no option to mute the "Line" only "Microphone".

 

http://s1.postimage.org/yuemk6pb3/nolinein.png

 

I changed the driver to the "Microsoft USB Audio" driver and the option for "Line" is now available as an option to be muted.

 

http://s1.postimage.org/r0e0yshi7/linein.png

 

Now, if I mute the "Line" option then success! No more issues with high pitched whine only when the microphone is active. However, if I un-mute the "Line" option then I then get the same high pitched whine as I do with the Corsair drivers.

 

Now obviously with what I have just suggested the problem cannot be that the Corsair drivers are faulty as the same issue can be recreated with the Microsoft drivers, however the issue is that the Corsair drivers are missing a key function whereby we as users cannot change the required setting as the slider/mute button is unavailable.

 

If anyone else who is having these issues could try and recreate this and either backup or prove otherwise I would appreciate the effort and hopefully this will not go unnoticed and a driver update can be released with the options required to mute the line-in on the playback properties for the headset.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 51
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Corsair Employee
Yes, if multiple people can solve their "buzzing" or "mic whine" with this, please post here so I can see if it is an issue that persists so I can forward it to our engineering team. Of course, this does suggest, as you have presumed, that the issue isn't with the Corsair drivers and software. However, this would be something we could investigate when I pass it to them.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, if multiple people can solve their "buzzing" or "mic whine" with this, please post here so I can see if it is an issue that persists so I can forward it to our engineering team. Of course, this does suggest, as you have presumed, that the issue isn't with the Corsair drivers and software. However, this would be something we could investigate when I pass it to them.

 

Although I have suggested that this is a solution, it is however limited as using the default Microsoft USB driver means limits on the sound quality settings that can be enabled as well as losing the "Corsair USB Headset Control Panel". What would be ideal would be for the "missing" option, whatever that option might be, to be visible to that the input source can be disabled, which would mean a new driver from yourselves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Corsair Employee
Although I have suggested that this is a solution, it is however limited as using the default Microsoft USB driver means limits on the sound quality settings that can be enabled as well as losing the "Corsair USB Headset Control Panel". What would be ideal would be for the "missing" option, whatever that option might be, to be visible to that the input source can be disabled, which would mean a new driver from yourselves.

 

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see if this really does solve most people's problems with the issue. If it does, then I can pass it along to the audio team to investigate why the Line In is causing additional noise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see if this really does solve most people's problems with the issue. If it does, then I can pass it along to the audio team to investigate why the Line In is causing additional noise.

 

Thanks, but obviously I would like it if this was passed on anyway. If it cannot be passed on can I RMA this headset and have it replaced with a Vengeance 1300? My 1500 is a RMA replacement from the HS1 which didn't have this problem and as you didn't have any HS1's in stock I got a 1500. At this stage I think I would prefer to go down the analog route if truth be told.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just wanted to pitch in that reverting to the 2010 Microsoft driver and muting Line-In in the playback fixed the problem on my end as well.

 

Also: not only did it fix the deal-breaker that was the loud high-pitched whine that occurred whenever any program accessed the microphone, but it also removed the constant background hiss. Happy days!

 

The only downside to this "fix" is that with the Microsoft driver, even setting the windows volume control to "1" is too loud, so I need to set sound in every program down to 5-10%.

 

Hoping this is something that makes it into the next Corsair driver so that I can use the headset properly (be able to use the volume control).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As the title says, the fix seems to have worked but I switched back to the Corsair driver because of the sound quality I was missing with windows basic usb audio drivers. The sound is very annoying still because I know its there and would really like for a new driver from Corsair to fix this problem.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I happen to have very sensitive hearing, so this high pitch sound is pretty annoying for me. Using the Microsoft drivers and muting both "Line" and "Microphone" options on the speakers panel dramatically decreased this high pitch sound, although i can still hear it faintly, especially if i mute the microphone from the inline controller. Also, since Windows disables the headphones when there is no audio input, there is no white noise, something that doesn't happen with Corsair drivers because they keep the headset always on, so you can hear the amplified signal noise even though there is no audio input.

 

I also noticed that while using the Corsair drivers, enabling the option "Listen to this device" on the microphone settings of Windows will make the high pitch sound constant, even when the mic is not active, and is increased even more if the mic is muted from the inline controller. This also makes the loopback option on the Corsair control panel useless, because it is bypassed by this option (which is a lot louder too).

 

If i don't use this "Listen to this device" option, i hear the high pitch sound only when the mic is active, but i will always hear the loopback even when the mic is muted from the inline controller (but i can still disable the loopback from the Corsair control panel).

 

Another weird thing i noticed is that without this "Listen to this device" option, the sounds from Windows (like the startup tune or the click when you change folders) are cut out and you can hear only a fraction of it. If i enable the "Listen to this device" option however, the sounds from Windows are fine.

 

This really seems like a driver issue to me, or to be more precise, a sort of conflict between Corsair drivers and Windows (Win 7 x64 in my case).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I happen to have very sensitive hearing, so this high pitch sound is pretty annoying for me. Using the Microsoft drivers and muting both "Line" and "Microphone" options on the speakers panel dramatically decreased this high pitch sound, although i can still hear it faintly, especially if i mute the microphone from the inline controller. Also, since Windows disables the headphones when there is no audio input, there is no white noise, something that doesn't happen with Corsair drivers because they keep the headset always on, so you can hear the amplified signal noise even though there is no audio input.

 

I also noticed that while using the Corsair drivers, enabling the option "Listen to this device" on the microphone settings of Windows will make the high pitch sound constant, even when the mic is not active, and is increased even more if the mic is muted from the inline controller. This also makes the loopback option on the Corsair control panel useless, because it is bypassed by this option (which is a lot louder too).

 

If i don't use this "Listen to this device" option, i hear the high pitch sound only when the mic is active, but i will always hear the loopback even when the mic is muted from the inline controller (but i can still disable the loopback from the Corsair control panel).

 

Another weird thing i noticed is that without this "Listen to this device" option, the sounds from Windows (like the startup tune or the click when you change folders) are cut out and you can hear only a fraction of it. If i enable the "Listen to this device" option however, the sounds from Windows are fine.

 

This really seems like a driver issue to me, or to be more precise, a sort of conflict between Corsair drivers and Windows (Win 7 x64 in my case).

Sorry to hear you having the same issues, but glad that you are backing up what I have found. For the record I have contacted customer services and requested a replacement for the 1500 with a 1300 which I will pair up with a xonar as the issues with the white noise and the high pitched whine are too much to look past. It's a shame, but tbh, I don't see a driver update coming any time soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Corsair Employee

I'm just curious but have any of you tried the headset on a different PC at a different location?

 

I ask this because I have had quite a few number of people report to me that the nature of the noise was related to grounding issues with their electrical outlet. I want to confirm if they're isolated issues or related here. This was one of the reasons why even though we got many headsets back with the noise, we couldn't get it to repeat here in the lab, or why we would test it to work perfectly here but customers would get a "noisy" headset.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just curious but have any of you tried the headset on a different PC at a different location?

 

I ask this because I have had quite a few number of people report to me that the nature of the noise was related to grounding issues with their electrical outlet. I want to confirm if they're isolated issues or related here. This was one of the reasons why even though we got many headsets back with the noise, we couldn't get it to repeat here in the lab, or why we would test it to work perfectly here but customers would get a "noisy" headset.

 

Yes I have with exactly the same results across several machines in 3 different locations. If it were a grounding issue then surely that would occur with the Microsoft drivers as well as a grounding issue would suggest it was a physical problem with either the headset or the machine it was attached to, not the driver?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just curious but have any of you tried the headset on a different PC at a different location?

 

I ask this because I have had quite a few number of people report to me that the nature of the noise was related to grounding issues with their electrical outlet. I want to confirm if they're isolated issues or related here. This was one of the reasons why even though we got many headsets back with the noise, we couldn't get it to repeat here in the lab, or why we would test it to work perfectly here but customers would get a "noisy" headset.

 

I tried it on 2 other machines, one with Win 7 x64 (i also tested a USB 3 port there, same issue), and on my old laptop with Win XP x32, same issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello 8Ac3,

 

Thank you for posting your findings.

 

This exact behaviour was brought up in February 2012 by Deraios (http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showpost.php?p=563111&postcount=41) in the (now defunct) tread I started back in December 2011.

 

This information didn’t get much attention then and seems to have been dismissed.

 

Thanks to you, the ball is rolling again.

 

I took the V1500 that I received from the last RMA and tested it (test of a previous headset as a reference: http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showpost.php?p=563226&postcount=42).

 

I tested the headset at home on 2 custom-built PCs and a laptop on battery power, at work (different site) on a Lenovo ThinkStation S20, ThinkCenter E20. All computers were running either Windows 7 x86 or x64.

 

I can confirm that switching to the Microsoft driver and muting the Line option removes the constant self-noise (white noise) and the high pitched whine is almost inexistent when the mic is active. Like Lucius7x, I can still hear it, but I must really pay attention.

 

Of course, by doing this, Corsair panel is no longer accessible and we are stuck with a USB stereo headset.

 

I sincerely hope that this issue will finally get the attention it deserves and a fix implemented in the near future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello 8Ac3,

 

Thank you for posting your findings.

 

This exact behaviour was brought up in February 2012 by Deraios (http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showpost.php?p=563111&postcount=41) in the (now defunct) tread I started back in December 2011.

 

This information didn’t get much attention then and seems to have been dismissed.

 

Thanks to you, the ball is rolling again.

 

I took the V1500 that I received from the last RMA and tested it (test of a previous headset as a reference: http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showpost.php?p=563226&postcount=42).

 

I tested the headset at home on 2 custom-built PCs and a laptop on battery power, at work (different site) on a Lenovo ThinkStation S20, ThinkCenter E20. All computers were running either Windows 7 x86 or x64.

 

I can confirm that switching to the Microsoft driver and muting the Line option removes the constant self-noise (white noise) and the high pitched whine is almost inexistent when the mic is active. Like Lucius7x, I can still hear it, but I must really pay attention.

 

Of course, by doing this, Corsair panel is no longer accessible and we are stuck with a USB stereo headset.

 

I sincerely hope that this issue will finally get the attention it deserves and a fix implemented in the near future.

 

Hi SChico,

 

To be fair it was your original thread that got me going on this in the first place so the thanks start with you. It's a shame really as I really loved my HS1's and I did really appreciate the upgrade to the 1500's when I RMA'd the HS1's, but it was just too much in the end and I received a set of 1300's today which I have spent the last 2 hours with. I have them paired up with a Xonar DG and I must say I am happy again as the combo works well.

 

In a way I don't know if this is an issue with a small number of devices, us who are susceptible to these frequencies, Corsair technical dudes or CMedia, who provide the USB soundcard tech and consequently the base drivers. but What I do know is that I am as disappointed with the 1500's as I was happy with the HS1's.

 

I must also say that outside of not receiving updated drivers Corsair have been very helpful, and a big thanks to the customer services department who assisted me with the return of the 1500's and replacement with the 1300's. After dealing with other organisations recently over loosely similar issues I must say that they have been more than helpful.

 

To anyone else who has a 1500 I wish you luck in getting the driver you deserve as truth be told, Corsair know how to build a kick *** headset. They just need the software to go with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm glad someone posted this.

I have been doing this exact same thing for about 6 months now: Not use the corsair drivers and set the line volume to 0.

I wish that I had made a thread about this earlier.

 

I have tested this on 2 different computers and a laptop.

Windows 7 64-bit on one desktop and the laptop.

Windows Vista 32-bit on one desktop.

They all have a DPC latency of less than 250us with no spikes.

They all have the a white noise that gets louder with any program that uses the microphone.

The white noise disappears with the line muted without corsair drivers on all of the computers.

As a side note: I have also RMA'd my headset once before, because the volume buttons stopped working, and had this white noise issue on both headsets.

 

If there is any information I can provide or tests I can perform, I will gladly do it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just got this headset through the post exact same issue when running and type of voice comm software very IRRITATING, thinking of getting a refund if i can and switching back to the LG35 had no issue with them in the past appart from the headset breaking apart at the earpieces a flaw i can live with. This hum i can not. If i have to do what you are saying to make the headset not hum it defeats the purpose of me paying so much money for this headset in the first place NO THANKYOU!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey

 

Got my 1500 headset today and was very happy with the light but tight structure and voice quality. Headache started when i turned on my TS3 and was excited to test my mic quality. I asked my team members how did my new headset mic sound? I was expecting to get good feedback since my last mic was really rubbish but the result was opposite. They told my microphone had background buzzing sound on it. Then i checked it myself with microsoft soundrecord and yup there was constant deeb buzzing sound under my speech. The speech quality was superior compared to my ex microphone but the constant voice was worse than it was on my last low quality desk mic.

 

I was hoping alot more since i read good reviews about this product.

 

I have been reading through almost every thread about this white noise issue. I wonder if you others had also problems with the actual record audio or is it just my microphone?

 

I also have this common whitenoise sound activated everytime i turn on my TS3 or any other program that uses microphone. I'm hoping RAM Guy passes this post and possible solution ASAP to the tech group so we would get fixed drivers before i return my product.

 

I won't pay for 103€ for a headset that has this huge record and playback issue. I used to have 90€ 5.1 headset from another brand before and it was playing like a dream until my baby brother broke it.

 

EDIT:

I was wondering if the line in could be forced off from Windows registry? I don't have enough knowledge about windows registry but i'm aware of that there are plenty of options which can be run if the GUI is not showing them.

 

 

- Thurios

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another interesting tidbit.

 

When using the basic Windows drivers, the whine is persistent if the audio quality is set to 44kHz or above. When using lower audio quality (tape or telephone preset) the whine is nearly non-existent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey

 

Got my 1500 headset today and was very happy with the light but tight structure and voice quality. Headache started when i turned on my TS3 and was excited to test my mic quality. I asked my team members how did my new headset mic sound? I was expecting to get good feedback since my last mic was really rubbish but the result was opposite. They told my microphone had background buzzing sound on it. Then i checked it myself with microsoft soundrecord and yup there was constant deeb buzzing sound under my speech. The speech quality was superior compared to my ex microphone but the constant voice was worse than it was on my last low quality desk mic.

 

I was hoping alot more since i read good reviews about this product.

 

I have been reading through almost every thread about this white noise issue. I wonder if you others had also problems with the actual record audio or is it just my microphone?

 

I also have this common whitenoise sound activated everytime i turn on my TS3 or any other program that uses microphone. I'm hoping RAM Guy passes this post and possible solution ASAP to the tech group so we would get fixed drivers before i return my product.

 

I won't pay for 103€ for a headset that has this huge record and playback issue. I used to have 90€ 5.1 headset from another brand before and it was playing like a dream until my baby brother broke it.

 

EDIT:

I was wondering if the line in could be forced off from Windows registry? I don't have enough knowledge about windows registry but i'm aware of that there are plenty of options which can be run if the GUI is not showing them.

 

 

- Thurios

 

I'll be honest, with all the issues I had I looked into this and spent quite some time looking at tweaking the registry and managed to find a registry value which gave me the option in the GUI for line in slider and mute. It didn't work though and neither did setting the values manually either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll be honest, with all the issues I had I looked into this and spent quite some time looking at tweaking the registry and managed to find a registry value which gave me the option in the GUI for line in slider and mute. It didn't work though and neither did setting the values manually either.

 

Ahh too bad. Looks like another dead end to me. Thanks for your efforts.

 

It should be the Corsair Tech team looking for solutions to this huge scale issue, not the customers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I'm getting the same issue.

 

Only when the mic is active I get the whine.

 

This happens with the Corsair drivers and the Microsoft drivers.

 

With the Microsoft drivers, if I change the quality to Tape recorder, the whine becomes almost unnoticeable, and the radio quality removes it entirely.

 

I've tried the headset on my laptop as well as my desktop with the same result.

 

I've also noticed that when you go into the CP sound settings, and if you go into playback -> speakers -> properties -> levels and unmute listen, you don't hear the whine.

 

I use voice a lot and this is getting ridiculous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...