MP 7,1 Attaching passive speakers (how to prevent coil whine)

[chfilm]

Hi,

I have two Yamaha HS7 speakers that are hooked up to my Mac Pro via a Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3 Audio Interface via USB. The problem is that I hear the most annoying coil whine sound from the speakers whenever no music is playing. I can even hear scrolling on a website or moving a window around.

I have zero knowledge of electricity, though I suspect that it has something to do with bad wiring here in my room or so.
It doesnt matter in what port I plug in the Focusrite, even through a USB hub. Unplugging the audio interface immediately solves the problem, but then of course I have no sound.

I read that a digital audio signal might help, but am wondering how else I could attach the speakers to the mac pro. Any help?

 

[Macschrauber]

Do you have an audio ground breaker in your stuff? Try one of these.

 

[flygbuss]

Shouldn’t it be ‘active speakers?’
What happens if you put a usb hub in between?
As far as I know the HS7 don’t have a ground lift but you could test speaker cables without connected ground.
Are you using TRS or XLR cables?
Are your speakers and interface connected to the same outlet then the Mac?

 

[chfilm]

I got symmetrical audio cables and that seems to have fixed the issue. I use TRS cables, attaching the audio interface to a hub didnt help, and the mac and the speakers are using different outlets but on the same circle I think..

 

[flygbuss]

Yes that would have been my next question, unsymmetrical cables share ring and sleeve, ground and negative phase.
If you don’t have a clean ground it’ll affect your signal when using unsymmetrical cables.

If you can’t use the same ground and don’t have a ground lift it can help to use symmetrical cables without connected ground. You still have isolated positive and negative phases.

Nevertheless great that your issue is fixed.