Humming/Hissing/Distored Sound

[CharlieBrown]

I got a Soundstream AMP as well as the AVIC-N1 HU from pioneer.

when i first installed the system, everything ran great. only minor thing what the Alternator whine but is was very minimal that i didn't bother with it.

now recently, there's this Humming/Hissing/Distored noise (best description to it would be the sound of a radio but with alittle base to it). it's so dam anoying

i can't pin point the problem.

i've tried different cables as well as even moved the rca wire very far apart from the grounds+power

still this anoying sound is there.

i've tried hooking up an MD player straight to the rca and the noise is gone!

i hope it's not the HU as this thing cost me a shit load of $ ! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

also, when i turn the car off AND remove my keys off the ignition, the noise would stay for about 3 seconds then disapear.

please please someone help!

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[themainjam 10+ year member]

well theres only four things left that i can see.

1. bad HU ground

2. Rcas not shielded enough. i have this problem. i have two sets of rcas running to a 4 channel amp. when i unplugged one set the humming goes away on all speakers and when i hook them back up a it still hums... so i used a splitter for the other set and i have no whine anymore but no front to back control.

3. you can try the magic 3(AKA. big 3) this helps some people

4. bad amp ground. make sure all the paint is grinded away i had my amp installed and all they did was use a sheetmetal screw and bing they were done.....it makes me sick...

 

[themainjam 10+ year member]

now that i re-read it sounds like #1 or #3 but check #2 and #4

also was the car running when you ran the MD player?

and does it do it all the time?

 

[CharlieBrown]

what's magic 3?

the car was not running

just on the ON or ACC settings of the key

it does it all the time now

i can't get rid of it

it's so bad that i had to disconnect the sound system just so i can drive in "peace"

cause this noise is anoying! it's like a buzzing sound

 

[nosaj070 10+ year member]

what's magic 3?
the car was not running

just on the ON or ACC settings of the key

it does it all the time now

i can't get rid of it

it's so bad that i had to disconnect the sound system just so i can drive in "peace"

cause this noise is anoying! it's like a buzzing sound

It really sounds like one of your grounds is progressivly coming looser and looser. Or there is something occuring there, maybe the contact point is oxidizing or something of the sort. I'd say check out your grounds before you even mess with replacing RCA's, I doubt they are the problem.

 

[alti98 10+ year member]

well theres only four things left that i can see.
1. bad HU ground

2. Rcas not shielded enough. i have this problem. i have two sets of rcas running to a 4 channel amp. when i unplugged one set the humming goes away on all speakers and when i hook them back up a it still hums... so i used a splitter for the other set and i have no whine anymore but no front to back control.

3. you can try the magic 3(AKA. big 3) this helps some people

4. bad amp ground. make sure all the paint is grinded away i had my amp installed and all they did was use a sheetmetal screw and bing they were done.....it makes me sick...

Where is the headunit ground usuallly found?

 

[nosaj070 10+ year member]

Where is the headunit ground usuallly found?

Make a new one

 

[alti98 10+ year member]

Make a new one

Wheres the best place to make a new one?

 

[nosaj070 10+ year member]

The closest piece of metal you can find, the problem is right now it may be grounding through the actual HU itself. Try different places until you get a good result. Remember to keep it as short as possible.

 

[CharlieBrown]

ok

i've double checked all the wires and grounding

they are all good

at the moment, i have an rca setup to run the speakers with an amp

just for the hell of it, i plugging a spare speaker i have laying around straight to the hu without the amp

there's NO sound at all comming out of the speakers

it's a buzzing sound i hear when i am connected via the rca

when i turn the car off and remove the key from the ignition, the buzzing sound remains for atleast 3 seconds then it would go off with a big poping sound

please can anyone help me? im running low on ideas and i'm starting to think it's the HU that's at fault here

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

well i doubt its the head unit....it definatly sounds like a bad case of alt. whine or induced noise.......i would definatly suggest making a new ground for your head unit and a new one for your amp...

 

[CharlieBrown]

how can it be the alternator when the care isn't even running?

it was runing off the battery

it's not a whine, it's more like a buzzing sound now that i listen to it

 

[CharlieBrown]

ok i changed the grounding position of the HU

still no change

when i turn the car on, it's WORST

i can also hearan alternator whine!

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

i had this problem. ended up frying the amp. however my amp was wicked old and crappy pyle amp.. so that was half the cause.

make sure your RCA cables arent touching each other if the end casing is metal. some, like mine, are metal screw ends- and if the RCA jacks are too clsoe, the metal shieth (the grounded part) touches each other and it induced noise. (i had knukoncept wires)

so see if the whine comes with the RCA NOT in the HU. if the buzz is still there when the RCA is not in, its definaly the amp- or a problem with the amp.

if the problem dissapears, its got to do with the HU\AMP\RCA... much tougher to find the solution.

try grounding the HU to the same spot the amp is grounded (get a long wire)... this sometimes solves the problem. does the buzz happen when the car is on (yes) try revving the engine, does it get worse? this is alt whine. add 4awg wire from the alt+ to the batt+, ground the alt to the chassis of the car, and ground the batt to the chassis of the car.

that is the big3 (magic 3) look at my user gallery for some pictures of that.

also try filling your engine coolant or getting it flushed\refilled (dont try it yourself if you dont know what your doing) espically get this done if its never been done before (if the car is kinda old it will have to be done anway.. all kinds of 'fluid flushes' you can get done to make your engine to run better)

 

[CharlieBrown]

when the car is on ON or ACC, the noise is still there..(buzzing sound/ but wihtout the alt. whine)

i've tried different amp already also

i've tried plugging an MD player using a different rca cable - whine is gone

i've tried the HU with the same rca cable used in the MD test, the noise is back

i'd tried different ground for the HU, still there

i also checked the fuses - none of them are blown

when i turn the car off, the buzzing sound stays for about 3 seconds then you hear a big POP and everything is off

also, the weird thing is that wheni bypass the amp and plug a test speaker on the speaker outputs in the back of the HU (not the rca), there's NO sound...