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I bought the Sentey Symph USB headset on Amazon, which just arrived today and has been having trouble right out of the box. I don't believe the problem is the headset itself, because it has amazing audio and microphone (which only sounds good when listening to itself via headset software).

When I'm playing games or listening to music and other stuff it's fine, but when I'm just browsing the internet or something that doesn't involve sound is when the problem occurs. There is a few things that I can hear. There is a low pitch buzzing sound that can be heard all the time, and then there is this sound that changes in pitch randomly, goes up and down every few seconds which is also always audible.

I think the cause is USB interference because when I move my mouse or use the scroll wheel I can hear slight feedback in the headphones. When I listen to the microphone by redirecting the sound to the headset it sounds amazing, but when it actually gets to the computer it sounds horrible with crackling and static in the background. I can't skype with people because it's so bad.

I'm just trying to figure out what to do to fix it because I want to use the amazing headphones without the interference. I already tried a few things I found on the internet:

  • Moving my PSU cord into the wall instead of the power strip
  • Taking out the mouse to see if it's only that
  • Moving the headset to different slots in the front and back
  • Putting it in a USB hub instead of the computer

But nothing just seems to be working.

EDIT: even when the audio is muted on windows, I still hear strange noises that almost sound like radio waves as described above. I'm not sure if it's the DAC because even when the sound is disabled it's still getting interference.

3 Answers 3

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After a lot of research, I came to the conclusion that the Ferrite bead is faulty. It's supposed to filter out the background electricity from the USB, but for some reason isn't working and is why I'm hearing the electricity in my headphones.

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The mic being sent back into the headphones may not require the DAC operation at all, so by discluding aspects of the total curcuitry it sounding great is nothing. The DAC (digital analog converter) is often a critical component of quality sounds, while good ones do not require high costs, they often cost a lot more.

Low level hiss and random low level sounds could be caused by any DNR (digital noise reduction) that would exist in a noise reduction style of headset, even the best of them can have tiny bits of hiss and will always make some odd sounds when phase cancelling noises going to it. Not sure if it has that feature because there are 3 types, and different statements as to it having that.

A Buzz might indicate a power supply that is not as clean as one would want, and not being cleaned-up by the device well. prior to the device using it for critical audio curcuits. USB port power is usually clean, and has no reason why it wouldnt be, but how clean can vary depending on the quality of the curcuits and components and all on a motheboard & PSU or anywhere else USB power is supplied.

Surround type headphones with various software and hardware features can be doing many tricks to do what they do. be they multi-speaker headphones working with a stereo track, or stereo speakers trying to simulate a 5.1 or 7.1 type sounds there can be a lot of processing and mixing going on either at the hardware , or in software. All these tricks and mixes can require another layer of curcuits and processing that is critical to total great sound. (and can have any one of the problems)

Any interferance of many types could also be comming from a cell phones tower connect that isn't even very close. ANY wi-fi devices in the vicinity including phones , wi-fi adapters , laptop wi-fi (remember with 2 way digital wireless all the devices are also transmitters) A Bluetooth device even is transmitting and is possible to cause interferance getting something close enough, having it being poorly sheilded and having it amplify the sounds. Wireless mices, wireless keyboards , even a cordless phones, anything that is transmitting you could check to see if it is effecting it.

There have been more reports now , as there are more 3rd party sellers of clone items being sold at amazon, just as easily as they have been able to be sold at e-bay. Even suggestions that a clone item could arrive at amazons own warehouse shelves and end up being selected for amazons own sales. There is always a possibility that you and the other 5 people reporting these same things , got a cheap knockoff , or that the general quality of a specific manufactures run left out a few parts :-)

What can you do other than test for any and every kind of interfearance, and to test using a different power (like a different computer). then living with some minor issues, if you can get over it. Otherwise Pack it up and send it back.

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  • I don't think it has a bad DAC, it has 4.4 stars on amazon, but as you said I might have been the lucky one to get a faulty device. I tried using it on a laptop and I also heard the buzzing, it wasn't plugged into the wall by a charger. My computer doesn't have bluetooth or wifi, only ethernet, so I don't think the interference is caused by wireless communications. I keep my smartphone on my desk, and my tower is on a lower level so I don't think it's that either. I'm thinking it's either a faulty device or something to do with my motherboard's USB hubs, but it also did it on a laptop...
    – andrew3ds
    Jul 19, 2015 at 7:12
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    The mic getting noisey after time, and if that has nothing to do with any auto volume, boost audio compression, or normalisation stuff be that in the hardware or the software, is a reason by itself to not accept it as is.
    – Psycogeek
    Jul 19, 2015 at 7:40
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Replace the power supply, or at least borrow one to test. Make sure it is a genuine PSU from the manufacturers. Other than that, if you try the kit on another computer and still get the noise, you have a faulty item.

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  • I'm guessing it is faulty because it does it on a laptop and my desktop. Still going to wait a bit for some more answers before I contact the company for replacement
    – andrew3ds
    Jul 19, 2015 at 8:26

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