DD1 beeping in headphones. Anybody else?
Hi guys,
I got the following issue. Since a few months (4-5) I have a beeping in my headphones whenever i touch my DD1 Base, the steeringwheel or my F-GT Rig. It dosn't change with other headphones. I tested with 3 pairs. For me it seems like the base is loaded with electricity. (More than it should)
I contacted the support about it but it didnt sound like a fast process (sending it in) and due to covid and being home all day, I cant give the base away for such a long time... especially when I payed 1800€ for it to work. They told me to ground the rig, which i did and it made the beeping a bit less but it didnt fix it completly. Grounding wasnt needed before and i didnt change a thing... I just started out of nowhere.
Any of you guys have this issu? Could somebody test for me if this is "normal"?
Thx! :)
Comments
What kind of rig do you have? How did you ground it? Are you sure that the part that the DD1 is mounted on is also grounded with that? Is the wall socket that your PC and/or wheel base is connected to grounded (properly)?
Could be lots of causes. USB headphones or standard jack? Could be a ground loop affecting the headphone socket rather than the headphones themselves. Wouldn't be unusual for a massive power supply like that for DD wheels to leak noise into the ground line. You could try plugging the DD into different socket or adding additional mains filtering but that gets expensive fast.
Its a Next Level Racing F-GT Rig, built of some sort of metal. I grounded the DD1 Base via screw and grounding cable which is attached to the DD1 Base and the heater. Its not the best way but it fixed the problem a bit. Also the wall socket is grounded. Everything is grounded... That is what the support also told me and I showed them that it is grounded.
Still beeping but i would say its 30-40% less. Before I also had cracking sounds in the headset (when touching rig or dd1) which was fixed by grounding. But ther is still the beeping which wasnt there before I think. Its not that bad but i am concerned that something is or will get damaged...
I tryed everything and even grounded PC, Rig, DD1 seperat of each other.
Hi Gary,
Its not caused by any of that. Its electricity coming frome the base. I tried USB, 3,5 jack and even external soundcard and Focusrite 2i2. It started out of nowhere without any change to my setup, room, pc, headphones or anything else. Grounding does work a bit but not 100%.
So when you touch your dd1 you dont get a light beeping in the headphones?
Thx guys for the help! :)
Edit: It also only happens when i touch the DD1, Steeringwheel or Rig. So a ground loop should affect me even when im not touching any of it right?
It will be a grounding issue most likely, when you touch the base you are changing the ground reference potential and this will be amplified by the headphones.
You could try something like this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ground-Isolator-Seatecks-Filter-Speaker-Black/dp/B07KDQT9Z4/ref=pd_lpo_263_t_1/258-2513256-4839647?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07KDQT9Z4&pd_rd_r=241048f6-703e-4e8d-b376-432fe2bc2caa&pd_rd_w=viwPf&pd_rd_wg=D3CPW&pf_rd_p=3366510f-1771-44b5-99e2-20c1889506ac&pf_rd_r=JNXP80MPEKY32M9KYPM9&psc=1&refRID=JNXP80MPEKY32M9KYPM9
Awesome tip, thx! Will try it. :)
But I am still confused why it started out of nowhere and so aggressiv with cracking in the headphones and even the static feeling on the skin when i get close to the rig and DD1. Im not an audio expert so i dont know anything about ground loops etc. but I still feel like there is something not right with the DD1. It worked fine for months and then it started.
If a light beeping is normal and other users have the same situation, I wouldnt bother anylonger and deal with it. As i said, since it is grounded it got better but still isnt perfect. Maybe i didnt notice the light beeping when i got it but became aware after the bigger problems with cracking noises etc...
So if some DD1 users could just check by wearing headphones and touching their dd1? A light but noticebal beeping should start as soon as you touch the base, rig or metal on the steeringwheel.
Would be appreciated! :)
Hi Nicolas
Do you actually mean beeping or more of a humming/buzzing?
You say that you can feel what you have referred to as static. If you lightly stroke the back of your hand on a metal part of your rig or wheel do you feel a tingling sensation?
Where are you in the world?
Ian
Hi Ian,
Its a very high beeping that stays consistent when I touch any of the parts. And it does feel tingely when I almost touch the rig. Before i grounded it I could feel that much stronger and it wasnt nice... It is definitivly a static feeling like you know from other situations. Because of that I also got a humidity tester and my room is around 50-60% humidity which should be good.
Im from Germany.
So basically it seems that there is actually a (significant) voltage on the outside of the wheel base, since you feel tingling when holding your hand close to the base. That's not a grounding issue anymore, that's a bad electrical connection somewhere. Does the problem disappear when you disconnect the power source from the wheel base, i.e. have you confirmed that the wheel base is the source and not some other component in your set-up?
You could actually try and measure the voltage on the wheel base housing using a simple multimeter.
Yup. I can confirm that the Wheelbase is causing it. I detached it from my rig and put it on the ground in a different room with a different wall socket. When i touch it there is a light static feeling and my headphones start beeping. When i ground it via cable to the heating pipe it gets better but the beeping and static feeling are still there but not as strong.
I also think there is a bigger problem with it and even though i understand that Fanatec wants to repair it instead of giving me a replacement, I am still frustrated that i would have to give such a expensiv piece of equipment away and have to wait for at least 2-3 weeks (their words) until i get it back. It started out of nowhere not even 12 months after the purchase and we are in a pandemic situation where simracing is my only outlet with friends. Thats why i hoped that it is "normal" to cause cracking and beeping in the headphones. I would gladly send it in for them to repair if I get a replacement but i realy cant get it over me to not have it for that long. I also upgraded my Rig to a SimLab P1x (arrives tomorrow) specially for the dd1. But now I felt like the beeping was getting a bit stronger and wanted to ask the community.
Sry for "crying" about it like a child... I know that this is just a small problem in regards what other people have to go through at the moment but still...
Thinking out loud, if you want to avoid 2-3 weeks, you could try to contact a local automation and controls company to take a look at the motor. They could possibly diagnose the issue and provide a simple fix or better description of the issue to communicate to Fanatec to expedite replacement.
Totally agree 2-3 weeks sucks but a working Sim Rig will provide many more years of fun compared to an electric chair.
Hi Nicolas.
What I think is that you have a poor mains electrical earth to your home. Do you live in an area which is fed by an overhead power cable or is it fed underground.
You see, I live in England in a small town and my house is fed by an overhead cable. The earth/ground connection to my house is via a long earth spike which is closeby to where the Power consumer unit is (actually by the front door). If the soil around the earth spike becomes very dry the resistance value of the earth connection increases and I will get the same situation as you. I regularly test my mains supply using an earth loop tester because it can be a very dangerous problem. This is just one example of how it's possible to have a bad mains earth and by no means the only way.
I suggest that you have someone test your mains supply to ensure it is safe. You should never use a water pipe for an electrical earth. Metal water pipes are bonded to earth for safety but if your mains supply earth is faulty then then water pipes could be 'floating' at a higher potential than earth reference. Like Germany the UK uses 240Vac which can be deadly.
Please get your Mains supply tested by a professional.
Try and flip you plug 180 degrees. The Shucko sockets do not have a dedicated phase and neutral order like UK sockets and flipping the plug can sometimes help with grounding issues etc.
Had this idea but then I will loos the warranty I think... But thanks for the idea :).
In this case, the Problem should have existet from the beginning or in a dryer month right? It started after months of use without change around November/Dezember. I think it should have happend around August if that would be the cause. Heard about that possibility but since no other connected electronics got grounding issues that wont be the case I think... Also asked someone i know who is in the housbuilding industrie and he also confirmed that i should have issues with more than only one thing in the houshold like soundsystem, PC etc. But I will test it at my parents house which is a different city asap.
Thanks for the detailed informations! :)
I also tryed that before. I realy tryed everything...
Thanks though for the idea. :)
Did you try to disconnect the usb from the wheelbase.
I have had similar issue in the past and the problem was in the "leaking" usb power from external powered harddrive docking bay.
Just connect the base only to the powerbrick.
You can try to measure if there is voltage (AC) difference between the wheelbase housing (metal parts) and the pc case.
Ok will try. But i have to connect it via USB to drive though... How did you fix your similar issue?
In my case it was easy .. I just thrown in the trash the defective device, it was cheap :)
I have this issue too and it gave me headaches
I also tried unplugging the USB cable from my PC and I still hear the buzzing noise in my headphones. My area also has a power line running down throughout the neighborhood. Any thoughts?