I recently bought a level1techs KVM switch, and for the most part, it has been working great.
The one issue that I am currently having is that when I play a particular game, I am getting audio static through my speakers.
I’ve been trying to isolate the issue with no success so far:
It’s a windows PC, and the game is Lost Ark. The static doesn’t happen if the game is minimized.
The static doesn’t happen when speakers are directly plugged into the PC, not through KVM
Haven’t found another application that causes static
Swapped AUX cable, static still happens
Swapped PC1 and PC2 on KVM, static still happens
Not sure what else to try, would appreciate any suggestions.
I’m not the OP here but I was having the same issue. Except the game where I noticed it was Hitman 3. A ground loop isolator as recommended by Wendel seems to have solved it for me.
I’ve been using my ‘1.4 Display Port KVM Switch - Dual Monitor - Two Computer’ for a little over a week and, for the most part, it’s been great.
I just received the audio cables I needed today and unfortunately discovered I’m having a similar issue with audio noise. I don’t need to be in a particular game or application. Just working on a Windows desktop, I hear buzzing with every mouse move, and often hear more noise when larger screen updates are happening. For example, using the mouse wheel to scroll through this page is very noisy.
To repeat @Caped_Kibitzer’s question, have others found that ground loop isolation is needed just on the output, or on the inputs? In either case, does someone know of a 4-conductor 3.5mm jack isolator? All the ones I’ve found are for 3 conductors, but I’m using a headset with a mic - that 4th conductor is important!
Finally, @wendell, any plans to build isolation in to future versions? For the price, I was certainly expecting audio to be handled in a robust way.
On an unrelated note, this suggestion fixed the static I was experiencing with a set of cheap logitech z313 2.1 computer speakers. The static only went away on low volume when plugging the isolator between the source and controller, but putting it after the controller and directly into the sub/amp completely eliminated all static.
I had wrote it off in my head as being the result of a bad component in a cheap speaker set, but in retrospect I had recently moved my office PC onto an APC UPS. I think that is the likely culprit for the feedback, or at least it is the only thing that has changed since noticing the static.