BUZZ, WHINE, HISS? How to FIX Car Audio Noise!

One of the biggest things that can destroy enjoyment of an audio system is noise that isn't meant to be there! We don't want to hear alternator noise, static hiss or buzzing. How can we fix it if we do hear this noise in our car audio system? Here's how!

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Car Audio Fabrication – Master Car Audio – Design, Build, Install

[deanawesomer]

I had a whine every time I turned up my stereo, so I pulled over and told the wife to get out. Problem Solved

[matealavea]

I swear this guy explains things in a very simple way step by step

[tclmike]

Mark, your final advice on the ground loop isolator was my problem...you helped me in out where my local car audio shop owner told me it was beyond his knowledge...you are the man thank you for being so smart at car audio

[craigbrub]

One other important item I learned when tracking down noise in my speakers: Your RCA cable type DOES matter. There's two types: shielded/coaxial and twisted pair. If your amp has Single Ended (SE) inputs, then you should use shielded/coaxial RCAs. If your amp uses Differential Inputs (DI), then you should use twisted pair. My amp used SE inputs, but I was using a twisted pair RCA. Swapping over to a shielded RCA fixed my noise issue.

Symptom I has was a constant, high pitched whine, regardless if car was on or if music was playing. I performed all the tests in this video and everything checked out, so it really came down to either my headunit or my RCAs. It was the RCAs.

[mjlb]

I've used many different types of GLI's and coming from an electrical background I can say that there is only one true fix for the major of times this issue exists. Having a nice and healthy ground to return your power flow, (though not all the time), is usually the fix for these. A quick and reliable fix is the chassis ground that is manufactured on the aftermarket unit itself. This grounding point is underrated and underused, but is a little bit a gold nugget!
Keep up the great work Mark!

[honahwikeepa]

Drove 600 KMs home from my son's place. Couldn't get my stereo to go properly. Now I know why. Thanks heaps. Subscribed.

[Mattittas]

I've been struggling with a whining noise (turbo whine?) after upgrading my car audio system this June. I've narrowed it down to being a bad negative from the battery to the chassis. Thanks, Mark! Your video came just when I needed it 😊

[nevi]

I don't have a car stereo, in fact I don't have a car. I don't know how I ended up watching this video..

[Blakisfoster]

Appreciate the video man, less than 10 minutes and had my speakers sounding brand new. Keep the videos coming

[andretaylor]

I know this is a five year old video at the time of my comment but this guy nailed my issue to the T. I ran down my issue by least invasive to the most complex. First step check gains and what do you know, that was the issue. No noise and speaker talking loud and bass booming. Thanks bro!

[smartin]

Something that may be helpful to others to note. If you are using a cheap passive (non powered) line out converter off of your factory radio and you install it directly behind the factory radio you may be getting a lot of noise there as well. There are a lot of electrical components going on back there and you can test this just by moving the loc around with the vehicle on and powered up. If your stubborn on using one of these cheaper loc's, you may benefit by extending the speaker wire your tapping into and getting the loc gar away from the back of the factory radio to underneath the glove box compartment for example but not as far as the kick panel because you will generally have huge looms of factory wiring there that can interfere with your signal as well

[stathisbikos]

I actually went a different way with this. I had very bad noise when I installed a bluetooth audio receiver, but instead of using the filter I build an induction power module out of a phone induction charger building kit and a stepdown voltage regulator and i put everything in a 3d printer case. It severed the ground in the power input instead of the audio line so no ground loop, no noise and no reduction in sound quality whatsoever.

[jackfisher]

You've taught me so much! Installed my first amp with ease from watching your vids! Thanks

[vash]

ANC Mics will also cause whining or a "robotic buzz" when listening. Ambient Noise-canceling microphones(ANC Mics) are designed to get rid of any noises that the factory head unit and ANC unit deem not part of the stereo output in order to make the ride seem a lot quieter than it really is. It sends the "opposite" sound out in order to cancel out any unaccounted noises. So if you install subs or a multichannel amp to add extra sound, your ANC system is going to try an cancel it out unless disconnected. Most of the time you can find the ANC module and just unplug it or else you have to cut the mic wires(and I don't recommend it if you don't have to, those things are expensive to replace). A lot of newer(let's say after 2013) might have this, new hondas, certain GMs, etc.

[RYTHMICRIOT]

The most difficult noise issue I've ever dealt with was a popping sound when turning off my stereo. I don't use the speaker outputs from my head unit so I knew it was coming from the amps. I initially believed it was ground related and tried multiple attempts at improving ground connections to no avail. I even swapped out my RCA cables which fixed nothing. In the end the cause was my headrest monitors which were powered on by the remote turn on from my head unit. Electrical issues can be such a pain to deal with. If you're persistent you can get through it.

[isaac]

Dude! You’re speaking to me. That whiny noise when I accelerate… I had my subwoofer/amp and aftermarket radio installed by a so called professional audio store. It’s very frustrating having those weird noises because they didn’t tune my system correctly like you said.

I didn’t get a box and had my subwoofer mounted in the factory ‘hole’ behind my back seat since my car was a base model with no subwoofer but has a built in hole with a plastic cover. I also think the amp is mounted on the frame with metal cover it came with. Everything you’ve talked about in the video is exactly what’s happening.

[mobileez]

Great video buddy, easy to understand and you use simple language. Great help! Thanks!

[CVObservatory]

Yes, once. No matter what I did I could not remove it until I got a RCA ground loop isolator. This was back in 1989 in a 76 Vega. I think I bought the thing at Radio Shack.

[TheBaz]

I don’t think you mentioned this, I was dealing with alternator/buzz/whine noises for awhile, but my noises were intermittent, sometimes they would disappear over bumps. Looked into everything. What it ended up being was the ends of the RCA cables that plug into the headunit, were touching the body of the car, introducing noise. Probably my fault for not organizing the wires nicely behind the headunit. Just wrapped the ends with tesa and 0 noise, that was driving me nuts lol

[barneslawntree]

Dealing with hiss right now.

Going to install wire ferrules tomorrow on everything.

I know I know, should have done that in the first place. 💀

Your videos are the best man.

Every video with knowledge is appreciated greatly.