AM radio buzz from HDMI cable

Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
I like to listen to an AM radio station whilst getting ready for work each morning. But I am getting an annoying buzz now since I set up my new AVR. When I unplug my hdmi arc from the TV (AVR is a Marantz SR-5014 if it matters), it goes away. I tried another cable and same thing. I was hoping it was the cable. Is there a better shielded cable that might alleviate this situation?
 
Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
I should add that the AM radio is a portable and is not hooked up to the system. Tried another radio too.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Definitely sounds like the HDMI cable, but I'm not smart enough to tell ya the solution, squish. :p

There might be better shielded varieties out there I'm unaware of tho, so hang tight. I'm sure someone will be along with better advice. I just didn't want you to think everyone's ignoring your thread. :)
 
Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
Thx Pog, like I said, I tried another cable to no avail. Nothing special, but I tried to pick another one with a name brand on it rather than a generic ebay special. Tried a Pure AV and a Dynex so far. I hope there are better ones.
 
Trell

Trell

Audioholic Spartan
Thx Pog, like I said, I tried another cable to no avail. Nothing special, but I tried to pick another one with a name brand on it rather than a generic ebay special. Tried a Pure AV and a Dynex so far. I hope there are better ones.
Have you tried disconnecting the HDMI cable from the TV but still have the end close to the TV ARC input to check if it acts like an antenna? Still issues with the TV off vs on? With HDMI connected or not?
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Plus, squish and I kinda got off on the wrong foot for few posts a while back and I'm tryna be friendly!
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
I should add that the AM radio is a portable and is not hooked up to the system. Tried another radio too.
Try moving the radio further away from the HDMI cable.
Try turning the radio so it's antenna (built-in?) is at a different angle to the HDMI cable.
Is the radio station's signal weak or strong? Try tuning to a stronger station.
 
Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
TV is off. I tried it at the amp end and it starts to buzz when you get close, before you actually have it plugged in. So it goes away, no matter which end you unplug. I tried walking away with the radio and the buzz gets a little less. But my kitchen is adjacent to the living room, so I may be sort of SOL.
 
Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
Oh and turning the radio does nothing. This buzz is omnipresent.
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
depending on the length of your HDMI cable try wrapping it in aluminum foil
 
Trell

Trell

Audioholic Spartan
You could try disable any Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on the receiver. Try disabling "Network Control" it it's enabled (used for some control of the AVR when it's in standby mode aka "off").
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
So this is a separate am radio but not plugged into your main system or tv yet makes those units make noise (why are they running at same time?). Where is everything located in this instance? Sounds like a ground loop hum somewhat, tho.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
So a battery operated radio in the kitchen is somehow picking up interference from an hdmi cable 40-50 ft away in a system that's not even active? Wow, have no idea how that works. Not sure how BT/wifi fit into this situation?
 
Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
Yeah man and it is confirmed. New buzz this morning. Unplugged hdmi arc and buzz stops.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Yeah man and it is confirmed. New buzz this morning. Unplugged hdmi arc and buzz stops.
This is really interesting. RF interference is a very common problem in audio systems. However your case is a very unusal one.

What is happening is that the TV, and or HDMI cable, are picking up the signal radiated from the superhet oscillator in your AM radio that is mixed with the incoming radio signal.



It is most likely the TV chassis and the HDMI cable ground that is pick up this signal and feeding it to your receiver.

Now the semiconductor junctions in the ICs, in the early high gain stages, can be excellent demodulators of radio frequencies. This is just like the crystal radio sets of old. So your high frequency signal becomes rectified (the crystal radio affect) and you get to hear an audible buzz.

Your solution may be to use a hybrid optical cable with voltage inserter to isolate your HDMI cable from the receiver as much as possible. However this may well not work as the audio link is via copper.

The real solution is RF traps at the early voltage amplification stages. However with modern circuit boards this would be next to impossible.

However I fail to see why this is a problem, as if you are listening to your AM radio, I would logically assume you are not listening to your receiver, and you can turn the latter off.
 
Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
Nothing is on, but the AM radio in the morning. That and the coffee pot. I wish I understood your solutions. I do not, sorry. But maybe that's ok since you don't seem to think either are practical, if I understood that.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Curious, how did you narrow it down to the hdmi cable? It started happening as soon as you set up the new avr?
 
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