Troubleshooting help? Two issues.

[David Auger]

Hey all, long time listener, first time caller.

Over the course of COVID I have decided to convert the extra room in my apartment into a small home studio. That includes a new PC, monitors, audio interface.

But, I think I did something wrong! Especially since this is the first time I’m attempting to do something like this.

So, issue 1.. PC is on, monitors are on, no is audio being played, but I can hear what I believe is ‘coil whine’. In other forums I have read that it can come from a number of sources, like the PC’s video card, processor fan, the power supply, etc. How can I go about troubleshooting this to eliminate it?

Issue 2.. And the reason why I’m posting here.. I’ve been attempting to record some guitar tracks with EZ Mix 2, Guitar Gods 1 & 2. But, I am having a really hard time using the plugins, Loomis rhythms/leads in particular, because whenever I activate them I end up dealing with almost unwieldy gain/distortion. Any noise gates I attempt to use don’t really help. But, could that have something to do with the coil whine?

Both issues may have something to do with my audio interface too, a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. The input requires you to push a INST button to change the impedance (i think) to make an instrument signal stronger for recording, perhaps that doesn’t work as well as advertised?

I am sorry for the open ended issues, but I am at my wit’s end in trying to figure it out for myself, since I am thinking that there is something wrong with the motherboard, but I am not sure!

Here are the specs..

PC
——
Gigabyte Z390 Designare
EVGA SuperNova 650W (80 Plus Gold)
EVGA GeForce GTX 1660
(ill provide more if asked, but that’s all i think that’s relevant)

Audio Interface – Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (USB-A to USB-C, connected to motherboard’s rear USB 3.1 slot)

Any advice would be appreciated!

Topic