I know this has probably been asked before; I know there’s some kind of interesting scientific phenomenon behind it, so you can feel free to explain that for anyone who wants to know, but in my case all I care about is making it stop. My speakers are picking up a local radio station, and it’s quietly (but loudly enough to be noticed without straining) been playing classical music and jazz for the past month or so, whenever my speakers are on. The music even manages to cut through music or a movie that’s actually playing on my computer. I’ll be grooving to Zager & Evans and then all of a sudden on a quieter track, hear the faint overlay of an opera singer.
Sounds like RFI. It could be from the capacitors on the motherboard or from unshielded speaker wire. Depending on how close the station is the fix could be as simple as moving your computer to a different part of the house. If that doesn’t fix it; it could require buying a better speaker setup or even a better PC case to shield the motherboard.
I can’t tell you how to stop it, but I’ll give you a couple of troubleshooting tips:
If you have a UPS, unplug it from the wall, so that the computer is running on battery power. Does that make a difference? Maybe the RF is coming through the power lines.
Long cables will act like antennas. Try, one at a time, unplugging any external peripheral devices. Try wrapping your speaker cables with aluminum foil and grounding the foil at one end to a screw on the computer case (assuming that it’s a desktop computer).
Sometimes it can be as easy as changing the physical layout of the system. Try changing the position of the different components: move the speakers; if your case is on the right move it to the left…
My brother’s computer got some kind of virus or spyware of some kind that was playing an Internet radio station through his speakers. Does this sound like something the speakers are picking up from the air? Does it change when you try shielding the speakers or moving them around? Or does it stay constant? Does it keep playing when the speakers are unplugged from the computer?
I was having the exact same problem. My speaker wires were loose, and dangling in a big “U” with a 3-foot vertical stretch. I gathered the wired up and bound them so they ran horizontally along the desk and it stopped.