computer makes high pitched noise when turned on

You've probably heard this one before (or at least read about it in hi-fi forums) – and it's true. (Image credit: Photo by Haydan As-soendawy from Pexels) And yes, you probably need a pretty serious system to really hear this – but rest assured, there is some science behind this rumour. A dedicated feed from your fusebox, just for your hi-fi and not shared with any other items, is a good thing to do regardless. Is there a way to get that witching hour sound from your system regardless of the time of day? Well, you could try a mains conditioner to purify the power feed or at least go around the house and turn off everything connected to mains that is not in use.

The more products that are in use, the more noise is added to the mains, and you can hear this in the degradation of sound quality from your system. Have you ever remarked to yourself that during the witching hour (or even later into the night) your hi-fi system sounds really good? And have you noticed that it just doesn't sound anywhere near as glorious in the late afternoon? That difference you're hearing is not just the result of that glass of wine you've had, it's actually your mains supply being less polluted. You’ll only notice this if the rest of your system is transparent enough, but take it from us, it's a hack that does work given the right set up. It's not a typically common feature – Marantz’s excellent CD6006 UK Edition offers this function – but it can give a small but notable improvement in clarity and dynamics. On a related note, perhaps even less obvious is the effect of switching off the digital outputs. We know you've paid for that display – but you've also invested in the sound quality your system is capable of producing. Why? Because those flashy displays bring with them electrical noise. Strange as it may seem, it's not unusual for products to sound better with their displays turned off. And now we're telling you to switch that entire display off? Then, they've boiled it all down to sit within a palatable price point. Audio firms have gone to great lengths to include anything from colour-changing OLED to mini-LED displays in their new masterpieces. Turn your mind to your hi-fi system and you're probably thinking of at least one glorious box (or collection of boxes) featuring flashy, digital displays. OK, stay with us, we're only on point two.

Computer makes high pitched noise when turned on