I’d like to add that this only occurs when the GPU is under stress. For example, if you fix your framerate lower, it doesn’t occur (use smooth frame rate). Not that this is a solution!
Had the same problem and fixed it.
This seems to occur when the frame rate is really high… e.g. 600 hz is in the “audible range”.
PC with certain cabling configuration can get a noise through from the GPU (probably the memory) through to the audio.
I solved my problem by fixing the game’s max framerate at 120FPS.
Thanks for pointing me to the conclusion.
Still happening in 4.18.
I am using the center speaker port on the rear of my motherboard (MSI Gaming Pro 9); running via analog straight through to KRK Rockit 8’s.
I’ve changed speakers, wires, my GPU, it still occurs, only when Unreal is focused.
When in USB audio mode through my recording studio soundboard, it is higher pitched and much worse. If Unreal is open, I also get feedback in my recording device, whether USB or Microphone fed.
I want to shed some additional light on this. I too was having lots of static feedback when running UE4. However, I was able to COMPLETELY remove the buzzing by changing the following in my hardware setup.
Original hardware setup:
- Headset microphone plugged into front
panel on PC Case - Headset audio output plugged into Komplete Audio 6 (USB Audio Box) Phones Output
New hardware setup:
- Headset microphone and audio output plugged into front panel of PC Case.
Summary:
It appears that if you’re routing your microphone and audio through two separate interfaces (front panel, USB AI/O, etc) it will likely pickup the sonic resonance of the GPU. However, when both input and output devices are plugged into the same interface, the audio disappears.
It would be nice to confirm it this works for any other uses.
Still happening in 4.19.2
My setup:
- Boss Quiet Comfort 2.0 plugged into PC case’s front audio port with the thin cable which came with the set.
- Nvidia Geforce GTX 1070
Though switching to using the rear panel cuts the annoying audio by about 85% which I can live with. Thanks for the tip in this thread!
Just to add my experience to the, I had headphones plugged into the front panel on my PC case and was getting the static feedback. Switching to the rear panel removed the noise completely. Based on that, I can’t imagine this being a specific UE4. I didn’t test it with other applications that would draw 100% GPU usage though so can’t be certain.
For anyone having this with a USB 2.0 based sound device, try picking up a USB 3.0 extension cable and plug your device into it. USB 3.0 has an additional GND_DRAIN for eliminating EMI. I was shopping around for these crazy expensive shielded USB 2.0 cables on amazon and decides to try out a different cable, which happened to be a USB 3.0 extension. Wala - complete silence. USB 3.0 - Wikipedia
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This is the only acceptable procedure I can do for my desktop PC,
And it worked for a few minutes.
Then the problem comes back again.
(The problem seems to exist in 2022, UE5.02)
PS:
I happened to find a workaround for this problem.
[workaround]
1. I happened to find that the problem does not occur when using build-in speaker of one of my monitors.
2. I plug my speaker into the monitor’s microphone port.
3. problem solved.
PPS:
After finishing this PS’s workaround procedures. ‘Another problem’ happened to be solved as well.
[Another Problem]
When using UE in multiple monitors, if placing Map window in monitor 1,and BP window in monitor 2, moving nodes in BP monitor 2 will cause monitor2 to ficker.
This happens to me too.
I’m using bluetooth headphones. I have two different ones. Happens NOT on them. Happens on the machine itself.
Computer is a Lenovo Legion 7i 16ithG6. rtx3080with16gb, i7 11800H.
So, is NOT the cable.
AND is NOT the gpu usage peak. I have fps limited to 30fps (with t.MaxFPS 30 or limiting it in nvidia graphic settings) and checking it with “stat fps” or with Control+Shift+H.
And , is NOT cpu usage peak. I have limited too to not autoboost (setting windows energy processor plan to 99% for balanced energy plan).
Is the editor.
The little vibration sound is still there. It marks the fps rhythm.
When you have the mouse over any field, as a material preview of any object in the details panel, the editor gets their fps low, and the noisie-vibration rhythm decreases at the same pace.
Tested with architecture template.
Same here with UE5.1.1. Annoying white noise if the editor is open. If I click on any other app window, it immediately stops. If I click back on the editor it starts again.
So, watching the GPU load with NZXT , if I click on another app (like Firefox or VLC) the load drops to 0-5%. Clicking on Unreal editor, GPU load rockets back up to 55-60%. Turning Sky, Sun, etc. off one layer at a time, the GPU load drops several percent with each along with the noise.
This is pretty clearly correlated so it might not necessarily be an Unreal problem as much as a GPU load causing interference. Unreal is demanding.
Whatever the cause, it’s definitely annoying so I’ll be searching for solutions.
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One workable solution I’ve found (for me) is to turn the audio output settings of my PC up to 100% in the sound control panel of Windows. Then, turn the audio volume dial down on my speakers to bring it back to a reasonable level. I know this isn’t ideal for everybody since many may have their sound going into a device which has no physical volume control.
That tells me that the noise is surely electrical interference since the sound of it can physically be suppressed at the speaker level. I don’t think this is a “bug” that can be fixed by Epic, unfortunately. I think some of us just have certain PC hardware that generates high frequency interference. We’re dealing with CPUs and GPUs and Memory modules these days that operate at insane frequencies. I say this knowing very little about electrical interference, so take my layman’s guessing with a grain of salt. 
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@gideonecho’s workaround is helping me (Unreal Editor 5.3). It’s not perfect but it’s a huge improvement.
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For those who are using a DAC and still having this issue, make sure you have any DAC input monitoring disabled. I’m using a Focusrite Scarlett and when I had toggled of “Direct Monitoring” which I had accidentally left on, the issue went away.
It’s interesting that UE seemed to be the only application I’ve tested that affected this, and that disabling real time preview reduced the noise, but my best guess is that the cable or amp that I left plugged into the DAC was picking up the interference despite being turned off.