frankiman
Well-known member
thanks bkrumme, I will need to go to the store and hopefully rent a unit and try
thanks everyone, if I do find the solution I'll come back and let you know
- Thread starter frankiman
- Start date
thanks bkrumme, I will need to go to the store and hopefully rent a unit and try
thanks everyone, if I do find the solution I'll come back and let you know
frankiman
Well-known member
so guys, i had an idea to figure out if this is an electrical or RF issue
I have a laptop and I have a guitar port, the laptop functions without the cable cord through thr battery. The guitar port uses USB power from the laptop only. I connected the guitar and I still get the hum.... wouldn't this mean that a power conditioner might not do anything after all? If I still get the noise and there is nothing connected to the outlet then it has to be some sort of RF interference.... grrrrr this makes the problem impossible or nearly impossible to solve.... i think... any other ideas are welcome... I will still get thr power conditioner just in case, I hope to do this tomorrow.
I have a laptop and I have a guitar port, the laptop functions without the cable cord through thr battery. The guitar port uses USB power from the laptop only. I connected the guitar and I still get the hum.... wouldn't this mean that a power conditioner might not do anything after all? If I still get the noise and there is nothing connected to the outlet then it has to be some sort of RF interference.... grrrrr this makes the problem impossible or nearly impossible to solve.... i think... any other ideas are welcome... I will still get thr power conditioner just in case, I hope to do this tomorrow.
patpark
Well-known member
have you tried moving your entire set up to another partof the house just to see if its inthe room or that area that causes the interfrence?
frankiman
Well-known member
yes pat, already done that, i even tried outside of my apartment in the hallway
Slingy
Well-known member
If you have the same problem running off the laptop battery doesn't that mean you can rule out any kind of power issue with the house? Laptops are not the greatest for usb audio and wireless connections,keyboards, and other devices are known to cause problems too. If you can, try your guitarport on another computer and disable any power saving schemes on your laptop. Turn off wireless devices and add them in one at a time.
beej
Moderator
Sound like you're getting a lot of RF interference from something. That's a bitch to sort out. Since your guitar is well grounded (there's conductive paint in the cavity to shield the electronics) and you're using humbuckers, I'd start with trying out a different cable, perhaps one with better shielding or a shorter cable.
Short of shielding that room, there's going to be an upper limit on what you can do. I'm assuming you're playing with a lot of gain? That's going to make it worse.
Short of shielding that room, there's going to be an upper limit on what you can do. I'm assuming you're playing with a lot of gain? That's going to make it worse.
frankiman
Well-known member
i have tried the power conditioner, the hum x, a cable direct box with ground lift, new short high quality cable, different outlets, outside the apartment in the hall way, I have lower the braker of the lights that have a dimmer, and lowered the braker of the fluorescent light in the kitchen
NOTHING
the problem might as well be an invisible force against me recording ever again in my home, just the worst of luck, finally being able to buy my own place, and now I cannot even enjoy it, to hell with everything
my guitar tech told me shielding the guitars will not do anyuthing they already come shielded just like mentioned above
i'm screwed
NOTHING
the problem might as well be an invisible force against me recording ever again in my home, just the worst of luck, finally being able to buy my own place, and now I cannot even enjoy it, to hell with everything
my guitar tech told me shielding the guitars will not do anyuthing they already come shielded just like mentioned above
i'm screwed
frankiman
Well-known member
i have been using the pod, the guitar port and 2 amps for the past7 years in different condos I have rented, in venues I have played, in friends houses and condos, even overseas, no problems
now that I bought my own place all this happens, the problem is not the guitar, amp, pedal, the problem is something else no one is able to pin point. I need to find an expert, an engineer an electrician?, I don't know who
now that I bought my own place all this happens, the problem is not the guitar, amp, pedal, the problem is something else no one is able to pin point. I need to find an expert, an engineer an electrician?, I don't know who
Tomcat84
Well-known member
man what a horror story!
I have no knowledge whatsoever on this kind of thing (or much else for this matter) so I cant help you
Just wish you the best of luck in fixing it and thanks for making me finally realise that maybe it was the fluorescent lighting in my dorm room causing that slight hiss on my amp (and it was)
thanks for that
and again, good luck I hope you find a fix!
I have no knowledge whatsoever on this kind of thing (or much else for this matter) so I cant help you
Just wish you the best of luck in fixing it and thanks for making me finally realise that maybe it was the fluorescent lighting in my dorm room causing that slight hiss on my amp (and it was)
thanks for that
and again, good luck I hope you find a fix!
Slingy
Well-known member
Did you try disabling the wireless card for the laptop? That is the first thing to check. It's the lightning rod for interference that is going on.
frankiman
Well-known member
that's not the issue
beej
Moderator
Wow, this is a tough one. You're probably getting interference from a few sources and it's obviously all through your building (bummer, as you say it's now your place). The way I see it, you have three choices:
1) Record with less gain. Then the hum won't be an issue. (But that's not so much fun.) You can always filter it out on your computer before you apply an amp sim, etc.
2) Filter it out at the guitar. It's 60 Hz noise? The higher RF won't be audible so it's probably 60 cycle. You can build a little notch filter to remove frequencies in that range. Won't get everything, but should help significantly. (Note that you can do this on the computer as well.) A starting point would be something like this. You can probably find a ton of others with google.
3) Shield your room. I'm not sure how you would do it exactly, but you'd have to line the walls with something conductive, metal sheets, etc. Google "Faraday cage" for more info. Essentially no RF can permeate an enclosed space covered in a conductive material. But I'm not sure how you'd do it simply.
Just for fun, have you tried another guitar or an actual amp? Just wonder if you could benefit by quieter pickups (humbuckers aren't perfect), etc. I'd be trying everything I could at that point, just in case.
1) Record with less gain. Then the hum won't be an issue. (But that's not so much fun.) You can always filter it out on your computer before you apply an amp sim, etc.
2) Filter it out at the guitar. It's 60 Hz noise? The higher RF won't be audible so it's probably 60 cycle. You can build a little notch filter to remove frequencies in that range. Won't get everything, but should help significantly. (Note that you can do this on the computer as well.) A starting point would be something like this. You can probably find a ton of others with google.
3) Shield your room. I'm not sure how you would do it exactly, but you'd have to line the walls with something conductive, metal sheets, etc. Google "Faraday cage" for more info. Essentially no RF can permeate an enclosed space covered in a conductive material. But I'm not sure how you'd do it simply.
Just for fun, have you tried another guitar or an actual amp? Just wonder if you could benefit by quieter pickups (humbuckers aren't perfect), etc. I'd be trying everything I could at that point, just in case.
frankiman
Well-known member
yes, the only option at this point is record with less gain and increase the gate, i tried that of course and it waters down the brutal tone that I love. I have no other option if I want to keep making music and recording it at home. The worst thing is that I am actually good at this man, and to be limited by something you can't control or even understand is BEYOND frustrating
I have used already filters for the hum (hum x, power conditioners)
again, the fact that I still hear the noise at the same intencity connecting my guitar to an interface powered by USB cable to a laptop using only a battery (not connected to the outlet) means that it has nothing to do with electricity in my unit, ground loops or any of that stuff
it is something coming from the streets, it could be any number of things. I noticed you are in Toronto too beej.... can you believe this sh!@? I am at Yonge and Finch, NEVER move here man
i have tried googling my issue in my area. I haven;t found a single soul that has experienced this problem. At my building the property manager says no one has complaint, there not even an f'ing musician in this building or what?
I have used already filters for the hum (hum x, power conditioners)
again, the fact that I still hear the noise at the same intencity connecting my guitar to an interface powered by USB cable to a laptop using only a battery (not connected to the outlet) means that it has nothing to do with electricity in my unit, ground loops or any of that stuff
it is something coming from the streets, it could be any number of things. I noticed you are in Toronto too beej.... can you believe this sh!@? I am at Yonge and Finch, NEVER move here man
i have tried googling my issue in my area. I haven;t found a single soul that has experienced this problem. At my building the property manager says no one has complaint, there not even an f'ing musician in this building or what?
beej
Moderator
Totally sucks, man. There are those hydro wires north of Finch, they're likely a big contributor. (I used to live north of Steeles.)
I know it sounds nuts ... but any chance you can shield a small room? Cover the walls with foil, etc?
I'm mid-town ... there's some noise in my house and the odd bar I play at, but it's never been that bad for me.
I know it sounds nuts ... but any chance you can shield a small room? Cover the walls with foil, etc?
I'm mid-town ... there's some noise in my house and the odd bar I play at, but it's never been that bad for me.
bkrumme
Well-known member
I was going to mention a Faraday cage, but that's a lot of work and could get expensive. It just doesn't seem practical.
Frank, does the intensity of the noise change when you plug the laptop in? It seems the only common part of the whole problem is the laptop.
Frank, does the intensity of the noise change when you plug the laptop in? It seems the only common part of the whole problem is the laptop.
beej
Moderator
For the Yanks out there ... I mean power lines. We say "Hydro" rather than "Power" since a great deal of power up here is generated via hydro (Niagara Falls). Just a local vocabulary thing ... I get called on it all the time.
guitfiddle
Well-known member
I sympathize
I can feel your pain Franki. I had the same scenario going on in Halifax. I could not record at my house at all. I lived at the top of a hill and there were a lot of antennas in the area for radio, cell, TV etc. I also did amp repairs on the side, and every time I would open a circuit with an amp turned on I would get all sorts of noise. Everything from radio and TV stations, cordless phone conversations, static from digitial transmissions etc would come out of the amps speakers. It made it hard to troubleshoot equipment, that's for sure. Also, we could always hear noise and other conversations every time we used our telephone, there was that much in the air (unhealthy amount of radiation to say the least).
I am a full time electronics engineer, so I know quite a bit about what can be done. I tried a lot of different shielding techniques and spent a some money trying to get it to a manageable level. In the end (after 10 years of saving), I bought a new place at the bottom of a hill. Bingo. Quiet as anything now. Now I have 10 years of noisy material to re-record.
I wish you luck, but I suspect you will have to endure it until you can afford to move again or the human race figures out that all this radiation in the air is not good for us and makes drastic changes. The most important thing you can do is try to learn to deal with it in a way that won't make you go crazy. I was very unhappy at first (just like it sounds you are), but once I learned to accept it I was much better off and more creative. Who knows, you may find you are a creative genious at industrial type music. PS: If, like me, it was your wife that wanted to move to the noisy place, don't blame her for it. Trust me.
I can feel your pain Franki. I had the same scenario going on in Halifax. I could not record at my house at all. I lived at the top of a hill and there were a lot of antennas in the area for radio, cell, TV etc. I also did amp repairs on the side, and every time I would open a circuit with an amp turned on I would get all sorts of noise. Everything from radio and TV stations, cordless phone conversations, static from digitial transmissions etc would come out of the amps speakers. It made it hard to troubleshoot equipment, that's for sure. Also, we could always hear noise and other conversations every time we used our telephone, there was that much in the air (unhealthy amount of radiation to say the least).
I am a full time electronics engineer, so I know quite a bit about what can be done. I tried a lot of different shielding techniques and spent a some money trying to get it to a manageable level. In the end (after 10 years of saving), I bought a new place at the bottom of a hill. Bingo. Quiet as anything now. Now I have 10 years of noisy material to re-record.
I wish you luck, but I suspect you will have to endure it until you can afford to move again or the human race figures out that all this radiation in the air is not good for us and makes drastic changes. The most important thing you can do is try to learn to deal with it in a way that won't make you go crazy. I was very unhappy at first (just like it sounds you are), but once I learned to accept it I was much better off and more creative. Who knows, you may find you are a creative genious at industrial type music. PS: If, like me, it was your wife that wanted to move to the noisy place, don't blame her for it. Trust me.
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bkrumme
Well-known member
Yeah. We don't think much about where our electricity comes from. I'm not even sure how mine is generated to be honest.
There are recording studios/rehearsal rooms here in Glasgow that are built into 'Central Station'
Not only do you get the occasional rumble of the trains passing by overhead there is a constant interference/oscillation of the crazy amount of electricity that is running above.
Not only do you get the occasional rumble of the trains passing by overhead there is a constant interference/oscillation of the crazy amount of electricity that is running above.
