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Octopussy

Joined: 01/09/04
Posts: 555
Loc: Melbourneo

Noisy mains
#961980 - 05/01/12 11:06 AM

I'm renting/living in a dodgy old house - rent is cheap and it's a nice area to live. But the electric's in this place are noisy!

So, I was wondering what could be done about it! My thoughts are to use some kind of UPS for my audio stuff. Am I on the right lines?

I'm into recording electric guitars and my reamp box dun like the electricity and mt guitar amp doesn't like pedals and their power supplies. Also another part of the problem seems to be my RME USB soundcard. I don't think it's shielded and noise free like my Steinberg MR816. Another weakness is that I'm recording onto a laptop although I'm recording onto a bus powered USB3 hard drive.

What to do...

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Octopussy

Joined: 01/09/04
Posts: 555
Loc: Melbourneo

Re: Noisy mains new

[Re: Octopussy]
#962169 - 06/01/12 07:55 AM

Echo echo echo echo...

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ef37a

Joined: 29/05/06
Posts: 5620
Loc: northampton uk

Re: Noisy mains new

[Re: Octopussy]
#962177 - 06/01/12 09:48 AM

You are paying a utility company for an electrical supply and like any good or service it must be "fit for purpose". Furthermore, if the supply is as bad as you intimate it could well be unsafe as well!
I would also expect equipment of the quality of RME to be well proofed against modest mains noise tho' of course it might not be the interface that is at the root of the problem.

It is virtually impossible to diagnose noise problems at a distance and especially when those problems seem to be mains supply related the very first step should be to get a professional on site.

Dave.

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James Perrett

Joined: 10/09/01
Posts: 9645
Loc: The wilds of Hampshire

Re: Noisy mains new

[Re: Octopussy]
#962182 - 06/01/12 10:34 AM

I'm wondering whether it is a grounding issue rather than a noise issue? As Dave says, these things are very difficult to diagnose at a distance. You need to draw a diagram of exactly how things are connected up and which connection schemes seem to be noisy and which aren't. Every last detail is important when trying to fix a problem like this.

James.

--------------------
JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

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Exalted Wombat

Joined: 06/02/10
Posts: 4196

Re: Noisy mains new

[Re: Octopussy]
#962194 - 06/01/12 11:36 AM

Quote Octopussy:

I'm renting/living in a dodgy old house - rent is cheap and it's a nice area to live. But the electric's in this place are noisy!

So, I was wondering what could be done about it! My thoughts are to use some kind of UPS for my audio stuff. Am I on the right lines?

I'm into recording electric guitars and my reamp box dun like the electricity and mt guitar amp doesn't like pedals and their power supplies. Also another part of the problem seems to be my RME USB soundcard. I don't think it's shielded and noise free like my Steinberg MR816. Another weakness is that I'm recording onto a laptop although I'm recording onto a bus powered USB3 hard drive.

What to do...

First thing to do is unplug the power supply from your laptop and run on the internal battery. Does the noise go away?

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Martin Walker
Watcher Of The Skies

Joined: 28/02/01
Posts: 16375
Loc: Cornwall, UK

Re: Noisy mains new

[Re: Exalted Wombat]
#962303 - 06/01/12 08:47 PM

Quote Exalted Wombat:

First thing to do is unplug the power supply from your laptop and run on the internal battery. Does the noise go away?

Aha, the classic ‘do you have a digital ground loop’ test

An awful lot of those get mistakenly diagnosed as noisy mains supplies

Martin

--------------------
YewTreeMagic

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