SOUND ON SOUND

[zakduff]

I had a ground loop issue so i found a few posts on here which instructed the following:

“At the speaker ends of both balanced cables, open the connectors and snip out the cable screen connections (to the sleeve or pin 1). “

I have done this and it has resolved my issue and no longer have a buzzing sound however when I turn off my studio monitor it pops loudly. Obviously I’m turning my (powered) studio monitors off first and my volume is down on my audio interface but it still pops really loudly.

Any advice will be appreciated

[zakduff]

Update:

Not sure what was causing it but it’s not happening anymore

I did have another XLR cable plugged in to my other monitor which I hadn’t altered yet.

I also did turn it off only about 10 seconds after powering it on.

Guessing it was one of these two factors that was causing it to pop?

But hey ho, its OK now :)

[Hugh Robjohns]

:thumbup:

[Martin Walker]

Hi zakduff, and welcome to the SOS Forums! 8-)

Glad to hear you've solved your problem, but if anyone else wants more info on possible XLR pin 1 ground loop problems, have a read of my Q&A here:

https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advi ... ound-loops


Martin

[zakduff]

:thumbup:

Hi Hugh,

Late update but when i’ve just turned my studio monitor on its caused a loud pop similar to that time i turned it off.

It was the same monitor (right) as last time, any ideas? :)

[Hugh Robjohns]

Could be myriad reasons. I wouldn't be concerned u less it becomes a regular thing.

[zakduff]

Hi Hugh,

Admittedly I hadn’t turned my monitors on since uploading this post

I have just filmed turning them on and right monitor popped again and then the left monitor started buzzing

https://streamable.com/wtcq9a

Please see the above link (sorry if i am not suppose to share video links)

[zakduff]

Could be myriad reasons. I wouldn't be concerned u less it becomes a regular thing.

Admittedly I hadn’t turned my monitors on since uploading this post

I have just filmed turning them on and right monitor popped again and then the left monitor started buzzing

https://streamable.com/wtcq9a

Please see the above link (sorry if i am not suppose to share video links)

[James Perrett]

Have you checked that the monitors are actually grounded? Do they have a 3 core power cable? Has the power wiring in your studio been checked recently?

[zakduff]

Have you checked that the monitors are actually grounded? Do they have a 3 core power cable? Has the power wiring in your studio been checked recently?

Yes, yes and no :D

What checks would that be specifically?

[James Perrett]

If you are in the UK I'd suggest one of the socket testers with three lights on them like the one at

https://www.toolstation.com/socket-tester/p82826

[zakduff]

Yes i am in UK, I’ll order one and see :) Thanks James

[zakduff]

If you are in the UK I'd suggest one of the socket testers with three lights on them like the one at

https://www.toolstation.com/socket-tester/p82826

Hi James,

I have just tested all the sockets and they have indicated “correct” so now I am stumped!

Any ideas? :)

Thanks again,
Zak

[James Perrett]

I'm a bit stumped. Have you checked that pin 1 of the XLR is connected to the ground pin of the mains plug? I'm just wondering if your monitors suffer from a 'pin 1 problem' where pin 1 goes around the houses before reaching ground.

[Hugh Robjohns]

It would be worthwhile disconnecting the audio cables completely and then turning the speakers on-off to see if the popping is related to the audio lines or just the speakers themselves.

It is possible that the disconnected screens in the cables are allowing interference to get in from the mains switch arcing or something, but as I recall the screens were cut to fix a ground-loop problem.

So if the speakers are click-free without the audio cables connected it may be necessary to find a different solution to the ground loop -- possibly a transformer isolator, for example.