John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi there,

my studio is all connected to one plug which feeds a Furman AR-15 II, Voltage Regulator. The Voltage Regulator feeds 2 APC 1300's from which everything is connected to. I have no hum in the DAW, the only time I get a crazy amount of hum/buzzing is when recording guitar with a distortion setting. The interesting thing is that when I turn around or walk around the room I get spots where its practically gone, so I have been sitting in weird spots to record.

It doesn't seem to be a grounding issue, my outboard MIDI gear has no issues. I was wondering if it could be a magnetic field from the AR-15 II...when I get close to it the hum/buzz just takes off. Also do the APC's spray a magnetic field around them?

Also, the AR-15 is usually humming a little bit, I don't know if thats normal.

Any advice?

Thanks,
T

Well, you shouldn't really have any heavy electrical equipment in your room at all. Things like regulators, power conditioners, transformers, and UPSs can indeed generate powerful electromagnetic fields around them. It sounds like that might be your problem: One way to test would be to temporarily turn all the power conditioning stuff off, and just plug in the basic DAW, interface and guitar directly to the mains (minimal system: only what you need for the test, and NOTHING more than that). Physically disconnect all cables from those big guys, and try it like that. If the hum disappears, then you'll know that's what it is. If the hum stays, you know to look elsewhere for your troubles.

- Stuart -

So I tried disconnecting any power regs and conditioners and APC's - didn't help, too bad...now what?

I guess I'll keep recording in the corner of my room where the noise is pretty weak. Who knows what it picks up, also..my bass guitar doesn't pick up any of that stuff but even the humbucker gtr is picking a buzzing up.

Any more ideas? I went thru all the lights, dims etc...no luck.

Thanks,
T

Well, all I can suggest is that you keep on disconnecting stuff elsewhere in the house, until the hum stops. Try powering off EVERYTHING in the house, and unplugging it too, except for the DAW. If you STILL have hum after that, then it is either an earth problem, or an equipment problem.

Did you check your guitar cable? Perhaps the earth (shield) is disconnected at one or both ends, or maybe it isn't even a properly shielded cable.

- Stuart -

Are you using a CRT monitor? These can induce noise through pickups. If you are try turning it off.
Steve