That damn hiss and static

manzatour · Post by **manzatour** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:07 pm

the first candidate to be responsible for this is the computer. removing the ground (also with a temporary trick) will let you know if it is the case.
this can happen also with usb replicators (for me it is the case) if you have one with power supply, try to unplug the power from it.
so you could exclude this two possibilities

miniKAT · Post by **miniKAT** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:02 pm

ekwipt: Its a desktop that its plugged into. Like I said, I mean, there's a shitload of power cables involved.

Weird thing is that this hiss and static is most prominent on channels 2 and 3. Its def the comp cause it doesnt happen when set to phono.

manzatour: Whats a usb replicator, a hub? I have one with a power supply.

upekah · Post by **upekah** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:24 pm

You guys know that the third pin you cut off has to be the ground-wire and this can cause really bad trouble when running your setup without any grounding?
This can even lead to death if you have bad luck... so running your equipment without the ground-wire is reckless...

oblioblioblio · Post by **oblioblioblio** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:28 pm

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Free_UK_Deliver ... _33172.htm

don't really understand the sitation but maybe this can help without needing to mess around with hazardous electronic decisions,

prussell · Post by **prussell** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:12 pm

i don't understand the turntables not having ground wires, but if the problem isn't with the phono channels then they're not the issue.
and typically, a ground problem is more of a hum than a hiss.

so if i understand correctly, you have a somewhat constant low-level hissing, with additional "static noise" on the A&H channels 2/3 when they're set to [line], but not [phono]?

and if channels 2/3 [line] are used for your computer/soundcard's output, then i would first check to make sure all unused soundcard channels are muted via the soundcard's software mixer. then mute all other inputs one at a time to eliminate your sources as the issue. if it is still happening, eliminate the soundcard altogether to see if that's the problem overall.

also: Anizz is correct. you don't want to cut off a ground plug...it's there for a reason. if it's causing noise, it's more likely just the circuit you're on (i.e. plug not wired correctly).

miniKAT · Post by **miniKAT** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:32 pm

prussell wrote:i don't understand the turntables not having ground wires, but if the problem isn't with the phono channels then they're not the issue.
and typically, a ground problem is more of a hum than a hiss.

so if i understand correctly, you have a somewhat constant low-level hissing, with additional "static noise" on the A&H channels 2/3 when they're set to [line], but not [phono]?

and if channels 2/3 [line] are used for your computer/soundcard's output, then i would first check to make sure all unused soundcard channels are muted via the soundcard's software mixer. then mute all other inputs one at a time to eliminate your sources as the issue. if it is still happening, eliminate the soundcard altogether to see if that's the problem overall.

also: Anizz is correct. you don't want to cut off a ground plug...it's there for a reason. if it's causing noise, it's more likely just the circuit you're on (i.e. plug not wired correctly).

Yea, Im not messing around with the power plugs, theres too many. I'm kinda leaning toward the usb hub causing the interference idea. Will check that out.

prussel: the xone 4d has the soundcard inside so eliminating that would mean getting a new one and I dont feel like doing that, so lets hope its not that. Another thing is that theres no software mixer, unless u mean the windows one? Or maybe I haven't seen it, but it doesnt say anything in the manual about a software mixer, theres only a control panel for latency and such. Everything else is done internally on the mixer. All the souncard channels are being used. Maybe I'm not understanding what u mean. Sorry

prussell · Post by **prussell** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:18 am

ok, i understand now.
usually a soundcard/interface has a software mixer to control the levels etc of the ins/outs.
for some reason i didn't realize you were using the 4D as a soundcard as well as a mixer.

is the noise still prominent on 2 & 3 when there is nothing plugged in to the inputs?

manzatour · Post by **manzatour** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:04 am

miniKAT wrote:
manzatour: Whats a usb replicator, a hub? I have one with a power supply.

yep! did you try to unplug the power supply?
could be the reason