hissssss... getting frustrated!

[Arsenu,]

hi! regarding my last post about this fucking hiss noise i'm now writing after iv'e got an electricity outbourd, a new pre-amp (ART pro-channel, awesome!) and fresh monitors.

basically, when nothing is plugged into my interface's (MOTU traveler) input, and no plug-ins are on, the signal seems to be quiet. the trouble starts when cranking up the gain in ANY way, which makes me think that the signal wasn't quiet in the first place and the noise was just below the hearing threshold. a few examples:

just the interface, nothing on nothing plugged in. quiet!

just the interface, +40 db input gain, nothing plugged in

just interface, 0db input gain, nick crow mkII+poulin LeCab on

interface, nick crow+poulin pre-amp added nothing plugged to the input

interface, poulin+nick crow, pre-amp all knobs on zero, me playing

interface, poulin+nick crow, pre-amp, me playing + GATE

any idea how to fix that??????????????????

 

[Mutant]

the trouble starts when cranking up the gain in ANY way, which makes me think that the signal wasn't quiet in the first place and the noise was just below the hearing threshold.

In analog world, words like "quiet" and "noiseless" always mean just: "the noise is below hearing threshold".

Which should be at least at about -100dB, so there is definitely something wrong with your unit if the noise is so loud after only amplifying it by 40dB.

 

[Arsenu,]

yeah i thought it might have been damaged during the flight but iv'e tried it with another interface and it was still noisy.
maybe expecting complete silence from a signal chain that's so heavily driven is just unreal...
when you're guitar is plugged in with you favorite heavy tone, without a gate, and you're not playing, is there no audible signal at all?

 

[Danny Drama]

Not like that. I wouldda been fairly certain that was coming from the interface but you said you'd tried another. Have you tried your interface on another computer? If two interfaces sound like that on your machine, I'd probably look there next.

 

[Arsenu,]

i don't have another computer to try it on, but my computer is awesome and in good condition, don't think it's that.
i suspect the problem is electrical but i have no clue what can cause hiss.
like i said, i bought an 11 socket electric outboard so everything goes to the same socket, which should prevent ground loops.
i think i'll buy one of those things that checks if your socket has ground, becasue i'm starting to suspect that it's not, altough it's pretty unreasonable

 

[Derpsicle]

The grounding maybe?
If I use a non grounded output I get (metric) tons of hiss.

 

[Arsenu,]

that's what im thinking
but if i use one 11 socket outboard for my entire setup than the grounding should be fine right? and i find it hard to believe my apartment is not properly grounded...

 

[Arsenu,]

bump!

ok guys, apparently the problem was the pre-amp, which i have not suspected since it's BRAND NEW!
i just bought the ART Pro-channel pre-amp and as you can hear, it's noisy as fuck.

question is, do you think it got fucked at the factory, or is that SUPPOSED to sound like that?
and also, do you need to flip the ground for a pre-amp like you're supposed to when playing through 2 amps? (not likely, but i'm trying to rule everything out other than manufacturing problem)
i might add that tweaking the gain know does not influence the noise, and when i turn the master volume knob to 0 there's still SOME hiss going through, which implies that it's fucked up...

*it's currently plugged into the same power outboard as everything else, but iv'e tried plugging it into another, no improvement.