Power Conditioning/Filtering for studio, Help!

[MetalWorks]

I finally figured out my problem with noise durring Reamping and determined that I have an interference from the Electrical in my Studio.

I was getting an extreme humming sound when Reamping. When I flip the ground switch the hum only cut in half but was still way to loud and was not acceptable for reamping.

After buying new cables and isolating the signal path, I had no success in determining the source.

So I thought it was my Digi 192 and 96 converters putting out the noise.

I did another test and tryed reamping out of my TC 96k Finalizer.

Still had the hum.

So then I tryed running the unprocessed output of my Line 6 Pod Pro into the Reamp box.

Still had a hum.

By that time I figured out that anything I plug my reamp into in that room was giving me a hum in my amp.

What gets weirder is that even with the Pod Pro power unplugged it got a hum.

So I started isolating power outlets.

I plugged my 5150 into an extension cable that ran out of my studio into my house which is on a completely separate electrical system.

I plugged in my Furman power conditioner in the Studio and slowly started plugging in components.

Every time I plugged in a single device, the 5150 would start to hum louder and louder.

The worst was when I plugged in my Mac Pro.

Once I had the Mac Pro on, I opened Pro Tools. As I was opening sessions and clicking on windows the computer starts working harder and I can hear the hum making different noises based on the Mac Pro Processing things.

So I figured I have some major noise/sheilding/grounding type issue simply by using any of the power in that room. I have 2 independent circuits in my studio room and they both have the same problem.

So I grabbed a 2nd extension cable and ran it from the house back into the studio again. I plugged my Mac Pro and Pro Tools HD hardware into the 2nd extension cable while the 5150 is still on the 1st extension cable waiting for the Reamp signal to be fed.

So far, No Noise!

I played the DI Guitar track, and everything was fine, the way it is supposed to be.

So I have definately determined that there is an electrical issue in that room but dont know where to start.

It seems like anything electrical I plug into that room acts like an antenna for humming in my amp.

I don't know if I need an electrician or if I need some sort of advanced Power Filter Conditioner beyond what a $100 Furman Power Conditioner does.

Anyone have ideas?

 

[Metaltastic]

Well if you say you have the $100 Furman, then you probably have the Merit series (M-8, M-8D, etc.), which is really just a rack-mountable power strip. The PL series, on the other hand, has line filtering, which I know greatly reduced the noise I hear with my amp on, but it wasn't unbearable before either, so I'm not sure if it'd be a fix to your issues. Either way, it's worth picking up a PL (the PL-8 is the one I got, there are more expensive but they just add voltmeters and stuff), but make sure it's a Series II, cuz the originals didn't have the LiFT (Linear Filtration technology, AKA line filtering), which would defeat the purpose. And there's the Monster Power ones too. Good luck dude!

 

[MetalWorks]

Im guessing the ones I have are M series and 1 might be a low end PL with the 3 digit Display that cost about $159.

I'm thinking of getting 2 Monster Power Powercenter Pro 3500's since I have about 24 pieces of gear in my desk to plug in and they have 12 inputs each.

 

[Vucktor]

http://www.equitech.com/articles/rep1.html
what do you think about this?
V

 

[Vucktor]

I think i have the same problem...I've got an engl e530 preamp, and if i try my guitar directly plugged into the engl and i plug my headphone into the engl's headphone out, i still have hum....why?
V

 

[Vucktor]

you can get ground isolator stuff, but it costs about 500$.
V

 

[MetalWorks]

I ordered a Monster 3500 Power Conditioner to try out but I also have an electrician coming over to check out my power situation.

Apparently I should have a copper rod that is embedded into the earth that provides grounding to the Electrical Circuits/Panels.

I would highly doubt that the guy who built my detached garage went through any such troubles and we have to see how he actually linked the power from the main house structure.

Either way I will be better off with the better conditioner and checking out the electrical issues.

 

[Vucktor]

Hey!And does the hum changes if yoo moving with the guitar (guitar->mac->reamp box->amp i meant)

 

[AudioGeekZine]

Hey!And does the hum changes if yoo moving with the guitar (guitar->mac->reamp box->amp i meant)

Guitar's not really involved with re-amping. Its already recorded.
Of course if his guitar's got the hum when he recorded it then reamping it will make it way louder.

 

[beyond dead]

when the hum from the direct signal combines with the hum from reamping your in for a treat!!!! experienced this myself, and was able to find a better outlet with proper ground luckily!!!

 

[MetalWorks]

No hum in the direct signal. Only coming out.

But the electrician came by and he thinks its a grounding issue.

The panel in the studio feeds from the main house. And he thinks that there should be a ground into the earth meaning jack hammer into the ground and insert a rod attached to copper, etc.

But when he was moving wires in the electrical panel the amp/speaker hum from the reamp was making noise.

But regardless, were still looking into the problem and a good solution.

He thinks the main house works without the hum but by the time the wires are ran over to the studio the ground wire (that doesn't actually ground to the earth) is running longer which allows more noise and is less effective.

We constructed a new circuit and tested it and it seems that it has to be a solid grounding issue.

I'll still try the Monster Power Conditioner when I get it, but we're still going to see what else can be done to make sure the electrical is proper for the demands of a studio.

Kinda sucks that I am only having this problem when reamping. Everything else is perfectly fine other than that.

 

[Vucktor]

Have you got cable tv?plug out every tv, and every cable tv cables.and everything in the house if you can..Plug 'em back slowly and watch the effect.
V

 

[AStacy2]

Either way that conditioner will help a lot - nowadays everyone has so much shit hooked up like refrigerators/ac ect... that they usually help a lot if you're doing stuff from home.

 

[MetalWorks]

I have cable wired in there, but nothing is connected to it.

My electrician buddy is going to bring a jack hammer over and we're going to hammer a 6 foot copper ground rod into the ground and run a ground wire to my studio.

We're betting that this will help tremendously.

Combined with the powerconditioner I am receiving tomorrow, I hope to be in much better shape.

I'm still amazed that this is only a problem when reamping. Perhaps I might notice other small differences in clarity.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Kinda sucks that I am only having this problem when reamping. Everything else is perfectly fine other than that.

Ran into this problem as well. My solution was pretty simple: Make sure you don't have any mic preamp outputs routed through your DAW/Soundcard's mixer matrix to your amp that aren't turned on.

Drove myself nuts one day asking "where the fuck is that hum coming from??" while doing some reamping. Turns out I not only had the DAW's output routed to the reamp box, but a preamp as well. (my reamp is permanently connected. Everything is recorded dry through the computer before it goes to the amp.) Turning the preamp on and muting the output both worked. Might want to check for this before you start spending...

-0z-