I’ve a Behringer UM2 and a sire V7 2nd gen jazz bass guitar. When I plugin my guitar to interface and my interface to my Mac n open Logic Pro, I get a hiss sound CONTINUOUSLY. Ive tried several cables and 4-5 other active jazz basses. I’ve verified it’s not a pickup or cable problem. My home is grounded. I get the hiss even with the gain knob 0 on my interface and my bass guitar. I get it with both active and passive modes. The batteries to my bass are brand new. This is not started now. It started from the day I got my interface. It’s not even an year old! I won’t plugin the charger to my Mac when I’m tracking bass.

Where else could be the issue? Do help. Thanks. It’s annoying to have the hiss ALWAYS.

 

Interesting, have you tried putting a DI in between?
These things are actually quite common, maybe some musician you know can lend you one.

 

The preamp in my bass itself brings the signal to line level. So, why do you think a DI box might be required? Thanks.

 

Impedance. Also, no bass outputs line level.
Borrow a DI box and try it out.

Edit: I misread. You seem to have had this issue even before you started plugging anything into the audio interface, so I doubt it's the bass. You might want to check for ground loop, EMI, swap to balanced cables, etc.

 

Last edited: Jan 8, 2020

Hi,
I think it's an impedance problem. Have you checked both line in ed inst in?

 

Ohh. That is sad. It's better I get a DI box for myself. So, no matter what interface I use, I will be getting this hiss sound if I Plugin my bass in active mode to the interface without a DI Box?

DI Box is compulsory for bass if there's no amp?

 

What it could be is that you have the pc and audio interface in the same power input in your wall. If you have another power input in your wall try and separate pc and audio interface in the power chain
so:
Don't put the speakers and audio interface power in the same power strip
Don't put the pc power and audio interface power in the same power strip
Don't put the pc power and speaker power in the same power strip

 

Last edited: Jan 8, 2020

I don’t connect my charger while I track bass. Also, mine is a USB powered interface. I will have to plug it in to my Mac to get the signal. It’s a Behringer UM2.

 

Does the hiss occurs with your computer turned off?
Have you tried with another computer?
Some computer's fans and hd can emit high frequencies magnetic noises.

 

do u use the instrument insert? (that should be high impedance)
you're not by any chance using a TRS cable?
do u use the original usb cable for the interface?

 

THIS solved all my hiss/hum/buzz problems. You may want to try it out

 

but what about your speakers are them in the same power strip as pc?

 

With the gain on inputs down, you have eliminated the preamps as source of 'hiss'.

You can't turn off the computer, as that supplies power for the UM2.
When you mute all actual audio from the computer, the only things left are UM2 mixing circuit / headphone amp .... and the USB.

My PreSonus unit has a "mix" control that I can use to turn down all USB audio.
But it does not work fully- I can still hear a tiny bit if I have my DAW playing at full volume.
But it at least was another stage I could turn down that was closer to the main/headphone output.
If I was getting USB leakage at the input of the mixing stage of the unit (even with computer audio muted) it might be a clue.
USB might still leak into the mixer output stage, so it's not a perfect test either.
It looks like yours has no such knob anyway.

Sometimes that USB leakage will have a high-frequency 'whine' in with the 'hiss' and that is a clue it is a 'leakage' problem and not really audio amp stages. Poor design of those amp stages might allow it, but the USB whine would be the true source.

I wish these interfaces had "battery power" or wall-wart power so you could eliminate the USB and connection to the computer completely. Maybe I will create a wall-wart adapter to test audio devices and sell a million on ebay.

 

This is not exactly on topic but real close (yours is a hiss)

I was getting digital noise and whine playing my guitar at my desk as usual. My computer is 5 feet away BUT
My keyboard is is very close. Its a keyboard that lights up with leds under the keys.

Took me years to figure out the noise was the leds, Once I shut off the leds in the keyboard the noise went away.
Ended up creating a profile in the software for playing guitar and all is well.

If you play guitar close to a fancy keyboard this information may help you.

 

One other thing I forgot to ask about is if your using a laptop? Usually a laptop can create problems when you using a USB port to power the interface. Try it on a desktop and see if the same problem occurs. If not I would say it is related to the laptop and the limitations cause of the battery. I don't think it would help to power the laptop with the power in the wall cause the laptop settings are still on battery settings.

 

Hello,

Do you use a TRS cable on both ends? If you use a TRS output on your bass, and XLR input on your interface (some people do for instruments ) then it might be a problem of cable symmetry. Happenned to me once with a DSP, that makes a kind of ground hum/hiss that is constantly there. because cable ground is only connected on one side.
I also had the problem with a synth input on my audio interface, constantly making a hiss in ableton. That was a power plug problem as @Daskeladden said. This is a totally common thing.

EDIT : read too fast the first time. Both of those solutions are not suitable for your problem ^^'

 

Too fast=incorrectly/didn't read. lol

 

@Smoove Grooves so does that mean he have a laptop? Like a Macbook or something like that?

 

Yes. I use a MacBook. Laptop.