Today I was making music as usual and I noticed some noises I've never heard before, coming out of my Apollo Twin. These *beeps and blops* caught my attention and I realised they only sound when I have stuff connected through my usb-c hub.

Connecting hard drives gives you one kind of sound, connecting MIDI controllers give you other types of sounds.

I really want to record these sounds but I don't know how as they're coming from the output of my interface and they're at a really low volume, near to noise floor.

P.D: I'm mid-level at synthesis so believe me when I say I've never heard them before. I might even do a sample pack with them (yes, it's possible )

Any help or ideas are appreciated

 

Noticed such plim plim plim sounds in Reaper with my recently bought Audient iD14 mk2.... Too quiet.... But only when open some windows, fx browsers or so... It is rarely with some cpu killing plugins, as I noticed.... Dsp56300 or so.... Not annoying, but still.... Looks like not enough power for such usb devices, requiring more power for such cpu killing stuff, trying to recover/compensate latency, performance or so, that is why the noise and pip pip pip...powerful device, powerful plugins, old pc 2012, maybe usb ports are weak too, usb 2 don't know.... My imho

 

A dedicated field recorder would be ideal, but why not simply record the sound up close using your phone's built-in mic?

 

I had similar problem, it was due to bad grounding.

 

The most common is USB problems, either the cable is defective or the socket itself is defective. If you plug and unplug frequently, these USB sockets become faulty. Buy a new USB-C hub.

What hardly causes problems at the desk at home, can become a real test of patience in the hectic workday in the office, when the backup hard drive has to be replaced "quickly" just before closing time.

I have had a few of these problem hard disks on my workshop table recently. In cheaply produced USB 3.0 cases, the Micro-B socket is often only glued and is only held on the board by solder. If here the plug is inserted "a little" too forcefully, often the whole Micro-B socket is pressed into the housing.

The damage is obvious, the USB 3.0 case is no longer usable and has to be replaced. Damage to the socket itself is much more subtle and often difficult to detect. It becomes dramatic here when the damage is not recognized right away, the removable hard drive is connected dutifully every day and the data backup was not checked once again. Unfortunately, this actually happened to a Z-DBackup user.

 

You can record EMI (electro-magnetic interference) and RF (radio frequencies) with an incuction coil mic/pickup. They are quite cheap and they only record interference (not physical vibrations like a regular microphone). You can place them on-, or near, basically any electric device. Even light bulbs. Kinda fun stuff. I have two of these. Just plug it into your digital portable recorder and go for a "noise hunt" and edit/trim the samples when you get home.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/281410921745

 

Last edited: May 27, 2022