HI guys, i'd like to know your best methods for those problems, how can i improve my setup, i wanna get rid of unwanted noise from every recording system, especialy when i connect my synths or anything else to my pc/audio interface.

I already tried a DI BOX, but my tb303 still has some unwanted noise, it's not clear. the ground loop is gone but instead of it it comes some other type of noise. should i plug my hum isolator AFTER my DI box?
or maybe is my tb303 that has some problems in. i don't know what to do.
i bought a hum isolator, but with that one i don't see any dirrences, sincerly (used alone).

If some pro want to help me and maybe can understand the problems please PM me i will send him the wav <3

 

Last edited: May 2, 2025 at 8:31 PM

Have you tried another cable? you may need a shielded cable. some of the cheap chinese cables have no shielding or use paper, which can only shield alpha particles which rarely occur anywhere other than a nuclear source or the sun (also a nuclear source).

anyhow if you have no uranium in your studio, try a better shielded cable first.

 

Hi,
I have some high pitched ground loop noise from connecting my Minilogue through usb to my laptop. The only way I could solve this was using a plugin to deal with the noise (I use de-hum from Izotope RX. It profiles the noise and does not alter the sound in a perceivable way. Another one that did the trick was spectral de-noise from the same suite, but it is much more cpu intensive).

 

doubt its a ground loop, probably ac power radiating as rf from an led lamp or other light fixture.

A cable can act as an antenna, (im a guitarist, ask me how I know) try a shorter cable, or try moving the cable so its perpendicular to the (hum inducing) source. Also you could try a shielded cable, many low end usb cable are just wire and plastic.

 

The only kind of cable I use in the studio is Canare StarQuad and I will always use the 3-wire XLR balanced connections where ever possible. Especially for longer cable connections - for mic, and line level audio both. I buy the stuff in bulk and make my own cables. StarQuad has 4 separate stranded internal conductors (usually 2 blue and 2 white) that for 3-wire balanced connections can be twisted together and used as a single conductor. This cable used in conjunction with balanced and even unbalanced connections will give you the best signal to noise possible in regard to cabling.

If you already are using XLR's then there may be some internal extraneous noise being generated from the devices themselves.

 

Anybody actually have recordings of ground loop, hum, etc? They could make great sample pieces for effects and manipulation, even if they’re unwanted from recording another instrument… or maybe there’s a plugin that simulates those kinds of things?

 

Yikes. This is so difficult to troubleshoot without being there because there's just too many variables. Some people just live in areas where there's garbage signals everywhere in the air and there's almost nothing you can do about it no matter how well grounded everything is- I've had that problem. Cell signals and all kinds of nonsense. I wish you luck; you just have to start going through the system bit by bit and piece by piece isolating things.
Once I had a problem with my laptop and external interface and there was absolutely no reason on God's Earth why it should have been making any noise in this one room when it never did it anywhere else. It was just this one rehearsal room with some guys I used to play with and a $2 ground lift on my laptop solved it completely. So try a groundlift