Noise Reduction DIY >not gated< DIY?

orson198305

New member
Hello everyone, i've been searching for ages for a noise reduction project. I can't seem to find any. I don't mean a noise gate, i have one of those. I'm looking for a project like an old DBX or dolby noise reduction schematic to get rid of hissing and other annoyances in realtime. The simpler the better, as i have never had anything to do with noise reduction before.

Thanks In Advance
 
Yeah i'm recording via pc, my mesa amp and effects chain are noisey & i would just like to try something different to get rid of the noise. I've got gates etc. It's just to keep me occupied.
 
I assume the noise you want to get rid of is when when you are not playing. If that is the case, using a gate is the way to go.

Noise reduction units are primarily used to clean the "hiss" noise from tapes. I doubt you would like it in your guitar chain as it will affect your EQ.
 
No i've got dbx gate, it's when i'm playing the hissing is audible - i have to keep my amp down low sometimes when i record due to certain intolerant people. I don't want to eq, gate or record directly.
 
i would definately invest in a hush super c. the guitarist uses a mesa, fed with emgs, in a room with terrible electricity, and it really makes the hiss and hum virutally inaudible. he also feels it tightened up his tone in general...but i can't really say i've noticed that. great little device and they go on ebay for around $100...new i think there's like $180...not positive...but probably close enough and if you find one on ebay...probably comparable in price to the DIY.
 
orson198305 said:
No i've got dbx gate, it's when i'm playing the hissing is audible - i have to keep my amp down low sometimes when i record due to certain intolerant people. I don't want to eq, gate or record directly.

Have you been able to find what piece of gear in your chain is making the noise? Remove all effects and add them one by one to find out what is making the most noise. I have a hunch it will be a compressor if you are using one. Whatever gear is making the noise you may need to make adjustments to it or remove it completely. Noise ruduction units usually eq's out the higher frequencies that cause the hiss.
 
tsl92802 said:
i would definately invest in a hush super c.

Looks promising but costs £170 :eek:

I want to live in america, just until i buy all the equipment i need then buy a big 110V transformer. :rolleyes:
 
tsl92802 said:
i would definately invest in a hush super c. the guitarist uses a mesa, fed with emgs, in a room with terrible electricity, and it really makes the hiss and hum virutally inaudible. he also feels it tightened up his tone in general...but i can't really say i've noticed that. great little device and they go on ebay for around $100...new i think there's like $180...not positive...but probably close enough and if you find one on ebay...probably comparable in price to the DIY.

Great Post.

With that in mind, you might want to get a gound lift for your amp or effects. A friend of mine had a bad hiss in his keyboard, and we put on on the the AC plug, and it got rid of the noise. They only cost a buck if that at your local hardware store.
 
It's my amp, i've replaced all tubes etc, it's better for gigging, but i love the tone & won't part with it, it has an effect send - return. I bought a holy grail reverb which really made a impact aswell though and has prompted me to have a look at noise reduction, electroharmonics are really taking the hiss. The grail was sufferable in the shop when combined with the amp well, noise central.
 
maybe you should put your stomp boxes in front of the amp instead if in the efx loop. I thought the efx loop operates at line level, where your pedals operate at instrument level.
 
It's nothing to do with the effects i'm using it's the preamp in my amp, and this model is known to be noisey at low levels. i reciently bought a reverb pedal that basically shunted me into going down the route of noise reduction as the amp hissing has always been a problem. as a test i placed an EQ in the effects send/ return (without any effects) and it dramatically reduced the hissing in my amp. I've used all combinations of types of tubes etc, the best being one electroharmonix tube at the first preamp stage and the rest mesa. You can get stomp boxes + racks for this particular use as the previous poster recommended the hush series of effects. I'm just off work sick at the moment and need to be doing something. So i have started building effects and now that i've built tremelo distortions etc. i would like to try a noise reduction effect. a gate is of no use as i have a dbx gate and this wont help the hissing when recording at low levels. my pc is buggered at the moment so i can't really record seriousley so have been at a loose end.
 
Are you miking your amp? If so, you might be able to plug an attenuator between your amp section and the speakers and run your amp at a higher level while keeping your volume down. That should allow the signal-to-noise level to be higher.

An attenuator should be a simple project.
 
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