Noise / hum in my recordings

[tigerflystudio]

Hi folks, I've just bought a tascam DP02 which I've tried to use to record guitars / vocals etc then transfer onto PC to mix / master. The trouble is, when I arm the 'record' track, there is suddenly a buzz / hum present. I have tried numerous guitars (the worst sounding of them was an electro-acoustic) run both directly into the Tascam, or via a Line 6 POD. I have also tried numerous guitar leads. Still the noise is there and it ruins the recoridngs. More worrying still is the fact that I am getting very tiny but sharp electric shocks (feels liek little needles) from the hardware (bridge etc.) of the electric guitars. Also, when I touch the Tascam's chassis, the buzzing significanly reduces, as if it's using me as an earth! i have tried a different power supply (my own old & trusty) and it does reduce the noise / hum by about 50%, but it's still audible in the recordings. I have sent the Tascam back to the supplier who have tested the unit and said (after testing) that they can't find a fault with it. So, I'm stumped. Any ideas? Coudl my electric supply in the house by too, er, strong (live / not earthed propely) (I've tried the Tascam in numerous power sockets around the house and had varying results). Any ideas on how to solve thiswoudl be greatly appreciated as I'm not a technical guru and i just want to make nice quiet recordings (like I use to with my old Fostex VF160).

[Jim Lad]

You're joking, right?
Send it back again.
Double check the + versus - centre on your DC pin first though.

[tigerflystudio]

No joke... I did send it back (they've still got it) - they called yesterday to say they have tested it and it's working fine, no problems, can't trace any fault at all. What makes me think it's our electrics is that when I plug a mic in to my other recording set up (Fostex Vf160 and / or PC based set-up), if I touch the mic with my mouth or get too near to it with my teeth, I get tiny sharp electric shocks. So it seems reasonable that this may be an issue with the earthing at my end. The Fostex VF160 uses an IEC cable (direct wall to unit, with an earth) - the Tascam DP02 uses an in-line power supply (figure 8 connector, no earth). Wonder if that's got anything to do with the hum / buzz noise showing up on the Tascam?

[fatwisejim]

i've had this before and there are a couple of things you could try which solved it for me:

• Check for interference from other electric/electronics, i.e. if theres a TV close by, switch it off - even if its on standby (and make sure the pickups are not facing ANYTHING like a power pack/transformer or anything that may generate interference)
• You might want to check how the cables are laid out as this makes a big difference, i.e. if you are running audio cables in parallel with power cables you are likely to get a shock from the microphones/metal unit housings, however if you have to run the cables over them make sure you do it in an 'X' or '+' type manner (in other words - across each other and not lying length-ways next to each other)
• Try a noise gate or something similar, or failing that try recording with the volume on the effects unit down quite low and the output on the mixer up (not too much gain though), that might cut out some of the hiss?

I'm afraid thats all i have, and thats only from past experiences and frustation!

[Jim Lad]

Yes it does, doesn't it.
Look for a ground.
Make sure the sparky didn't hook it up to the new , plastic plumbing.

[tigerflystudio]

thanks. I did check a few of those things, but I will certainly consider all of them next time. I think the fridge is on the same ring, so maybe that's an issue. I've just been to Maplins to buy a mains tester plug (£5.99) which I'll use to see if there's any issues with the outlets. Then I'll scratch my head again.

[dgatwood]

Agreed that it sounds like a bad building ground. Get it fixed. That's a safety problem.