Electric interference?! or is it?

[carlosguardia]

I have a problem that has never happened before. I was recording with a Delta 1010 into Sonar and I have been doing this for a long time without this problem ever happening. I've been fixing my studio and have made some changes that include a new electric outlet (grounded like the other outlets in the studio). I don't have the electric source divided into audio - lights/fridge/ac/tv etc YET... but intend to do so in the very near future (more so now). So on to the problem:
I'm recording some tracks for this band, we've already tracked the drums and we're finishing up with the bass when rice krispies show up!!! (Yeah, I get crackles and pops here and there). My first thought was that I could be some digital farts due to many open plug ins or what have you. But on a closer look I saw that the noise is actually INSIDE the waveforms.

I'm including a picture of the interference so you can see it.

I thought that this could be due to the fact that the lights and other things in the studio are plugged into the same breaker (even outlet in some cases) to my audio gear... I have to fix that to stop this problem... but why NOW and not, say 4 years ago??!! Oh well.. then I thought that I need to balance all my audio signals (which I cannot do with the 1010 but now I have a MOTU 8pre) so that will stop the problem (or hide it at least).

A very funny thing happened yesterday though, and that was what motivated this thread:
I was going over some drum tracks that were "clean" from this problem when I noticed that they too had pops and crackles!!! I hadn't noticed these before and I started freaking out!
COULD IT BE THAT ONCE THE TRACKS ARE RECORDED WITHOUT ELECTRICAL INTERFERENCE THAT SOME APPEARS LATER IN THE WAVES???!!!

Anyways, any feedback on this issue will be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks,

Carlos

 

[carlosguardia]

 

[carlosguardia]

 

[dgatwood]

I have a problem that has never happened before. I was recording with a Delta 1010 into Sonar and I have been doing this for a long time without this problem ever happening. I've been fixing my studio and have made some changes that include a new electric outlet (grounded like the other outlets in the studio).

...

I get crackles and pops here and there.

My guess would be that some piece of heavy equipment is causing a power dip, e.g. an air conditioner kicking on. This probably points to weak capacitors in the 1010's power supply. I'm guessing, though. If you can find yourself a voltage tester, you can monitor the line voltage and see if it sags periodically.

Oh well.. then I thought that I need to balance all my audio signals (which I cannot do with the 1010 but now I have a MOTU 8pre) so that will stop the problem (or hide it at least).

Hopefully it will go away. The 8Pre power supply should be reasonably robust.

COULD IT BE THAT ONCE THE TRACKS ARE RECORDED WITHOUT ELECTRICAL INTERFERENCE THAT SOME APPEARS LATER IN THE WAVES???!!!

No. You just didn't notice it before. Probably masked by other sounds.

 

[carlosguardia]

thanks, I'm going to try and find a voltage tester... I have the 8pre already and will do some test recordings.