Hum

O

Orson

Well-known member
I am becoming obsessed with this but what causes a faint low background hum on a recording that IS NOT present when recording takes place?

We have isolated sounds that bleed into the sound booth etc which are at -60 and below. But on playback behind the voice there is that hum which needs to be taken out by noise reduction.

It is strange how the recording space is so quiet that you really have to crank up everything to be able to hear noises which bleed into the booth. But when on playback there is always that very faint hum which has now become an obsession and driving me insane.

Help please.:cry::cry::cry:
 
This is inside recording booth where there is nothing but 2 x monitors with no fans. No extraction on. Just nothing.

The noises you here are switches being flicked and somebody trying to be as quiet as possible.

The background hum is what I refer too. It as if there is a pc fan blowing in the booth but there isnt.

The hum is prominent although very low and barely if at all audible on headphones in real time but becomes prominent when playback of recording.
 

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I call it a hum GT. It is like a fan hum. It is the only sound there besides clicks and breathing. :unsure::unsure::unsure:
 
I hear the hum. It's pretty quiet: -67.7db, and it is sitting on 120hz.

So is that hum present outside the booth?

If it is an acoustic hum within the booth, it sounds like mains hum being transmitted through the structure, via a beam or something.
 
The booth is timber construction Gecko and deep noises do transmit. The pc and ups are outside the booth and I think it could be them....... BUT ..... On recordings just over 18 months back the 'hum' is barely even noticable.

The only difference now is that the gain has changed because it's all going through a dbx 286 to use the de-esser.

Could this process be picking it up more?

I am doing a series of extensive tests today for other things also. So all ideas gratefully received. (y)
 
Orson said:
The only difference now is that the gain has changed because it's all going through a dbx 286 to use the de-esser.
Click to expand...

Right - the 'hum' you hear is the sound of the device. You can try to eliminate it via a ground lift - but I doubt that will alter the soundscape.
 
Thank you. Thats what I was suspecting ....or.....it was making the system more sensitive so picking up the outside noises.

BUT !!! ........... Some recordings have had strange noises like mouth clicks and in a bad way. Today I went into soundbooth (no speech, just empty sound booth) and isolated all electric items one by one until the clicks stopped. Theses appeared every one to two minutes.

The clicks were still there. So I pulled the lead from the mic and the clicks stopped. So they can't be electrical clicks. I plugged a different mic into the same lead and the clicks return as if the mics are recording a clicking noise inside the empty booth.

There is no ghost in there and hung a crucifix in there for good measure. :-)

But checking online just, I found others saying they are getting clicks from their dbx 286's.

Do you think this is the cause of my probs?

I am going to re-rooute my system and bypass the dbx in a few minutes.
 
Orson said:
At this stage it is going to get hit by a sledge hammer. You wouldn't believe how much work this has affected if guilty.
Click to expand...
BRO!! You take us to the edge of the paranormal... then nothing. Report back!

Unless- holy shit, did they get him in that booth?
 
If you record without the DBX, can you get a noise free result? If you can, get the level up in the daw then stuff it through the DBX if you must.
 
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