Interesting/Perplexing intermittent digital noise on my recordings. Please help!!

ErikHandberg

New member
I work for a company for which I record educational lectures and podcasts. For the past year I have had an issue with an intermittent and seemingly random digital-sounding noise on my recordings. I have scoured the internet trying to find an answer, and found nothing. I have tried replacing my XLRs and my microphone, and that hasn't helped. I have tried turning off all cell phones near the setup, and that hasn't helped. I am also about to buy a new mixer board but I'd like to avoid spinning my wheels if you all can help me.

Studio setup:
Shure SM7B -> XLR -> Xenyx Behringer Q802USB -> USB cable -> Garageband and/or Audition (depending on how quickly I want to get things done).

The error:
Occurs seemingly randomly, sometimes ten times in one minute, sometimes only once in thirty minutes. I haven't figured out a way to intentionally reproduce it, including text/email/phone call reception on my cell phone and computer, nor jiggling the cables.

I have tried to attach the spectral images of the error from audition but this web forum software is somehow not recognizing .png nor .jpeg files as "real images." So, at the moment the best I can do is attach the file it is from and tell you it happens about halfway through the clip. (I am aware that the clip is overall poor, it was a read from the script in an effort to see if I could remove the error in post-processing, which I haven't figured out how to do).

View attachment Error Removal Test.mp3

Thank you SO much for your time. If you guys could help me, it'd be fantastic!
-Erik

---------- Update ----------

Error Zoom 1.jpgError Zoom 2.jpgError Zoom 3.jpg

I was able to attach the analysis as a comment! So, here's what the error sound actually looks like.

Any thoughts?
 
Just checkin' -- Make sure your clock settings are to *one clock* -- Either clock off the computer or clock off the Xenyx. You may *have to* clock off the Xenyx (a.k.a. "external" in your clock settings) if it won't slave to the computer.
 
Just checkin' -- Make sure your clock settings are to *one clock* -- Either clock off the computer or clock off the Xenyx. You may *have to* clock off the Xenyx (a.k.a. "external" in your clock settings) if it won't slave to the computer.

Thanks for the tip! Now the question is (given that I am a newbie at this), how do I actually verify that? I understand that Garageband is quite underpowered software, so maybe it is not possible in GB? If I were to do that in Audition how would I do it?

Thanks!
-Erik
 
Hi there,
If you go to Utilities>Audio/Midi setup and select your interface in the left hand side, you should be shown an option for clock source.
I'm not certain but I think it'd be a system wide setting rather than per suite.
 
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