Very irritating noise

[Perry100]

Some news:
I went down to my local music store today and borrowed another mic (that requires phantom power - Samson Q1). The change in noise was significant. It's still there but much less irritating (almost acceptable). For me it still doesn't explain where the noise is coming from - maybe you do now? But it seems logical to assume that the Studio Projects mic isn't as tolerant or as well built as the other one. The sound when recording though was not better - but it's a vocal mic so that also makes sense I guess.

Also: I recorded on battery power to see if there was any change. There wasn't.

The only way I know of to really nail down whether the problem is the phantom circuit or noise on the ground bus is to build a grounding pigtail. Make yourself a short male-to-female cable of any type and plug it into a seldom-used jack on the interface. Solder a heavy gauge wire to the ground pin on the audio plug that plugs into the interface. Fasten the other end to the ground pin (or hole) on a 3-prong (or two-prong and hole) power connector. Tape up both of the hot contacts inside the plug to make sure that if the wire jumps off, it doesn't come into contact with the hot or neutral wires. (I assume this is single-phase 220/240V and not split-phase.) If the noise goes away, the problem is the crap ground. If it doesn't, check the filter caps in the phantom power circuit.

I can understand how this would be a good way to see where the problem's coming from - a hands on approach is often the best. But it feels like a bit to complicated for me - I should have paid more attention in school...

 

[mshilarious]

It's down to a noisy phantom power supply caused by a problem or design issue in the DC converter circuit, or induced EMI from some other source in your house. For some reason, the B1 is more affected than other microphones, either due to shielding or power supply rejection.

 

[Perry100]

It's down to a noisy phantom power supply caused by a problem or design issue in the DC converter circuit, or induced EMI from some other source in your house. For some reason, the B1 is more affected than other microphones, either due to shielding or power supply rejection.

I want to thank you guys for helping me out. I'm a lot closer now to knowing what the problem is. What's left is for me to contact Focusrite and Studio Projects to see if they have encountered this issue before. And look for another mic...

Also - I tried Waves Z-noise. A noise reduction plug. Just to see if it worked and how well. Surprisingly well actually. And surprisingly (not) expensive I might add... It's better to spend those money on a good mic I guess.

Thanks again!