lots of noise

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carvin

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I am searching for what I believe to be a ground problem in my gear somewhere and I am not having any luck. I am about to give up on this. I have two Gadget Labs 8/24 sound cards that are giving me some serious buzz. Would a power conditioner fix this problem? Any help would be great.
 
Have you identified the Gadget Labs 8/24 sound cards as the source of the buzz, or are you still not sure? When hunting for problems like that, you have to basically test each piece of gear by itself. So that means either pulling one cable at a time, or pulling them all and then reconnecting one at a time.

You also need to eliminate your speakers and the wires to them, so you'll need to listen on headphones to make sure the hum isn't there.

Another common culprit is wall warts or lump in the line power supplies. You should unplug those one at a time to see if they are causing your hum issues. Are any cables running too close to unshielded monitors or any other source of interference?

Hunting down hums and buzzes is a painstaking process of elimination, I've done it a number of times. You should also pull one of the Gadget Labs 8/24 sound cards and test the other, then switch them, in order to identify whether they are the cause. If the sound is coming from both of them, then I would be suspect the source of the buzz could be elsewhere because it is less likely that two sound cards would have the same problem at the same time. Although I am not familiar with that sound card, and it may have some sort of problem. Were they working okay and then a buzz started, or are they brand new and you've had a buzz since installing them?

Also, if you added something to your setup recently and then a buzz started, that's the first piece of gear I would test as the source of the problem. Hope some of this helps.
 
I think that I found the issue. I have a wireless modem in the studio that I just installed. I unplugged the wall wart last night and it took care of the problem. I am not sure if I can put a hum eliminator on the modem or if I need to look at relocating that piece of equipment. Thank you for your help.
 
Relocate it. Keep all your wall warts as far away from audio lines a possible.
 
Or

Turn the thing off while recording...

I know some of my older gear literally has that issue in my rack...
I have a 23 space rackmount with lots of older synths..
I acutally had to move some of the gear around so they wouldn't affect each other while in close proximity...

Do Some experimentation - I'm sure the issue can be resolved pretty easily...
And good job on catching it instead of just going for the first thought...
 
Hey Riverdog I just checked out your site. Very nice. I am still trying to get my projects to sound that well. I do not have near the equipment you have but I am getting there.
 
Thanks Carvin

Thanks, that's very kind...

I appreciate your comments about the projects as well...
Sometimes when you're working on your own with things it's hard to gauge where you are in your projects...

I converse a lot with my clients and with professionals in my area - as well as checking out forums like this one... They are all a great help... Never stop learning I always say!!

And Yes I finally have all the gear that I want... It's taken a long time to accrue the gear you see there... Yet, I use every piece in some form or another at times and am very pleased with my sound at this point...

Good Luck with your projects and if you have questions, please let me know or post here!
 
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