L
ltemma74
New member
I recently acquired a 244 that appears to be in good condition except that I have a hum/noise problem. I'm hoping someone can help me out.
I recorded electric guitar directly into the inputs using an unbalanced 1/4" guitar cable. All four inputs worked. Things didn't seem too noisy. The headphone jack seemed a little noisy in the "air" portion of the frequency spectrum. Is that normal?
Then I plugged a microphone (SM57) into each of the four jacks using a balanced XLR to 1/4" cable. I got a loud hum that increased as I turned up the trim. It sounds like it's in the 60 cycle range. It appears on all inputs. It's unbearably loud. Any ideas about what's happening? The 244 has a 2 prong plug and isn't grounded. Is hum something that I might experience only with XLRs but not unbalanced 1/4" cables? Can someone provide help here? I don't understand why the unbalanced cable is fine but the "balanced" XLR to 1/4" is noisy. I'm doing searches now but haven't come across any solutions yet. Thanks!
I'm thinking the problem has to do with going from balanced mic cable to unbalanced input on the Tascam but I don't really know...
UPDATE:
PROBLEM IS RESOLVED. THE HUM WAS CAUSED BY GOING FROM A BALANCED TRS 1/4" INTO AN UNBALANCED TS 1/4". SOLUTION WAS TO PURCHASE A "TRANSFORMER" WHICH TAKES THE LOW IMPEDANCE TRS AND CONVERTS IT TO A HI IMPEDANCE TS.
I recorded electric guitar directly into the inputs using an unbalanced 1/4" guitar cable. All four inputs worked. Things didn't seem too noisy. The headphone jack seemed a little noisy in the "air" portion of the frequency spectrum. Is that normal?
Then I plugged a microphone (SM57) into each of the four jacks using a balanced XLR to 1/4" cable. I got a loud hum that increased as I turned up the trim. It sounds like it's in the 60 cycle range. It appears on all inputs. It's unbearably loud. Any ideas about what's happening? The 244 has a 2 prong plug and isn't grounded. Is hum something that I might experience only with XLRs but not unbalanced 1/4" cables? Can someone provide help here? I don't understand why the unbalanced cable is fine but the "balanced" XLR to 1/4" is noisy. I'm doing searches now but haven't come across any solutions yet. Thanks!
I'm thinking the problem has to do with going from balanced mic cable to unbalanced input on the Tascam but I don't really know...
UPDATE:
PROBLEM IS RESOLVED. THE HUM WAS CAUSED BY GOING FROM A BALANCED TRS 1/4" INTO AN UNBALANCED TS 1/4". SOLUTION WAS TO PURCHASE A "TRANSFORMER" WHICH TAKES THE LOW IMPEDANCE TRS AND CONVERTS IT TO A HI IMPEDANCE TS.
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