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drivepilot
New member
Hey all. Would love some help or troubleshooting advice as I don't know what else to do any more.
I've been doing studio stuff fairly professionally for 20+ years and never ran into anything like this before. It's really wreaking havoc on my motivation to record, as it's impossible most of the time.
I have a static / crackling noise, in everything, that has prevented me from recording and I've tried everything I can think. It's persistent, but will suddenly vanish for some period of time, maybe 2 minutes, maybe 30 minutes, I think even maybe days at some points in the past, but inevitably returns. When it disappears, it's sudden and random and very noticeable (SEE VIDEOS). It sounds like a mix of radio static and someone rubbing their thumb on a mic. I don't have ground loop 60hz hum issues or buzzing issues when properly plugged in/normal use.
I'm in a single home that isn't particularly old, maybe 70s I think. Its every amp I have or tried (loudly), in amp sims when I DI into my UA Apollo Twin (loudly), it's in monitors (a bit more subtly). I was doing mostly ITB stuff for the first few years at this house so I didn't notice until I got more into analog/outboard/amps again. Its loud enough it really interferes in clean recording or how gates open/close. Any gain and it's pretty unusable. It will be gone sometimes and I have a perfect noise floor when this happens. As soon as I get in a groove it'll strike again. I feel like I'm being haunted.
What I have done:
• Furman PL PLUS C, as well as my original cheaper Furman, as well as EBTech HumX I use to remove a minor ground issue from a sub
• Cables — I have all pretty high grade cables, and have tried all Mogami, Caulfields, etc, direct into amp or interface and get this interference.
• Ferrite wraps
• Shut off/unplug everything in house, kill all breakers except one wall with just amp, and still have the interference
• Tested wall outlets with one of those testers that says if things are grounded right, all good
• Have tried 5 amps, 7 guitars, all share the problem, as well as my studio monitors (to a lesser degree)
• Rolling off volume pot on guitar does kill signal and noise together, so not just amp tube or something crackling, which wouldn't make sense anyway
• Bought a weird RF signal handheld visualizer thing, but haven't sat long enough and waited for static to disappear while watching to see if I see anything correlating
• Just bought a battery powered little amp that hasn't arrived to see if I get the interference when not connected to the mains whatsoever
• Asked friends online, none have had anything like this
I've not had problems in other houses, with cheaper gear, lesser cables. I don't think I've got power lines around, and I'm not sure of any radio station broadcasting in my area (97078). I was almost convinced a neighbour had a weird RF broadcast device to torture me for being too loud.
Here are a couple videos that show the problem
This one is pretty good since it shows the sound, and then suddenly stopping. The background hum is fine since it's coming from an ungrounded unplugged cable during this test
Here's another through a different amp on a different day, and its throughout the whole clip as kind of that rubbing-on-a-mic sound. I've got a guitar plugged in but idle sitting on a chair, and the amp turned way up, so some background hum-type noise is appropriate here too.
Please help if you have any thoughts!
Thanks so much for your time
Ellis
I've been doing studio stuff fairly professionally for 20+ years and never ran into anything like this before. It's really wreaking havoc on my motivation to record, as it's impossible most of the time.
I have a static / crackling noise, in everything, that has prevented me from recording and I've tried everything I can think. It's persistent, but will suddenly vanish for some period of time, maybe 2 minutes, maybe 30 minutes, I think even maybe days at some points in the past, but inevitably returns. When it disappears, it's sudden and random and very noticeable (SEE VIDEOS). It sounds like a mix of radio static and someone rubbing their thumb on a mic. I don't have ground loop 60hz hum issues or buzzing issues when properly plugged in/normal use.
I'm in a single home that isn't particularly old, maybe 70s I think. Its every amp I have or tried (loudly), in amp sims when I DI into my UA Apollo Twin (loudly), it's in monitors (a bit more subtly). I was doing mostly ITB stuff for the first few years at this house so I didn't notice until I got more into analog/outboard/amps again. Its loud enough it really interferes in clean recording or how gates open/close. Any gain and it's pretty unusable. It will be gone sometimes and I have a perfect noise floor when this happens. As soon as I get in a groove it'll strike again. I feel like I'm being haunted.
What I have done:
• Furman PL PLUS C, as well as my original cheaper Furman, as well as EBTech HumX I use to remove a minor ground issue from a sub
• Cables — I have all pretty high grade cables, and have tried all Mogami, Caulfields, etc, direct into amp or interface and get this interference.
• Ferrite wraps
• Shut off/unplug everything in house, kill all breakers except one wall with just amp, and still have the interference
• Tested wall outlets with one of those testers that says if things are grounded right, all good
• Have tried 5 amps, 7 guitars, all share the problem, as well as my studio monitors (to a lesser degree)
• Rolling off volume pot on guitar does kill signal and noise together, so not just amp tube or something crackling, which wouldn't make sense anyway
• Bought a weird RF signal handheld visualizer thing, but haven't sat long enough and waited for static to disappear while watching to see if I see anything correlating
• Just bought a battery powered little amp that hasn't arrived to see if I get the interference when not connected to the mains whatsoever
• Asked friends online, none have had anything like this
I've not had problems in other houses, with cheaper gear, lesser cables. I don't think I've got power lines around, and I'm not sure of any radio station broadcasting in my area (97078). I was almost convinced a neighbour had a weird RF broadcast device to torture me for being too loud.
Here are a couple videos that show the problem
This one is pretty good since it shows the sound, and then suddenly stopping. The background hum is fine since it's coming from an ungrounded unplugged cable during this test
Here's another through a different amp on a different day, and its throughout the whole clip as kind of that rubbing-on-a-mic sound. I've got a guitar plugged in but idle sitting on a chair, and the amp turned way up, so some background hum-type noise is appropriate here too.
Please help if you have any thoughts!

Thanks so much for your time
Ellis