High Pitch Whine SOLVED
 

Hi

Thought I should post my fix for the ubiquitous high pitched whine problem I'd been suffering for over a year...solved today..at last pro audio is on the way.

I'd gone through all the numerous fixes, balanced output lines, new usb cable (didn't bother with a Monster thankfully, but still wasted £16 on a Belkin one), made sure that all system technology was plugged into the same outlet. None of this made the slightest difference.

The answer was far more simple.

I had my PC plugged into my Amp via a mini jack to RCA phono lead. This was causing the whine. Simple as that. There must have been some kind of feedback going on in the system. So, hopefully for some of you by simply ensuring that your PC is not rigged up to your amp via the wholly inadequate mini-jack to phono line the whine will disappear.

I did also move my MBOX monitor outputs to the DVD/AV inputs on my amp and now no noise...none...peace...quiet...joy.

Let the music begin.....

Hope this helps any other numpties out there...

Cal

Re: High Pitch Whine SOLVED
 

Hi,

I have another solution to this very irritating problem of the high pitch whining sound in the mbox 2 mini.
Try plugging the power of your monitor speakers into another outlet (grounded or not grounded) then the rest of your gear.
This way you separate the ground from your setup from your speaker monitors. Because the problem really is in the ground somewhere!
It is not the best solution, but it works! It did for me.

Thing I also tried and didn't try:
-Tried different usb cables: did not work.
-Tried different outlets (grounden/not grounden) for the whole setup: did not work.
-Did not try the balanced cables, because I think that wont work, because the mBox 2 mini doesn't have balanced outputs.
-I also tried the mbox on a different computer: did not work.
-I even tried it in at a different location (same setup though): did not work.

I hope this will help all of you who had the same (very irritating) problem I had. Let me know if it also worked for you.

Greets,
Rav

Re: High Pitch Whine SOLVED
 

Onboard sound cards are notorious for terrible specs. Mine was always noisy plugged into the AUX inputs of my 003. Now I run the onboard SPDIF optical to an input on a Presonus Central Station. The improvement is huge.

Re: High Pitch Whine SOLVED
 

Hi,

I had the same problem, and did what you said and unplugged the mini jack to RCA phono lead and that solved the problem.

Thanks Cal
//Kjell

Re: High Pitch Whine SOLVED
 

How are you guys achieving this? I have my PC (Emachines, don't laugh!) connected to my Yamaha Motif 6 through USB. I have my Mbox 2 connected to my PC through USB. Then I also have the Mbox 2 connected to my Motif through MIDI. Everything is plugged into Furman Power Conditioner which doesn't help at all.

I get that high pitched whine even when my Motif and other equipment are off.

I can however get the noise to stop when I do have just my PC, Mbox 2 and Motif on when recording in this setup:

Motif 6: "Phones" -------- Mbox 2: "Input 1"

Oh my God, its golden when I can do this BUT, now I can't record stereo tracks anymore.

The continues when I do:

Motif 6: "Left and Right Outputs"----------Mbox2: "Input 1 and 2"

I'm plugging everything up just like the manual stated and I'm still getting this noise. I'm really close to selling off Pro Tools, seriously.

Re: High Pitch Whine SOLVED
 

Have you tried the specific troubleshooting steps to get rid of noise/whine for the Mbox in the General Troubleshooting thread?

Re: High Pitch Whine SOLVED
 

Why do you have both the USB and MIDI connected to the Motif? Eliminate one or the other and see if your problem goes away. You don't need them both.

Re: High Pitch Whine SOLVED
 

The Motif's connection to my PC is for downloading drivers and stuff like that. Even when I didn't have my Motif connected to my PC, I'd still get that nasty hum.

Yes, I've tried the troubleshooting for my Mbox 2 and nothing. I mean right now, my Motif is off and I can still hear this whining noise. I've even disabled my PC's soundcard and it'll be quiet until I load up PT. Is the USB cable that comes with the Mbox 2 shielded?

Re: High Pitch Whine SOLVED
 

Yes, and it has an in-line filter as well.

Every time we've heard reports of this, it's been determined there's nothing wrong with the Mbox - we've had dozens of them in for testing. Nearly every situation is solved with the steps given and, in those cases it's not, it's been determined to be specific to the computer, as testing the unit on another system (or several systems here) has not produced any whine.

Some computer designs are such that they put noise down the USB bus and, no matter what you do, it's bad enough that there will be noise. It's mostly the lower end systems that exhibit these issues - most likely due to bad design or cheap components.

Re: High Pitch Whine SOLVED
 

^^^ Thanks. Thats what I figured but I appreciate your help. Thanks.