Keyboard Static sound issue

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Yankeemix

So I cleaned the pot and no more noise when I turn the monitor knob.

However I don't know why I get a static sound when I play on the keyboard. This comes and goes.

Try different patches and also don't try and play at full volume all the time, especially on sustained chords.

[Yankeemix]

Still the same. I know it's not the inputs of the keyboard because I tested them with my headphones and there is no static sounds as I play the keys.

I also tried it in FL Studio and there is no static sound either.

So it must be Pro Tools?

Should I uninstall and reinstall Pro Tools?

[Darryl Ramm]

Not sure how this is a software issue, I'd not waste time reinstalling Pro Tools yet.... and I can't explain FL Studio. You have an audio recording DAW in front of you, so can you recording this noise and post online so we can listen. (and I want to make sure the noise is in the recording and not in the monitoring path.... how do you monitor while tracking these keyboards?).

In case it is Pro Tools: What IO buffer size are you running at? Session sample rate? make sure Ignore errors is *not* checked. Have you tried any standard troubleshooting for Pro Tools.. like trashing prefs, removing third party plugin files, etc?

Except for the FL Studio not showing the issue, this still all sounds like a classing grounding/ground loop issue. Including association with you touching something (capacitance effects or you grounding the device in touching it). So I'm pretty dubious it's actually Pro Tools. Is there anything in the wiring that you change between FL Studio and Pro Tools?

It went away and came back... so I would normally something physical is different, e.g. you have a intermittent ground wire somewhere, or bad other cable, a faulty or dirty TRS socket, bad power supply wiring/grounding, some device (a computer? florescent light? monitor? refrigerator) creating noise and coupling via RF or the power wiring.. You should still spend time troubleshooting those things. Starting with checking all power supply grounds, simplifying wiring and unplugging and turning off as much stuff as you can nearby or on the same power supply. Especially disconnect all MIDI cabling while recording the audio. Lots of books on audio engineering include good discussions on grounding and ground loops etc. ... but the FL Studio test seems to say it's Pro Tools, so lets hear that noise. Can you post both what you record in Pro Tools and the same thing in FL Studio.

[Yankeemix]

piano

https://we.tl/2NJrGLw5Us

Buffer size: 256 samples

sample rate: 44.1khz

Ignore errors is not checked

No I haven't tried any standard troubleshooting. I have waves installed.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Yankeemix

piano

https://we.tl/2NJrGLw5Us

Buffer size: 256 samples

sample rate: 44.1khz

Ignore errors is not checked

No I haven't tried any standard troubleshooting. I have waves installed.

I downloaded and listened to your sample; also put it up on Adobe Audition and guess what - there are spikes happening every 16.7 millisecond which is the period of the 60Hz AC mains in your house. So it's not PT or any software on your computer. Somehow you've got something generating the noise; being that it comes and goes is maddening but here's a list of things to look for:
flourescent lights
cfl's (those squiggly looking light bulbs that are flourescent bulbs in another configuration
neon sign nearby
touch lamps
and a bunch of other things

You really need to do some troubleshooting elsewise you're wasting both our time and yours. Start by shutting off everything at the breaker box except for the circuit your equipment is on. If it goes away - that's good. then one by one turn on each breaker and any equipment plugged into that circuit. Each time you turn on a new breaker check if you're getting the sound. Being this is getting past any line filtering in the power supplies in your setup I'm willing to bet it's radiated noise and not conducted via the incoming mains. If you're in an apartment building - good luck
It could be any number of things that your neighbors have going on.

[Darryl Ramm]

While I agree with Musicman it's likely an external signal, it looks and sounds more like RF interference than mains hum.

It's intersting you can also hear when the static occurs and it seems likely when fingers are lifted off the keys. So more signs it's real-world RF interference.

The spikes are occurring at around 3.9 kHz and kinda look like some low frequency modulation of an RF signal. Got a amateur radio operator nearby? Wireless phone? etc.

The approach already outlined of turning off everything in the building is a good way to start. Getting ferrite chokes on power supply cables. unplug and turn off frigging everything not needed. Double check grounds and proper power and signal wiring.

Working out how to monitor/record the sound is useful so you can listen to it while messing around finding what makes it go away. If it happens when the keyboard is not touched does it happen to a bare input cable not connected to the keyboard? Does it happen if say a battery powered headphone amp is plugged into the keyboard? There is lots of things you can do to help track down the source. If it's happening when you don't touch the keyboard then it points to the keyboard ground or RF shielding within the keyboard being a problem.... which should be fixable.

I have no idea why it does not show up in FL Studio recording (it might be helpful to look at a FL Studio recoding and see if it has similar artifacts) and it's very easy to fool yourself something is happening, e.g. you are unintentionally touching or otherwise grounding the keyboard when recording.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

While I agree with Musicman it's likely an external signal, it looks and sounds more like RF interference than mains hum.

It's intersting you can also hear when the static occurs and it seems likely when fingers are lifted off the keys. So more signs it's real-world RF interference.

The spikes are occurring at around 3.9 kHz and kinda look like some low frequency modulation of an RF signal. Got a amateur radio operator nearby? Wireless phone? etc.

The approach already outlined of turning off everything in the building is a good way to start. Getting ferrite chokes on power supply cables. unplug and turn off frigging everything not needed. Double check grounds and proper power and signal wiring.

Working out how to monitor/record the sound is useful so you can listen to it while messing around finding what makes it go away. If it happens when the keyboard is not touched does it happen to a bare input cable not connected to the keyboard? Does it happen if say a battery powered headphone amp is plugged into the keyboard? There is lots of things you can do to help track down the source. If it's happening when you don't touch the keyboard then it points to the keyboard ground or RF shielding within the keyboard being a problem.... which should be fixable.

A lot of commercial electronic equipment is not very well shielded against rfi. Ham radio op here and I know this very well. If you really want to get into searching out the culprit get a portable battery powered AM radio and walk around your property. Where you get the loudest is at least one of the sources of your ailment; there may be more than one.

Anybody got one of those electronic fenceless dog fences? rfi emitters big time. Electric fence? Ditto. Lamp dimmers? Ditto again. A lot of current electronics use switch mode power supplies which depend on an oscillator for their operation and said oscillator is usually a square wave. Got a line lump or wall wart power supply? They're nasty for rfi. I'll bet I could find the problem in less than an hour but I don't travel. Try to hook up with a local ham and ask him or her to help you do a trace. They should be more than willing to help out.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by musicman691

I downloaded and listened to your sample; also put it up on Adobe Audition and guess what - there are spikes happening every 16.7 millisecond which is the period of the 60Hz AC mains in your house.

I have to admit I made an error here in the numbers; I haven't used Audition in quite a while and looked at the wrong set of numbers. The number I posted was for what the whole window was and not the waveform.

That being said there's a bunch of noise at different frequencies on the waveform. What exact piano did you use for this sound?

Something to try in your troubleshooting is to unplug the Motif and just enter MIDI notes by hand at different velocities and volumes and play them back and see if you still get the noise.