White Noise? Humming? Hissing?

[AyCee]

Hey All,

I recently set up my home studio with the following equipment (thought maybe this info might be useful in getting some help):

MPC
Motif
Behringer Mixer
PT M-box

I have the Motif hooked up to the MPC via midi, and the Motif and MPC hooked up to the mixer with audio chords. I have the outs on the mixer going into the M-box.

When I open up PT and go in record mode, I hear a hissing/humming sound - often referred to as white noise? I also hear the sound as PT is loading up on my PC. When I record and playback, I can clearly hear the noise in the track.

How can I eliminate this to get a clean sound when I record? I'm not getting this noise when I'm sequencing on my MPC or Motif - only when I have the hardware set up through the M-box.

Can anyone help? I am brand new at this and would appreciate any advice or suggestions.

[necjamc]

First I would check all the cables. One by one for bad audio cables. I also sometimes get this when I plug my mixer into a different outlet than my interface. Sometimes just unplugging it all and rearranging can help a lot.

[AyCee]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

All the cables are brand new. I had the same problem when I plugged my Motif directly into the m-box.

Sometimes when I load up PT, open a new session and click on record, the static sound goes through the roof and now I'm in the red. I've tried rebooting my computer and that help sometimes.

Are my settings set up incorrectly? I can't imagine everyone going through this issue. There has to be hundreds of producers out there with home studio set ups.

How do they get their sound so clean?

[necjamc]

Have you tried to plug something direct into the mbox, to rule out the mixer? guitar, or even a radio?

[AyCee]

Originally Posted by necjamc

Have you tried to plug something direct into the mbox, to rule out the mixer? guitar, or even a radio?

Yes, I tried plugging my Motif directly into my M-box and I get the same results.

This is damn frustrating. I am positive that is the M-box because when I hook up my MPC to my Motif to my mixer, the sound is crystal clear on both my headphones and my monitors. It's only when I connect it to the M-box.

[Gravyblue]

Could be ground looping, Try lifting the motif ground (mains) . The best solution, especially if that fixes it, is to buy an isolator box (Behringer HD400 2-Channel Hum Destroyer New from $29.95)

[AyCee]

Originally Posted by Gravyblue

Could be ground looping, Try lifting the motif ground (mains) . The best solution, especially if that fixes it, is to buy an isolator box (Behringer HD400 2-Channel Hum Destroyer New from $29.95)

When I listen through my headphones or my monitors, there is no static or hissing sound. It's only when I plug it into my m-box.

Can it still be ground looping? Is it possible that my PC is picking up dirty power and running it into the m-box via usb?

[AyCee]

Ok, I have now tried damn near EVERY combination possible to connect the hardware into my m-box:

MPC DIRECTLY into m-box = static/hissing/humming
Motif DIRECTLY into m-box = static/hissing/humming
JUST the mixer (nothing connected to the mixer) into m-box = static/hissing/humming
Everything into mixer and mixer into m-box = static/hissing/humming

As SOON as I plug my 1/4 cables into the input of my m-box, I hear the static/hissing/humming. I even have all my equiptment (including my PC) plugged into the Monster Power power conditioner. I even purchased the HumX, connected my Motif to the HumX, and Motif directly to my m-box and I get the same thing.

What else can I do?!!! This is so damn frustrating. Is it the m-box?

[necjamc]

Originally Posted by AyCee

When I listen through my headphones or my monitors, there is no static or hissing sound. It's only when I plug it into my m-box.

Can it still be ground looping? Is it possible that my PC is picking up dirty power and running it into the m-box via usb?

Last night I set up to record my band at a larger venue. The sound man was nice enough to let me take 18 direct outs of his board which is a pretty nice Allen and Heath 40 channel console. After hooking it up 5 different ways, and changing outlets 3 times through 2 different conditioners, (all really good conditioners) I got hum, hiss, and noise.But here is the kicker. It was comeing through their mains. Not PT. But only when I connected. My side was fine but I was giving hum to their board. Balanced cables couldve saved me. But you never know. Ground loops are hard to pin down. Always try every thing and only one at a time to find the solution

[necjamc]

One more thing to consider. Check where all your gear is in relation to your computer. Fans cause a lot of weird noises in audio gear.