Help! White Noise!!! (Resolved)

[StinkyStan]

This white noise is driving me nuts. I'm at my wits' end.

I haven't even launched Pro Tools and my mbox mini is outputting what sounds like the fizzy sound of a vinyl record. And this is after I have already trashed the databases and prefs and restarted. This is happening almost everyday now. I've been using 8.0.1 since it was released and never had any issues until now. Any suggestions are much appreciated.


Here's my specs:

Quad/4GB RAM/WinXP Sp2/mbox mini/PTLE 8.0.1

Edit to add: Issue seems to be resolved. A simple swap of the USB cable seemed to do the trick. I guess the USB cable I was using has gone bad? Should have thought of that earlier!

Edit to add: Issue has been minimized. White noise has been dramatically reduced, but it is still there.

[TOM@METRO]

Do you have access to another computer to check this with?

[StinkyStan]

Originally Posted by TOM@METRO

Do you have access to another computer to check this with?

Unfortunately, I do not.

[StinkyStan]

Could a bad/faulty USB cable (or port) cause something like this? Has anyone else experienced this?

[critza]

Originally Posted by StinkyStan

This white noise is driving me nuts. I'm at my wits' end.

I haven't even launched Pro Tools and my mbox mini is outputting what sounds like the fizzy sound of a vinyl record. And this is after I have already trashed the databases and prefs and restarted. This is happening almost everyday now. I've been using 8.0.1 since it was released and never had any issues until now. Any suggestions are much appreciated.


Here's my specs:

Quad/4GB RAM/WinXP Sp2/mbox mini/PTLE 8.0.1

If you're experiencing noise from the Mbox II, there are several things to try:

- Make sure you're using balanced cables on all balanced inputs and outputs. Remember that the Mbox 2 outputs are unbalanced, and should use unbalanced connections.
- Try using a power conditioner for all your electronic gear (Furman, Monster).
- Run your outputs directly to shielded monitors and not through a mixer to see if the noise goes away.
- Some noise complaints arise from noisy power supply units inside computers - try installing and running on another computer (or if you're using a laptop, unplug the power supply and run off of batteries to see if noise goes away). Moving the Mbox II in relation to your monitor, computer or speakers may also lessen the noise.
- Unplug and turn off all unnecessary gear and run only the computer, the Mbox II, and monitors.
- Listen through headphones to determine if the noise is isolated to a particular output.
- Make sure you're not running through a USB hub or other device - the Mbox II always needs to be plugged directly into the computer.
- Try all USB ports on the computer to see if the noise lessens.
- Trace your cable path for long cable runs, and isolate your cables from possible interference (other gear, florescent lighting, CRT monitors, etc).

Lastly, if you feel a repair is necessary, please contact Digidesign Tech Support to set up an RA.

[chrisduncanaudio]

When I was having this issue, I searched everywhere for this problem, finally found a Digi page suggesting that you use balanced TRS - XLR cables. If that fails, try a Monster USB cable. For me, the USB cable reduced the noise but didn't eliminate it, whereas switching to balanced cables did. Bad hardware design.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by chrisduncanaudio

When I was having this issue, I searched everywhere for this problem, finally found a Digi page suggesting that you use balanced TRS - XLR cables. If that fails, try a Monster USB cable. For me, the USB cable reduced the noise but didn't eliminate it, whereas switching to balanced cables did. Bad hardware design.

Good hardware design(bad choice of cables the first time around).

[TOM@METRO]

Right, you really can't blame hardware for noise induced by running unbalanced or low quality cables. Glad to hear you running well now though.

[stone11]

I tried everything to kill the noise out of my mbox mini.

- I use balanced audio cables
- I tried different grounded sockets troughout my house. Even at different addresses miles away, with the same problem.
- audio cables go directly to my monitor speakers
- I tried the mbox on a few computer, with same results. Also moving the mbox away from the speakers does not help.
- I only have my computer and monitor speaker turn on.
- With headphones you can also hear some noise.
- I have the usb cable plugged directly into my computer and tried all the usb cables i have.
- I tried all USB ports on the 3 computers I tried it on.
- I traced the cables paths for interferance. Audio and USB are not parralel and dont even cross eachother. Cables are less then 2meters.

So...I tried everything without any results.

I did find one solution: plugging my monitor speakers into an ungrounded socket! Then the noise is gone.

rav

[DigiTechSupt]

I did find one solution: plugging my monitor speakers into an ungrounded socket! Then the noise is gone.

If you had to do that to get rid of the noise, then the noise was caused by a ground loop in your system.

There's tons of info on the internet about ground loops, what causes them, etc. You may want to read up on it a bit - it can get technical, but it will at least give you some background and info about what may be wrong with your power that's causing the problem (most likely bad ground in one or more legs of your AC distribution).