Re: 60 cycle hum in racks - stopping the insanity / share your magic

[Michael Firman <maf@mlswebworks.com>]

  Lifting the ground on ALL the devices that are plugged in
usually fixes the problem. I've noticed that some devices seem
to be worse than others when connected, but ground lifting has
always solved the problem for me.

On Jan 31, 2005, at 11:45 AM, Krispen Hartung wrote:

> 60 cycle hum....drives me insane too. I've been meaning to post
> something on this to the group, ways to eliminate it in racks.
>
> I've tried:
>
> - Separating power chords from audio cables
> - Mounting effects with nylon washers (two), inside and outside (don't
> worry about the systems they sell for asinine prices on the web...you
> can do it for a fraction of the cost by going down to a hardware store
> and buying your own nylon washers...boy, I wish I could sell 16 nylon
> washers online for $5...what a mark-up)
> - Installing a nice Furman power conditioner with so-called zero ground
> protection, also cleaning up some of the wall warts
> - Tried different outlets and circuits in the house; unplugged other
> devices in the circuit, including the computer, lights, reostats, etc
> - Changing audio cables
> - Running effects in series versus parallel via mixer board AUX 
> channels
> - Lifting the ground, adding back the ground
> - Removing specific effects from the power and audio chain
>
> ...everything short of incantations, hexes, and attempting black magic!
> :)
>
> I discovered the wall wart power supplies have a lot to do with
> it...they produce some serious electro-magnetic fields. Also, I have a
> Lexicon LXP5 and LXP1 that did not come with the original power
> supplies, so have ordered two more from Lexicon, just in case. They
> should be here any day.  The power supply for my Boss SX700 is a 
> strange
> one too. Just picking it up or changing it's direction produces
> different degrees of hum.  I may order a new one of that as well.
>
> This issue is very slippery. There are so many factors, and just
> tweaking one thing in a system can impact other factors, and visa 
> versa.
> Before I built this new rack system, I had absolutely no 60 cycle hum.
> Then when I added all those effects in my rack (LXPs, VF-1, Akira, etc)
> and their respected power supplies....the hum appeared.  It's 
> definitely
> a systematic issue, because one thing does not cause the hum by itself,
> and removing one thing does not eliminate it.  In short, nothing is
> sufficient or necessary to produce hum...one of those concepts that
> baffles philosophers when trying to define a thing, state, or event.
>
> For record, I absolutely loath and despise with every fiber of my being
> those freakin' wall wart power supplies. I wish everyone would just
> build them internally and use a standard PC power cord, like with the
> EDPs.
>
> Kris
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mungenast@earthlink.net [mailto:mungenast@earthlink.net]
> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 8:49 AM
> To: info@krispenhartung.com
> Subject: baby monitor as musical tool RE: emulating a cheap sampling 
> toy
>
>
> Another Great Idea, Krispen! As a parent, I remember how much fun the
> monitor's static was...I normally hate static, but this was more like
> cool artifcats, the "wee--oooo" pseudo-shortwave kind of noise, quite
> musical. And the substrate for the artifacts was a rather comforting
> hiss. (I can dig a little hiss... it's 60-cycle hum that drives me
> insane.)
>
> Sonic
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Krispen Hartung <info@krispenhartung.com>
> Sent: Jan 30, 2005 11:22 AM
> To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> Subject: RE: emulating a cheap sampling toy
>
> How about this...buy youself an inexpensive baby monitor system.  The
> cool thing is that it is wireless...plus I think it's a totally
> ludicrous use of the technology! :)  You could just put a mic on the
> receive side (parent) and put the transmitter side (baby) next to your
> sound source (amp, percussion devices, mouth, etc).    I'm thinking you
> could do all sorts of clever things with the wireless part, like 
> leaving
> your music loops go, and wandering around with the transimtter, corny
> audience interaction, etc.
>
> http://www.babyuniverse.com/search.asp?store=baby&searchstring=monitor
> (some of these have two receivers, so you could get really clever)
>
> Sorry if someone already suggested this...  Hah!!!
>
> Kris
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
--
| Michael A. Firman
| maf@mlswebworks.com
| http://www.mlswebworks.com