Axe FX II - noise when using hi-gain presets

Tom1383

Tom1383

Member
I'm a happy new user of the Axe. I hear a background noise when using hi-gain presets.

My setup:

Axe ---> guitar cable (high end) ---> new Ibanez guitar with passive humbucker pickups

The Axe goes to the PC with an USB cable.

I recorded the noise, which can be heard when I just hold the guitar, without picking a note:





What can I do to eliminate this noise?
 
How close were you to your PC and monitor when you recorded that?

Being too close can pick up electrical interference. Humbuckers are better than single coils when it comes to that, but not all humbuckers are created equal.

Hard to make a diagnosis. I need more information.
 
Either there's a ton of interference in the room, or you have a bad ground somewhere.

Unplug your guitar cable from the front of the Axe-Fx. What happens to the noise?
 
that's what it sounds like in my friends basement too when we practice. He has so many damn electronics and shit..
My only idea for a solution is to get the Power block from Walrus Audio, because it has the 9v adaptors but also an outlet on it, something that I thought didn't exist, but I really wanted. Using one spots and daisey chains are always culprits of noise making.
 
Thanks for the answers guys!

@Lionheart : I was sitting very close to the PC and monitor, right in the front of them. When I switch off the PC and monitor, the noise volume goes a little bit down, but not that much. The only bigger change, that a rhythmic beeping in the noise goes away. (I was not able to record this beeping, because as soon as I press record on the PC (I used Sound Forge to record the noise), the beeping stops, but the rest of the noise remains.

(The PC and monitor are plugged in to the same power strip as the Axe, so even switched off, they still might cause some noise I guess.)


@mr_fender : Thanks, I'll read on the topic of 60 cycle hum from mains wiring see what I can do. (Until now, I have recorded the clean signal through a Focusrite Scarlett audio interface, and added Guitar Rig in the DAW, so I had no problems with noise.)


@fromthebark : I'll check out this power block, thanks!

@Rex : I'll be home tomorrow, and I'll try this and write your what happens.
 
Tom1383 said:
I was sitting very close to the PC and monitor, right in the front of them. When I switch off the PC and monitor, the noise volume goes a little bit down, but not that much. The only bigger change, that a rhythmic beeping in the noise goes away. (I was not able to record this beeping, because as soon as I press record on the PC (I used Sound Forge to record the noise), the beeping stops, but the rest of the noise remains.

(The PC and monitor are plugged in to the same power strip as the Axe, so even switched off, they still might cause some noise I guess.)
Click to expand...
I would suspect a ground loop issue. Get the Ebtech Hum X. This is probably the cheapest, easiest and effective way to eliminate the problem. Plug it into the wall outlet and then plug your power strip into it. Simple. I own one and can vouch for it. That would be my suggestion.

humxsplashbanner.jpg
 
A ground loop is a real possibility, but do the unplug-the-cable test first to find our whether it's interference. When hum and noise come up, people are quick to recommend power-line fixes. But more often than not, the problem is external interference, and all the power tricks in the world won't fix that.
 
Rex said:
Either there's a ton of interference in the room, or you have a bad ground somewhere.

Unplug your guitar cable from the front of the Axe-Fx. What happens to the noise?
Click to expand...

I have unplugged the cable, and the noise has immediately disappeared.
 
Tom1383 said:
I have unplugged the cable, and the noise has immediately disappeared.
Click to expand...

This means the noise is getting in through your guitar. Computers are notorious noise generators. Sitting directly in front of one can often create noise into the guitar. My previous computer was terrible in this regard because it had a window on the side. I just built a new one and used the best case I could find with no side window and a metal door over the front to prevent any emissions out of the drive bays. It's now totally silent.
 
FractalAudio said:
This means the noise is getting in through your guitar. Computers are notorious noise generators. Sitting directly in front of one can often create noise into the guitar. My previous computer was terrible in this regard because it had a window on the side. I just built a new one and used the best case I could find with no side window and a metal door over the front to prevent any emissions out of the drive bays. It's now totally silent.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the clarification! I guess it's bad news, because I can only eliminate the noise through getting a new computer case? (Or can I put an isolation layer between the PC case and the Axe?)

I walked around now in my room, the cable length is 3 meters, but the noise remains constant even when I'm 3.5 meters from the PC&monitor.
 
Lionheart said:
I would suspect a ground loop issue. Get the Ebtech Hum X. This is probably the cheapest, easiest and effective way to eliminate the problem. Plug it into the wall outlet and then plug your power strip into it. Simple. I own one and can vouch for it. That would be my suggestion.
Click to expand...

I didn't know that this kind of device exists, thanks for the heads up! I live in Europe so I'd need a different version, but still it's very good to know that there is a solution for ground loop. (Although it seems that in my case the noise is generated by the computer.)
 
I had this problem with a new guitar that I got awhile back. Horrible sound like this, got worse as I approached the PC but never entirely went away no mater how far away I got. I concluded that it was a shit ton of interference from multiple different sources in the basement (fluorescents / bad wiring/ pcs). I was able to crank the noise gate settings way up and get it go away as a temporary fix but it didn't go away entirely until I had my PUP wiring redone and shielded properly.
 
Spawn2031 said:
I had this problem with a new guitar that I got awhile back. Horrible sound like this, got worse as I approached the PC but never entirely went away no mater how far away I got. I concluded that it was a shit ton of interference from multiple different sources in the basement (fluorescents / bad wiring/ pcs). I was able to crank the noise gate settings way up and get it go away as a temporary fix but it didn't go away entirely until I had my PUP wiring redone and shielded properly.
Click to expand...

That's yet another good point I should check. Thanks!
The guitar is fairly new, and has humbuckers (factory pickups, no change), it may be possible that it picks up all the interference in the room.
 
UPDATE: I unplugged the PC and monitor from the power strip, so that only the Axe was left in it. The noise (although a bit softer) remained.

After that I set aside the power strip entirely and plugged the Axe directly into the wall outlet. Noise level: same.

There is a rhythmic noise element as well. Even when the PC isn't plugged in. It appears when I turn the volume knob of the guitar to 0.

When I turn up the volume, then this rhythmic noise goes away, but the continuous ground noise comes back. (Even when the PC is unplugged.)

That means that it's the guitar pickups that picks up all kinds of interferences, am I right? And the PC just adds its part when it's on.
 
Yes, this means that your PC is not the only source of interference.

It's interesting that you get a rhythmic noise when you turn down your guitar's volume. When you're getting that rhythmic noise, take a spare guitar cable and use it to short the bridge to the jack plate (touch one tip to the bridge and the other tip to the jack plate). Does the noise change?
 
Ironically, the biggest EMF generator in proximity to my guitar is the MIDI control board (Berringer FCB 1010).

I had problems with EMF generated noise in my last home, then when we decided to move I bought an EMF detector for about $100 and it came in really handy during our house hunting (although I got a few weird looks from others, especially from the agents). For example, one place that was selling really cheap because it was 50m from a transmission line, it turns out there WAS relatively high intensity EMF there. But some other things to watch out for are:
- Distance from street overhead power lines - if your property e.g. apartment is close to the footpath / overhead lines, try moving to the back of the apartment.
- type of electrical wiring in the ceiling (e.g. in one house I visited, everywhere there was high EMF and I couldn't work it out, then I held the detector up high and could almost trace where the wiring was going. There was a newer extension in the house that didn't have this problem)
- Location of the fuse box - keep your guitar playing area and kids beds away from it.

Luckily for most EMF generating devices in the home, the affected zone is relatively small and just moving to the other side of the room is enough. However, power lines may have several metres of influence and transmission lines are just pricks to live near.
 
You are on the right track by turning off your computer. Do the same with the lights, nearby appliances, etc. and you might be able to pinpoint the source of the interference. Single coil pickups (or split humbuckers) make good EMI detectors. Get a long cable, pull up a high gain preset on your axe, and walk around your house with a Strat in position 1. You'll find the noisy spots for sure. ;)

Watch out for anything radio based too like mobile phones, wifi routers, bluetooth devices, etc. Some of those lovely new "Smart" bulbs that you can control wirelessly with phone apps and home automation systems can be horrible noise generators. Not only do they have transformers in them for power, but also dimmer circuits and wifi or bluetooth radios. That could be three possible noise sources right over your head.
 
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