Buzzing!

Fatjac

Inspired
Hi all, well my new AF3 arrived last week but I had no opportunity to try it until today. Initial thoughts are that it is amazing. Several hours lost wandering through presets & menus so far. Really impressed. I have upgraded from a 2XL but it still seems a massive leap.

One observation though is that it seems very noisy. All I have done is replace the 2 with the 3 in my set up. SLA power amp in a rack playing through 2 2x12 cabs. Never been troubled by any interference before but now if I stand within 6 feet of the set up I have an enormous amount of buzzing & interference. All leads & cables have been swapped out for replacements to no avail.

Is this normal with the 3 or do I have a problem?

Help appreciated,

Gary
 
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I own two of the AF3 units, and I don't have this issue with either. Any chance you've tried the unit outside the rack, just to see if it is making these sounds, or something else is effecting it? Best of luck
 
Some things to try:

- If you reconnect your AxeFX2 does the noise persist or go away?l

- If the noise goes away try changing the ground lift switch on the back. Does changing the switch help?

- If the noise persists with both the AxeFXIII and the AxeFX2 then you could try changing out cables. I know that it's a hassle, but cables do fail...

- You could also try testing for a microphonic tube. :)
 
I own two of the AF3 units, and I don't have this issue with either. Any chance you've tried the unit outside the rack, just to see if it is making these sounds, or something else is effecting it? Best of luck

Thanks. Good idea, it's the same.
 
Some things to try:

- If you reconnect your AxeFX2 does the noise persist or go away?l

- If the noise goes away try changing the ground lift switch on the back. Does changing the switch help?

- If the noise persists with both the AxeFXIII and the AxeFX2 then you could try changing out cables. I know that it's a hassle, but cables do fail...

- You could also try testing for a microphonic tube. :)

Thanks. It goes away with the AF2 back in the rig.

Cables all swapped out, it's the same.

Yep, luckily I had a spare set of tubes but that didn't work either!

I really do hope that this doesn't have to go back to G66...I'm enjoying it SO much!
 
Hi all, well my new AF3 arrived last week but I had no opportunity to try it until today. Initial thoughts are that it is amazing. Several hours lost wandering through presets & menus so far. Really impressed. I have upgraded from a 2XL but it still seems a massive leap.

One observation though is that it seems very noisy. All I have done is replace the 2 with the 3 in my set up. SLA power amp in a rack playing through 2 2x12 cabs. Never been troubled by any interference before but now if I stand within 6 feet of the set up I have an enormous amount of buzzing & interference. All leads & cables have been swapped out for replacements to no avail.

Is this normal with the 3 or do I have a problem?

Help appreciated,

Gary
The only time I ever had interference buzz (versus amp buzz requiring a noise gate) is when my cell phone got too close to my floor setup.
 
Thanks for all the further suggestions.

No phone in the room!

Noise gate checked. Yes the threshold is different but some aggressive settings cure the noise but makes it unplayable to my taste.

The tip ref the supply frequency was a good one. It was set on 60HZ rather than 50HZ for Europe. I thought it would be the solution but it hasn't made any difference...

Input 1 to Output 1, great idea. Still noise, not as much but still evident. It is more apparent on high gain settings. It's just that I've never encountered this before to any degree with any of my previous Axe FX's.

Thanks.
 
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The noise floor and gate settings are a bit different in my experience
About 20db so if you ran AX2 at 70 threshold you will likely find you will be closer to 50 on the 3
It wont chop the note anymore just a different visual setting to do same thing
 
The Axe III is a different device than the Axe II. As such, the III could make noise in a rack that the II does not.

Also the noise could be from multiple sources.

Can you answer the following questions?
  • With everything powered on, your guitar connected, and your guitar volume turned all the way down, is there any noise?
  • What type of cables are you using to connect your Axe to the Power Amp (TS, TRS, XLR)? What type of input jack is on your power amp (TS, TRS, XLR)?
  • If you disconnect your USB cable, does the noise change?
  • Have you verified that you have a good ground on your electrical outlet(s)?
  • Do you have a quality power conditioner with real noise filtering in your rack? Note that a 50€ power conditioner is really just a glorified power strip. Some of the noise could be related to noise in your power source.
  • How is your Axe and Power amp mounted? Are they in a rack? Do their chassis touch? Note that if they are racked and you have not used isolation tabs their chassis grounds could be bonded through the mounting screws and rack rails. This could cause a ground loop which could cause noise.
  • Do you have any other external pedals or rack components connected? If yes, how are they powered? If yes, how are they connected?
  • Are you using a proper speaker cable between your power amp and speakers?
  • What does your signal chain look like? What type of connection are you using between each component and are you using the correct cable type?
  • Do you have power cables crossing over audio cables? Do you have audio cables crossing over other audio cables? Do you have power cables crossing over power cables? If cables must cross, do they cross at a 90 degree angle?
  • Could there be fan noise from the Axe III?
  • Have you verified continuity on all of the cables you are using?
I know that is a lot, but noise sources are very easy to create and very challenging to identify.
 
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The Axe III is a different device than the Axe II. As such, the III could make noise in a rack that the II does not.

Also the noise could be from multiple sources.

Can you answer the following questions?
  • With everything powered on, your guitar connected, and your guitar volume turned all the way down, is there any noise?

    No
  • What type of cables are you using to connect your Axe to the Power Amp (TS, TRS, XLR)? What type of input jack is on your power amp (TS, TRS, XLR)?

    Good quality XLR and humbuster where required
  • If you disconnect your USB cable, does the noise change?

    It’s not connected
  • Have you verified that you have a good ground on your electrical outlet(s)?

    Yes
  • Do you have a quality power conditioner with real noise filtering in your rack? Note that a 50€ power conditioner is really just a glorified power strip. Some of the noise could be related to noise in your power source.

    No
  • How is your Axe and Power amp mounted? Are they in a rack? Do their chassis touch? Note that if they are racked and you have not used isolation tabs their chassis grounds could be bonded through the mounting screws and rack rails. This could cause a ground loop which could cause noise.

    In a rack. Only connected via rhe chassis
  • Do you have any other external pedals or rack components connected? If yes, how are they powered? If yes, how are they connected?

    No
  • Are you using a proper speaker cable between your power amp and speakers?

    Yes
  • What does your signal chain look like? What type of connection are you using between each component and are you using the correct cable type?

    Guitar, Axe Fx, SLA, CABS
  • Do you have power cables crossing over audio cables? Do you have audio cables crossing over other audio cables? Do you have power cables crossing over power cables? If cables must cross, do they cross at a 90 degree angle?

    No crossing
  • Could there be fan noise from the Axe III?

    I don’t believe that it is fan noise
  • Have you verified continuity on all of the cables you are using?

    Yes
I know that is a lot, but noise sources are very easy to create and very challenging to identify.

Expand the above quote to see my answers.
Thanks I have replaced ALL of the cables, taken the unit in and out of the rack, gone back to the XL...
 
Expand the above quote to see my answers.
Thanks I have replaced ALL of the cables, taken the unit in and out of the rack, gone back to the XL...
A lot of good answers there. Having a silent rig when you roll of the volume is really good. Let’s dig into the items that you should look at to ensure they are not causing problems.

You indicate that you are using “XLR and humbuster where required”. I take it that you mean that you have tried both XLR and Humbusters on Output1? The SLA power amps I just looked at have an XLR and TRS input for each channel. Since the Axe 1/4” Ouptut 1 is balanced (TRS) and the SLA 1/4” input is balanced (TRS), you would use a TRS Cable if connecting via the 1/4” jack. But using XLR is equivalent, so if that did not help...

You indicate that the power amp and Axe are in a rack. The rack chassis is probably adding noise. If the screws contact any metal on the chassis, the screw will bond that chassis ground to the rack rails. If a second unit in the rack also gets its ground bonded to the rack rails, you have a ground loop. That will cause noise. Get you hands on some humfrees or similar type of rack isolation tabs. They are really cheap. https://www.guitarcenter.com/Humfre...MIzdXJvuDB4gIVDFqGCh3kHA8qEAQYAiABEgJf7fD_BwE

The noise that can come in on your power is something a lot of guitarist do not appreciate IMO. If you care about noise, you need to invest in a quality power management solution like the Equi=Tech Son Of Q or a Furman Prestige 1800. I use both the Furman P-1800 AR and PF-R. It makes a difference, but it is not cheap. The Son of Q is supposed to be the absolute shit.

Ultimately, the 100% proper way to tame noise in rigs is by using a bonafide star grounding scheme. That is a pretty technical endeavor though. Everything else is essentially a band aid.

Outside of those thoughts, the noise you are experiencing almost certainly includes some inducted noise being picked up by your guitar pickups. There is also the factor that the Axe III seems to be more sensitive. My gut says it is probably a mix of greater sensitivity of the Axe and the noise gate changes along with some other noise sources (e.g. power, rack ground loop, EMI) that pushed this over the edge for you.

I do not envy you. My rig is finally whisper silent, but it took a lot of learning, time, and work to get there. Dig in learn about noise in sound systems. Experiment with different cables. It really is a multi-layered puzzle and you have to determine how far you are willing to go.

EDIT: I made heavy use of the meter views to see what my inputs and outputs were doing that helped me to isolate different noise sources. Also read the section of the manual on setting levels. There is also something in the manual about lowering the noise floor on the Axe, you should play with those things too.
 
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Any chance of posting a recording of the 'noise'. As stated, noise takes many forms so narrowing it down may help.

Oh, and just straight through In1>Out 1 no other blocks.
 
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