New noise/buzz

[Greg Ferguson]

I know it's my computer causing the issue and I am not sure what to do about it. I guess build a farady cage around it?

Is your computer one of the "pretty" ones with clear panels so the internal components and blinking lights are visible? The clear sides let the EMI leak out, causing noise that pickups and wiring sense.

I suspect the 27" iMac display in front of me does the same, but I've never seen the back of the display inside the chassis, and I'm in a historical house with wiring from the late '30s, so who knows what the true source is.

 

[mesabassman]

Yes unfortunately. The side is clear, but it's made of tempered glass. I guess that doesn't make a difference. It's really hard to find anything that doesn't have a clear side. I love the case. All of the wiring, drives, etc are all in the back of the case which you do not see. It's so quiet, you can barely hear it running. I am in a 60 square foot room with amps, computer desk, about 400 LP's, guitars, stereo equipment, etc.

A friend of mine put some noiseless pickups and shielded my Strat which is now the quitest guitar I own. Now I just have to talk him into shielding the other 3.

 

[GitGuy513]

The one thing I had to come to grips with (and I have an electronics degree) is the FM3 (all FAS modelers) is a very powerful computing system with processors, timing circuits, displays, on board PSU, fan etc.. I don’t say this as a negative just an FYI. Because the FM3 is so nifty in size and easily picked up and placed on a table right next to my Laptop with an added display, my audio interface and any other electronic gizmo I may be using, there’s a large amount of EMI/RFI slamming my guitar a foot or two away. It’s inevitable to be an issue to deal with especially with true single coils. However all I have to do is turn my guitar away and move a bit farther as the gain of the preset increases. Having said this there is a discernible difference between a bad ground issue (that can usually be remedied) and natural stray EMI/RFI. Previously my DAW was on the floor a good 5 feet away. My amp and pedals were even a greater distance. Even then eliminating noise was always an issue and for me, an obsession.

One other thing, the reason it’s called “ground” is exactly that. The deeper and more mass the source of the mains “ground” is buried in the ground the better. I have some outlets that are better than others. It could be due to what other devices are on that circuit or maybe somewhere along that line there’s a poor connection. If I had the money I would have an isolated source from the pole brought in and have it securely grounded, have some high end filters and regulators put on at the box and only run my audio/studio equipment from it. Unfortunately that’s just not going to happen so I went through the house and while replacing the crappy receptacles I made sure everything was wired correctly.

A friend’s 40 year old house (relatively modern) he was renting that was causing nasty noise especially on the one room he wanted to play in. It was a pain, but I traced the problem to a couple large fluorescent light fixtures the owners installed in an unfinished basement and were tapped into the same circuit that room was on above it. Well, some were wired reverse polarity with no ground connection. Wired properly took care of it. Although it was better when the lights were not in the circuit at all especially when powered. That was something he needed to bring up with the owners. He eventually moved.

 

[alex1fly]

It’s sort of hard to follow your situation because now the problem has gone from “noise or buzz” to “hiss” which contextually are usually different things. Hiss is caused more by raising the always present noise floor higher with gain. Many times unnecessary or improper gain or gain staging. This is why recordings and being very specific in terminology is really important. Just like a picture can say a 1000 words, some recorded audio can do the same.

Well its both. It's a full frequency noise. There's a high frequency hiss from my pedalboard which I'm used to. The FM3 introduces a low/mid frequency buzz but the hiss is still there.

A Humbuster cable is designed to combat hum/buzz. In your OP you said you were getting buzz. Now you are saying you are getting hiss. Which is it?

Hiss is thermal noise. If you are going into the front of an amp and using the FM3 for effects only then use Output 2 and increase the Boost/Pad in the Setup menu. This will optimize the SNR for your use case.

The optimum way to use the FM3 with your amp is to use the FM3 into the amp's FX return (power amp in) and bypass the amp's preamp altogether.

I'm playing with this as well, and it works well.

I'll try to share soundcloud content here.

Here's the FM3 into the amp. High gain channel.


Here's the pedalboard into the amp. High gain channel.

 

[GitGuy513]

Well its both. It's a full frequency noise. There's a high frequency hiss from my pedalboard which I'm used to. The FM3 introduces a low/mid frequency buzz but the hiss is still there.

I'm playing with this as well, and it works well.

I'll try to share soundcloud content here.

Here's the FM3 into the amp. High gain channel.


Here's the pedalboard into the amp. High gain channel.

Is the top one with the humbuster cable?

Update:
How far is the FM3 from the amp?

 

[alex1fly]

Is the top one with the humbuster cable?

Update:
How far is the FM3 from the amp?

Yes, top is with the humbuster cable between the FM3 and amp. FM3 is 4-5' from the amp. When this started it was directly on top of the amp, unwanted noise was about the same.

 

[FractalAudio]

Well its both. It's a full frequency noise. There's a high frequency hiss from my pedalboard which I'm used to. The FM3 introduces a low/mid frequency buzz but the hiss is still there.

I'm playing with this as well, and it works well.

I'll try to share soundcloud content here.

Here's the FM3 into the amp. High gain channel.


Here's the pedalboard into the amp. High gain channel.

That's ground noise. Make sure your Humbuster cable is plugged in correctly. The TRS end goes to the FM3. Also make sure both the FM3 and amp are plugged into the same outlet or power strip.

 

[alex1fly]

That's ground noise. Make sure your Humbuster cable is plugged in correctly. The TRS end goes to the FM3. Also make sure both the FM3 and amp are plugged into the same outlet or power strip.

Thanks for the guidance. Good to identify the noise. Unfortunately the noise doesn't go away with the humbuster cable.

 

[alex1fly]

You could also use a small isolation transformer like this one:

Amazon product ASIN B00BARTW3I


I use these and they do the job perfectly well and don't impact tone at all.

So I got one of these. $20 from Amazon. It does kill the hum. Humbuster cable did not. YMMV. Oddly it does reduce the volume a bit which I've compensated for with the Amp Level control, wasn't expecting that but seems okay otherwise.

 

[GreatGreen]

So I got one of these. $20 from Amazon. It does kill the hum. Humbuster cable did not. YMMV. Oddly it does reduce the volume a bit which I've compensated for with the Amp Level control, wasn't expecting that but seems okay otherwise.

Glad the recommendation worked out! For what it’s worth, I have a few of these and mine do not reduce the volume at all, and I use them for both instrument and line level applications.

However, what has reduced the volume for me in situations like this is an improperly made cable, specifically a hand made patch cable that used Mogami instrument cable, where the interior black protective coating was not removed. That is a conductive coating and will reduce volume massively if not peeled away during the process of making the cable. Not sure if this is your issue, but it’s happened to me and might be worth checking out. If you remove the metal cable end cover to reveal the solder joints, and you see that the interior shielding has a black color that reaches all the way up to the core copper line, that is probably what’s happening. If, however, that interior black layer is peeled away and you can see the relatively clear protective coating covering the core copper, your issue might be something else. Be sure to check both ends of every cable in the line where you are getting reduced volume.

 

[Rex]

Glad the recommendation worked out! For what it’s worth, I have a few of these and mine do not reduce the volume at all, and I use them for both instrument and line level applications.

However, what has reduced the volume for me in situations like this is an improperly made cable, specifically a hand made patch cable that used Mogami instrument cable, where the interior black protective coating was not removed. That is a conductive coating and will reduce volume massively if not peeled away during the process of making the cable. Not sure if this is your issue, but it’s happened to me and might be worth checking out. If you remove the metal cable end cover to reveal the solder joints, and you see that the interior shielding has a black color that reaches all the way up to the core copper line, that is probably what’s happening. If, however, that interior black layer is peeled away and you can see the relatively clear protective coating covering the core copper, your issue might be something else. Be sure to check both ends of every cable in the line where you are getting reduced volume.

Yes. That conductive coating has gotten me, too, on cables from another brand.

 

[GreatGreen]

Yes. That conductive coating has gotten me, too, on cables from another brand.

Glad to hear it wasn't just me then, hah.

Just to be transparent, I'm not knocking Mogami cables at all. Actually, I've used Mogami cable for about 20 years and absolutely love it. The black interior coating is just one of those gotcha's I recently learned about so I'm passing it on because it's a very popular cable.

 

[Rex]

Glad to hear it wasn't just me then, hah.

Just to be transparent, I'm not knocking Mogami cables at all. Actually, I've used Mogami cable for about 20 years and absolutely love it. The black interior coating is just one of those gotcha's I recently learned about so I'm passing it on because it's a very popular cable.

That conductive layer serves a purpose, though. it helps maintain shielding when a cable gets flexed, causing a gap to open in the braided-copper shield. It looks like an insulator, but it's not.

 

[GreatGreen]

That conductive layer serves a purpose, though. it helps maintain shielding when a cable gets flexed, causing a gap to open in the braided-copper shield. It looks like an insulator, but it's not.

Oh for sure. I'm not saying that part is worthless, just that if you're making cables, you need to pay attention to that layer and take the time to peel it back.