Sudden Jump in Noise

R

rjspurling

Member
Hi guys,

I have recently experienced a jump in noise when recording with my AX8. I have owned and loved it for two years. When I first bought one back in 2016, I had some issues with a high frequency noise coming from the AX8 which would oscillate with the LEDs. Fractal were very helpful and replaced the unit (I believe with a modification, unsure what it was).

I have had no issue for the last two years (I'm still using the same equipment - guitars/pickups/etc). A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a lot of noise while recording. I gave up, and tried again in the morning to find the noise had diminished. I did not have an issue again until two days ago. Now the noise will not go away. I have not performed any updates or changes to my setup.

Here is an audio clip on a clean preset (Hipower Brilliant).


What I have tried:
-Different guitars
-Different input cables
-Using the FX return as my input (to determine if it's a faulty input jack)
-Different AX8 outputs
-Different output devices (recording interface, PA, and straight to headphones)
-Different presets (the volume of noise varies due to gain, but it is always present)
-I also took the unit to my parents house in a different suburb with the same result. The AX8 doesn't move (I don't gig), so it has only been tested in two locations.

I assumed it may be a power supply issue (renting a new place since 3 months ago) or EM interference. If I hold the guitar near the ceiling, the noise increases, but I'm unsure if the increase in noise is just extra EM noise from wiring in the roof that adds to the current noise, or the source of the issue. I took the unit to my parents house which is 20 mins away (to test if it was power related). I experienced the same noise I get at home.

If I unplug the input (and turn off the noise gate), I can hear noise through the outputs, but it's very quiet and mostly just white noise with a bit of whistle. This suggests to me that the noise I'm experiencing is input signal related. However, I don't think there is anything left for me to test. The noise is present with just the AX8, a guitar, instrument cable, and some headphones.

Would this be a dirty power supply issue? Has anyone had similar experiences? I've been looking at power conditioners or a UPS unit, but I'm hesitant to spend the money if it isn't the issue (since the noise is only recent).

Anyone had similar experiences?

Thanks,
Rob.
 
Yes, I have had the exact same problem and the noise sounded the same as in your clip. I have posted some treads here but never got it solved. Usually when you have noise problem most people believe you are doing something wrong or you have badly shielded guitars etc. I tried it with my Prs, James Tyler and so on that I have never hade any problem with otherwise but nothing helped. And cables. And diffrent locations. And so on.

Which firmware are you on? When I updated to the latest I do believe it is better. Now I can actually turn off the noisegate. At clean sounds. Couldn´t do that before.
 
southbeck said:
Yes, I have had the exact same problem and the noise sounded the same as in your clip. I have posted some treads here but never got it solved. Usually when you have noise problem most people believe you are doing something wrong or you have badly shielded guitars etc. I tried it with my Prs, James Tyler and so on that I have never hade any problem with otherwise but nothing helped. And cables. And diffrent locations. And so on.

Which firmware are you on? When I updated to the latest I do believe it is better. Now I can actually turn off the noisegate. At clean sounds. Couldn´t do that before.
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for the reply. I was on firmware 9.03. I have just updated to 10.01. I made a recording before and after the update to see if there was any difference. Unfortunately, I didn't hear a difference.

Has your issue been present from the day you bought it, or did it appear later on? The fact that I had no issue previously tells me something has changed.
 
rjspurling said:
Hi guys,

I have recently experienced a jump in noise when recording with my AX8. I have owned and loved it for two years. When I first bought one back in 2016, I had some issues with a high frequency noise coming from the AX8 which would oscillate with the LEDs. Fractal were very helpful and replaced the unit (I believe with a modification, unsure what it was).

I have had no issue for the last two years (I'm still using the same equipment - guitars/pickups/etc). A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a lot of noise while recording. I gave up, and tried again in the morning to find the noise had diminished. I did not have an issue again until two days ago. Now the noise will not go away. I have not performed any updates or changes to my setup.

Here is an audio clip on a clean preset (Hipower Brilliant).


What I have tried:
-Different guitars
-Different input cables
-Using the FX return as my input (to determine if it's a faulty input jack)
-Different AX8 outputs
-Different output devices (recording interface, PA, and straight to headphones)
-Different presets (the volume of noise varies due to gain, but it is always present)
-I also took the unit to my parents house in a different suburb with the same result. The AX8 doesn't move (I don't gig), so it has only been tested in two locations.

I assumed it may be a power supply issue (renting a new place since 3 months ago) or EM interference. If I hold the guitar near the ceiling, the noise increases, but I'm unsure if the increase in noise is just extra EM noise from wiring in the roof that adds to the current noise, or the source of the issue. I took the unit to my parents house which is 20 mins away (to test if it was power related). I experienced the same noise I get at home.

If I unplug the input (and turn off the noise gate), I can hear noise through the outputs, but it's very quiet and mostly just white noise with a bit of whistle. This suggests to me that the noise I'm experiencing is input signal related. However, I don't think there is anything left for me to test. The noise is present with just the AX8, a guitar, instrument cable, and some headphones.

Would this be a dirty power supply issue? Has anyone had similar experiences? I've been looking at power conditioners or a UPS unit, but I'm hesitant to spend the money if it isn't the issue (since the noise is only recent).

Anyone had similar experiences?

Thanks,
Rob.
Click to expand...


the noise only occures with noise-gate off or in both ways ?
 
Jens973 said:
the noise only occures with noise-gate off or in both ways ?
Click to expand...

Hi mate, the clip I posted is with the noise gate activated. Previously, this noise gate setting (hasn't been changed) captured any slight background noise making it barely noticeable. Now (with clean tones), you can hear the noise on top of the notes, making any sustained note pretty unusable in a recording setting.
 
rjspurling said:
Hi mate, the clip I posted is with the noise gate activated. Previously, this noise gate setting (hasn't been changed) captured any slight background noise making it barely noticeable. Now (with clean tones), you can hear the noise on top of the notes, making any sustained note pretty unusable in a recording setting.
Click to expand...
I tested yesterday on my AX8 - also with noise gate activated - and it is pretty quiete, obvious if I crank up the volume without playing there are some small noises, tonight I will test again with different clean tones and different amps.
 
Jens973 said:
I tested yesterday on my AX8 - also with noise gate activated - and it is pretty quiete, obvious if I crank up the volume without playing there are some small noises, tonight I will test again with different clean tones and different amps.
Click to expand...

Back home I just tested again - I have no noise whatever I am doing. Even with noise gate off I wasnt able to achieve any noise like yours.
I tested with different amps and noise gate on/off. I ordered my AX8 in 08/2018.
 
Jens973 said:
Back home I just tested again - I have no noise whatever I am doing. Even with noise gate off I wasnt able to achieve any noise like yours.
I tested with different amps and noise gate on/off. I ordered my AX8 in 08/2018.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback, it is much appreciated. I will submit a support ticket. Maybe the issue has been reported by others.
 
Ii have the same problem, i tried with different guitars and have the same noise.At first i thought it was normal and due to an excessive gain or master volume but , it seems that i m not alone ....
i have my AX8 since june 2017.

with the same preset:
 
Last edited:
here is my recording of that preset. I dont listen any noise.
Sorry - I had to compress it to zip - how I can upload sound-samples here ?
 

Attachments

  • NoNoiseSample.zip
    360.4 KB · Views: 4
oh my god !!!! that's what i want !! no noise like this!!
i tried to change the input level , i am at 6db but it doesn't change anything.
 
I noticed one thing ,when I play with humbucker I have no noise or not a lot , but with single coils it does like the recording...but when I switch my single coils in series I have no noise....whatever the guitar I use.
 
bzh76 said:
I noticed one thing ,when I play with humbucker I have no noise or not a lot , but with single coils it does like the recording...but when I switch my single coils in series I have no noise....whatever the guitar I use.
Click to expand...
I played everything with single coil - middle position, the pickup that is more "noise sensitive" in my setup.
My input level is also at 6db.
 
Last edited:
Jens973 said:
here is my recording of that preset. I dont listen any noise.
Sorry - I had to compress it to zip - how I can upload sound-samples here ?
Click to expand...

This is what mine used to sound like. No noise at all.

bzh76 said:
I noticed one thing ,when I play with humbucker I have no noise or not a lot , but with single coils it does like the recording...but when I switch my single coils in series I have no noise....whatever the guitar I use.
Click to expand...

My noise reduces when using Humbuckers as expected, but I can still hear it using humbuckers on a clean channel (this used to be absolutely silent for me). It becomes really obvious when I switch to a preset with gain.

Here is a preset using the JS410 Lead (Orange) amp with a bridge humbucker. I've been using the same preset with this amp for the last two years with no noise issues. However, now you can hear the noise easily (no changes to the noise gate in two years).


What I have noticed is that I can hear the same noise through the Ax8 when I unplug the input and turn up the output. It seems as though the amp modules are just amplifying internal noise, and for whatever reason, the internal noise has jumped up in volume recently (and now very audible in my presets).

Is this a location/power supply thing? I'm in Perth, Australia.
 
I have bought fender Noiseless pickups for my strat, so I will see if it is better.I am sure that the majority of the noise comes from my pickups.
 
i just changed my guitar pickups , fender noiseless hot ( neck and middle)... no more noise that's fine for me....
 
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