1 (edited by gtodd876 2011-04-29 11:55:30)

Topic: Fireface UC + MBP + Ground Hum

I have been a lot of tracking this week and thought orginally the noise was from the ribbon mic or GML mic pre I rented. Then I paid 5 hours of studio time to use a nice tracking room but with my gear so I could work out a deal. I'm bummed I didn't get much done because I spent most of the time troubleshooting this higher pitched buzzing/synth type sound. We (with the help of the engineer) realized we could remove everything out of the equation except the Fireface UC and it would be there if a mic was plugged. I tried different mic pres, different cables, different microphones, plugged into the computer/standalone mode, I tried all the different usb ports, I tried to use the battery on the macbook pro instead of being plugged in, I tried plugging the powerstrip into the ISO filter power thing the studio had that is supposed to remove noise from electrical outlet. So it seems like a grounding issue with my fireface UC and it's much more apparent at higher gain settings with mics like ribbons and dynamics. In standalone mode if there is no mic plugged in it is only hissy when you turn up the gain high but if you have a mic plugged in I get an electrical type hum that sounds much higher than 50-60hz(must be a harmonic of that tone?) Anybody else have this problem with a fireface and a macbook pro using dynamics/ribbons mics? When I got back home I noticed it is there but because I was using condenser mics before the noise was just turned down because I didn't have the gain turned up as high. I search the forums and saw that a few people have had this problem but I didn't read of any good solutions yet?

I would be extremely greatly if anybody has any advice on how to solve this issue!!

www.toddbass.com
Macbook pro i7 15" (mid 2012) 8 gigs ram, Fireface UCX

Re: Fireface UC + MBP + Ground Hum

Hi,
I had hum and digital noise from my Babyface 3/4 line output. I bought a ground loop isolator, and now noise is gone.
Try it's cheap to buy.
Regards

Re: Fireface UC + MBP + Ground Hum

Thank you for the tip! I will try one out and report my results.

www.toddbass.com
Macbook pro i7 15" (mid 2012) 8 gigs ram, Fireface UCX

Re: Fireface UC + MBP + Ground Hum

An ART ground loop isolator is on its way but today I tried a Furman power conditioner to make sure I'm getting noise free power. I'm not having ground hum at home now while using the UC and the MBP plugged into the Furman.

Now I would like to reduce the hiss when I use microphones. I did notice that even without a mic plugged in if I turn the gain all the way up to 65 I get a ton of staticy hiss. The readout goes from -100 to somewhere around -48. Is that normal operation for the UC? When I do plug in a mic I can start hearing the hiss added to the single above a gain of 30.

I'm just curious if this is something that can be troubleshooted or is just the way the pre's work in the UC.

www.toddbass.com
Macbook pro i7 15" (mid 2012) 8 gigs ram, Fireface UCX

5

Re: Fireface UC + MBP + Ground Hum

Fireface UC connected to Dell laptop, open inputs (nothing connected), 48 kHz sample rate, TM FX level meters set to  RMS Level, Gain 65 dB. I see -62 dB on both channels. With Peak (RMS Off) I get -52 dB both channels.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Fireface UC + MBP + Ground Hum

I appreciate you checking for me, MC.

www.toddbass.com
Macbook pro i7 15" (mid 2012) 8 gigs ram, Fireface UCX

Re: Fireface UC + MBP + Ground Hum

Fireface UC connected to an Apple Macbook Pro (2010) using bootcamped Windows I get about the same values as Matthias does.