Question:: I Have Noise on my Big Meter, From Where?

[mrain]

Great forum, I have a feeling I'll be hanging around here, asking questions and hopefully helping others.

I came across quite a random issue... my Big Meter shows low noise on both the 'Sampling Input' and 'Audio Input tabs. I've tried everything to get rid of it. It's now inaudible (I have gotten it downthrough messing around with settrnigs, even changing cables and interfaces, etc... but there's still some noise there.

My first question is:

• If you go to your big meter - and click on the small sampling input tab / or the first Audio Input tab; do you have any signal showing? Even if it's - 85 Peak?

If I can establish whether this is normal then maybe I can put this to bed...

In more depth though: I have an MBOX 3 as my interface, I do not use it's inputs or outputs; I use it purely as an SPDIF in / out box; I use an Apogee ADC and Benchmark DAC. So the MBOX acts as a digital in / out purely. No conversion going on either side. I updated the MBOX drivers and messed with the settings and did get the noise down. However, I still have some noise; and the noise DOWN if I make the MBOX inputs active in preferences (remember, I don't even use them - but just by making them active, the noise goes down). YOu woulkd think it would be the opposite; the noise would go up if I made them active.

Screenshots below:




Anyone experienced anything like this?

[MrFigg]

You got any dimmer switches in your house? Serious question.

[EnochLight]

Great forum, I have a feeling I'll be hanging around here, asking questions and hopefully helping others.

I came across quite a random issue... my Big Meter shows low noise on both the 'Sampling Input' and 'Audio Input tabs. I've tried everything to get rid of it. It's now inaudible (I have gotten it downthrough messing around with settrnigs, even changing cables and interfaces, etc... but there's still some noise there.

My first question is:

• If you go to your big meter - and click on the small sampling input tab / or the first Audio Input tab; do you have any signal showing? Even if it's - 85 Peak?

If I can establish whether this is normal then maybe I can put this to bed...

You've got some noise being picked up via your audio interface for sure, but it's not out of the ordinary. I've got an RME Babyface Pro with incredibly high quality DAC's, and I usually show something registering around -90 db when in PPM or Peak mode. Mine is caused by my studio's dimmer for my LED overhead spotlights. I get around -90 db when they're set to low. When I have them cranked to 100% brightness, I register around -85 to -89 db.

To be clear, this is virtually inaudible to the human ear (I mean, unless I crank my noise floor up astronomically high).

If it's an issue for the way you work, you might need to mess with your lighting, grounds, and all around house electrical. Maybe try plugging in your Reason machine and anything else that's attached to a separate circuit?

[MrFigg]

Great forum, I have a feeling I'll be hanging around here, asking questions and hopefully helping others.

I came across quite a random issue... my Big Meter shows low noise on both the 'Sampling Input' and 'Audio Input tabs. I've tried everything to get rid of it. It's now inaudible (I have gotten it downthrough messing around with settrnigs, even changing cables and interfaces, etc... but there's still some noise there.

My first question is:

• If you go to your big meter - and click on the small sampling input tab / or the first Audio Input tab; do you have any signal showing? Even if it's - 85 Peak?

If I can establish whether this is normal then maybe I can put this to bed...

You've got some noise being picked up via your audio interface for sure, but it's not out of the ordinary. I've got an RME Babyface Pro with incredibly high quality DAC's, and I usually show something registering around -90 db when in PPM or Peak mode. Mine is caused by my studio's dimmer for my LED overhead spotlights. I get around -90 db when they're set to low. When I have them cranked to 100% brightness, I register around -85 to -89 db.

To be clear, this is virtually inaudible to the human ear (I mean, unless I crank my noise floor up astronomically high).

If it's an issue for the way you work, you might need to mess with your lighting, grounds, and all around house electrical. Maybe try plugging in your Reason machine and anything else that's attached to a separate circuit?

Haha . S’what I said. Been there. Annoyed me for weeks until I realised it was a dimmer.

[Loque]

It's bad cabling in your house and components which have leaking power. Since i have a new computer it's much better.

You can buy some additional hardware which compensates the leaking power. Forgot how it is called.

[MrFigg]

It's bad cabling in your house and components which have leaking power. Since i have a new computer it's much better.

You can buy some additional hardware which compensates the leaking power. Forgot how it is called.

DI box?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DI_unit

[Loque]

It's bad cabling in your house and components which have leaking power. Since i have a new computer it's much better.

You can buy some additional hardware which compensates the leaking power. Forgot how it is called.

DI box?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DI_unit

Yea, i think so.

[mjxl]

Basically non grounded wallplugs or whatever ?

[NekujaK]

When I reconfigured my home studio a few years ago, a low level hum was suddenly audible throughout my system. Drove me nuts as I tried everything to find the cause. Then thanks to a suggestion from an audiophile friend, I was instantly able to eliminate the hum with this simple $10 device:

[splitpen]

Sometimes i get this low level noise too when the monitoring button is on with audio tracks (the green speaker button in the sequencer).
Switching it off, solved it in my case.

[mrain]

Wow! Thank you all for your help. Really appreciate all of your feedback. I do have WiFi dimmer bulbs in my lights and some other stuff so later today I will be in the studio and I’ll try turning things off to see what makes a difference!

Thank again

[mrain]

Phew. OK, I've been through everything, from lights to sockets, etc - and the low level noise remains. My two questions now are:

• The DI / isloation boxes linked to above. Where would I put them; I cannot see where they would fit in!?
  -
• The low level noise; what will it affect? It won't affect files I bounce / songs exported will it? The noise is not added to bounces, or is it? / Will it be added at any stage, when recording / or exporting?

[MrFigg]

Phew. OK, I've been through everything, from lights to sockets, etc - and the low level noise remains. My two questions now are:

• The DI / isloation boxes linked to above. Where would I put them; I cannot see where they would fit in!?
  -
• The low level noise; what will it affect? It won't affect files I bounce / songs exported will it? The noise is not added to bounces, or is it? / Will it be added at any stage, when recording / or exporting?

Did you switch the lights off?

[EnochLight]

[*]The low level noise; what will it affect? It won't affect files I bounce / songs exported will it? The noise is not added to bounces, or is it? / Will it be added at any stage, when recording / or exporting?[/list]

Noise at that low of a level is inaudible to the human ear. I wouldn't worry about it unless you are doing something during mastering or in production that causes you to raise your noise floor astronomically high.

[mrain]

Phew. OK, I've been through everything, from lights to sockets, etc - and the low level noise remains. My two questions now are:

• The DI / isloation boxes linked to above. Where would I put them; I cannot see where they would fit in!?
  -
• The low level noise; what will it affect? It won't affect files I bounce / songs exported will it? The noise is not added to bounces, or is it? / Will it be added at any stage, when recording / or exporting?

Did you switch the lights off?

I did. Didn’t make any difference... was hoping that was it.

I even unplugged the MBOX to see if the noise went down and it stayed the same... so I’m stumped.

Is there anything I can put between the PC mains plug and the socket???

[MarkTarlton]

one thing I encountered a few years ago were some plug ins that add noise on purpose like waves eddie kramer series, check and make sure you don't have any analog style plug ins on, making this noise by using the bypass....it's something to check while you're at it.

for what it's worth having a good ground scheme in your audio path is something most people neglect. I have been in many professional studios and even some of them overlook such a crucial part of a recording chain. Isolated circuits that have their own ground pole would be the champ way of doing it, but that takes some money if you aren't good at electrical work.

[MrFigg]

One of my guitars has a pair of P90 pickups. Fine when I have both selected but as soon as I switch to either the neck or the bridge the hum it picks up from my house electrics is next to unbearable.

[mjxl]

Are your wallsockets grounded?
Mine aren't and it adds noise for me, on the microphone (which is just via AUX in my pc).

Annotation 2019-05-30 185055.jpg (102.92 KiB) Viewed 2761 times

[mrain]

I thought they were but, I will investigate further.

Depressingly, the Apogee ADC units I use (old school Apogee Mini-Me’s) seem to have been playing up but that’s another thread.

[EnochLight]

I thought they were but, I will investigate further.

Depressingly, the Apogee ADC units I use (old school Apogee Mini-Me’s) seem to have been playing up but that’s another thread.

Serious question: if your noise is -85 db... which is inaudible to most humans... why worry?

[mrain]

I thought they were but, I will investigate further.

Depressingly, the Apogee ADC units I use (old school Apogee Mini-Me’s) seem to have been playing up but that’s another thread.

Serious question: if your noise is -85 db... which is inaudible to most humans... why worry?

Good question... the thing is: the noise does fluctuate and also; I'm about to record a lot of audio and I'm concerned about that noise stacking up.

[EnochLight]

Serious question: if your noise is -85 db... which is inaudible to most humans... why worry?

Good question... the thing is: the noise does fluctuate and also; I'm about to record a lot of audio and I'm concerned about that noise stacking up.

It doesn't "stack up". You can have as many audio tracks recorded as you want, and you won't hear -85 db when mixing down in Reason (or any DAW for that matter). To test this, do a few recordings of just silence while having those channels armed. Then copy the tracks and duplicate them to as many tracks as you'd typically record. Hit play, and see if you hear anything.

When it fluctuates, what does it fluctuate to? -90 db? -85 db? -80 db?

[reggie1979]

There has to be an answer, but I'll be damned if I have an explanation.

I have a stupid thought, does the PC have another audio source? It shouldn't matter but something is causing it. A bad USB signal, something.

Do you have someone you know with another computer you can try it on and see what happens?

ASIO for all? I'm fishing here........

[boingy]

1. Temporarily turn off your fridge and freezer.
2. Change your analogue audio cables and/or the route they take to your interface.
3. Ask your neighbours to turn off their electrically-heated blast furnaces and any other large-scale factory plant that they may have.

Apart from that, stop stressing about it and make some music. Some of the best songs ever were recorded on way noisier equipment than you have in front of you right now.

[EnochLight]

Apart from that, stop stressing about it and make some music. Some of the best songs ever were recorded on way noisier equipment than you have in front of you right now.

^^ THIS ^^