Help: Electrical Noise (Audio Added)

MartinBlythe

To cut a long story short...

I have electrical noise coming through on all of the studio guitar amps. I have removed the hum and hiss but getting rid of the fluorescent lights and dimmers in the 'old' building. This noise has me baffled completely though. Now while I am very good with technology - electronics is not my forte. 

I believe it's somehow linked with poor ground and something to do with the old building's wiring and fire alarm...It produces an almost digital whirring sound on every single guitar amp that is used? I have tried using a power distributor with little success. It's making it almost impossible to record as the noise is very loud and always present when powered in the studio. 

The building is part of the old school/college which is reasonably new recording studio. Does anyone have any ideas of how to resolve this problem, or more importantly, how to cure it (Without a full re-wire)?


Any advise would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks
 

pintspiller

Can you post links to recordings of the noise? It may help people-who-know identify what your issue may be.

MartinBlythe

pintspiller said:

Can you post links to recordings of the noise? It may help people-who-know identify what your issue may be.

I will do my best to get something recorded ASAP. I haven't had chance to get into the studio much recently but have been looking online to see what I could find out. 

It almost sounds like a metronome set at about 110bpm - it's so annoying 

spark240

This is most likely coming from some other equipment located elsewhere in the building, can be difficult to trace, are you able to go round turning stuff off outside of your area?

cosmicned

It might be worth buying one of those isolation extension leads with a built in de-coupling transformer... something along these lines...
http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/mains-extention-products/48-6-gang-mains-block-audio-grade.html

MartinBlythe

cosmicned said:

It might be worth buying one of those isolation extension leads with a built in de-coupling transformer... something along these lines...
http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/mains-extention-products/48-6-gang-mains-block-audio-grade.html

Thanks for the tip - I will have a look into one of those. 

I have been off work for a couple of weeks so haven't been able to make a recording of the noise. One thing I did notice was even if I don't plug a guitar amp into the mains and use an output from the Furman Power Conditioner, I still have the same problem...Now I do know it's not the amp because If I power it up in a different building it's fine.

It's a strange one that I get the feeling isn't an easy fix

Rocker

Don't tinker with electricity, it is way way too dangerous. To yourself, your family and your house. If your local registered electrician can't solve this problem, phone a hi-fi dealer (not one of the multiples, they usually know fuck all about electrical noise) and ask him to suggest someone who understands about electrical noise issues and who can fix the problem. In other words, someone who can identify and fix the problem at source and you are good to go. Don't try things at random yourself, you only end up spending money with no guarantee of success. Spend that cash on knowledge and know how.

Gassage

cosmicned said:

It might be worth buying one of those isolation extension leads with a built in de-coupling transformer... something along these lines...
http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/mains-extention-products/48-6-gang-mains-block-audio-grade.html

I agree with the sentiment but rather try Olson.co.uk

Industrial build quality, used in Pete Cornish racks.

guitarfishbay

Has there ever been a situation without the noise?

Is the amount of noise variable?

If yes then I'd see if you can find the source of noise yourself by literally starting with everything off then switching things on one by one.

MartinBlythe

thanks for all the advise with this... Sorry about the delay in responding, I was off work ill for a few weeks so couldn't get into the studio. We have now replaced the fire alarm control panel - which incidentally had a grounding issue - so far the noise has gone.

MartinBlythe

Quick update - the noise had gone until I tried it again today and it's back. This has got me completly baffled so if anyone has any advise on what it is or how to fix it I would be very grateful.

I have tried using a Furman Power Condition but I still get the same noise no mater what amp I use or what Main socket in this building. 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pc55s8hshksheos/Amp Noise.m4a?dl=0

spark240

spark240 said:

This is most likely coming from some other equipment located elsewhere in the building, can be difficult to trace, are you able to go round turning stuff off outside of your area?

Have you tried this....?

MartinBlythe

I have turned off lights and dimmers which helps with the hissing but the noise is almost digital sounding. There isn't much left to turn off really. 

spark240

Ok, in this case you need to access the fueboard...is this possible?

ThorpyFX

Ok where is the studio? I have helped two people with electrical noise in home recording rigs. Both had their amps and pedalboards located directly above the halogen transformer in the kitchen roof.

moving the studio/ gear to a different room solved the issue entirely. 

MartinBlythe

ThorpyFX said:

Ok where is the studio? I have helped two people with electrical noise in home recording rigs. Both had their amps and pedalboards located directly above the halogen transformer in the kitchen roof.

moving the studio/ gear to a different room solved the issue entirely. 

It's actually a school/college recording studio. I'm a teacher, but new to this school so have inherited the issue which hasn't been resolved. The studio has some fantastic equipment and all the amps are in the Live room which has spot lights (switches not dimmers). We have dimmers and fluorescent lights in the control room and teaching room but even turned off I have this issue. 

I also have a digital clicking sound coming through the monitors in the control room - but I am convinced it's separate to the issue - being either a ground loop or HD issue...

pintspiller

Have you been there when the school closed or at night to rule out interference from equipment elsewhere on campus?

MartinBlythe

pintspiller said:

Have you been there when the school closed or at night to rule out interference from equipment elsewhere on campus?

Now there's a thought. When I posted the other day to say it had gone. I was re-wiring things and tested it about 6pm when I was one of the only people in that building. Thursday morning it had come back. Whether this is a coincidence I'm not sure but that's very well worth checking. 

It may be a needle in a haystack to find out what equipment would be interfering though. I will try a test next week and see what happens

dern

Has anyone installed any of those powerline adapters that allow you to extend the LAN across the mains circuit? Ours caused me all sorts of issues on some amps and some pedals until I unplugged them.

MartinBlythe

dern said:

Has anyone installed any of those powerline adapters that allow you to extend the LAN across the mains circuit? Ours caused me all sorts of issues on some amps and some pedals until I unplugged them.

It's something I can check out. There is only so much I will be able to unplug (without being found out at least) to fix it. It is very intermittent as today I didn't have a huge issue...I will see how I get on again tomorrow as I really would like to get to the bottom of it

Cheers
Martin