Moog Music Forum

Can someone please recommend a good noise eliminator for my mixer? I am getting a buuuzzzz sound. I'm sure it has to do with me using TS cables instead of TRS.

Thanks!

A graphic equalizer with as many bands as you can afford.

OysterRock,

I have a dual 31 band graphic EQ that I only use one channel of for the Voyager and MFs so I could use the other channel from the Voysger to the mixer. Do you know the frequency range for an electric buzzing noise?

It depends on what kind of noise it is. If it is noise due to a grounding problem then it will be at 60Hz.

If it is noise from your cables as you suspect, I dont know what it would be. Are you sure it is from your cables?

I'm not sure if it is the cables or not. I have the CV and audio (TS) run through patchbays then to the mixer. Before I used the patchbays, I didn't have the buzzing so maybe I need to use the patchbays for CV only? Maybe all of the breaks in the audio cables by running the audio from the Voyager to the patchbay to the MFs and out to the mixer is the problem.

Would using balanced cables prevent the ground noise or is that just the way it goes?

I'll check my EQ to see what frequency bands I can cut and try cutting it at 60 Hz.

Hmm, I'm not sure. Someone on this forum must know more about cables than I do. If you say that before you started using the patchbay there was no noise, then the most simple explanation is that the patchbay is causing the noise.

What kind of patchbay is it? Is it balanced or unbalanced?

You need to start eliminating gear and cable to be able to find the source. Start with a basic setup and monitor each step. Work your way up one piece at a time to the patchbay. After you find the source then you can apply a remedy.

You need to find the reason why there is a buzz first.
Using a EQ to reduce the buzz in the stereo sum is not the right way to go.

You don't need to use balanced cables for a few feets of line level lines.
But you need balanced cables for mics and long distance lines for sure.
Avoid running power cables and audio cables next to each other.
Keep external power supplies away from all audio units and cables when ever possible.

Ground loop or other ground hum problems are the first things to cure.
Then check if there are certain outputs of instruments or effect causing a buzz.
Then check these units and maybe their power supply. Maybe try a noise gate on such units.

Thanks for all of the helpful info. My EQ has a band at 63 Hz. Most of my equipment is in racks so separating the power and audio cables will be difficult to do. I've isolated the one channel it's coming from by turning the volume up and down on each mixer channel until I found it. It probably is due to all of the spaghetti behind the rack.

Qwave, what brand of noise gate do you recommend? Is there some type of ground loop isolator that I can use on the audio cables for this one channel? I found a product called the ART Cleanbox but it looks like it may not be a very good product. I am concerned with cutting the audio at 60 Hz with the EQ because that will also cut the Voyager at the same frequency. Hopefully there's another way around it. I do have the Ray Gun VST plugin that has a 60 Hz noise reducer so maybe I should try using Ray Gun as an insert effect when I record? I've tried using it for other uses and wasn't very impressed.

I am not into noise gates at all. Better ask others.

- Is the noisy unit on the one channel you found using an external power supply?

- Is the cable of this channel maybe running very close to a transformer of another unit (or its own)?

- Is the sound still present if you unplug the power of this noise unit?
(of cause it will not generate a sound that way, but maybe the buzz is gone too)

- Will unplugging the cable at the unit (not at the mixer!) change the amount ot unwanted noise?

Try these point for a bettter research on the reason why.

L-

If you can email me the signal flow from start to finish on that channel I'm sure we can go through and find the buzz. Anytime you do a new setup there are a few quirks that pop up here and there. Usually they are easy to fix without using other outboard gear.

ezratrice,

I ran just the Voyager in through the Voyager out on the bay last night and there is no noise. I was in the zone playing too so it was a lot of fun. It seems to be that using the MFs brings out the buzzing noise. They make little to no noise when bypassed, but when I use 3 or 4 of them at once, there is noise. Maybe all the breaks in the audio cables running to and fro from the bay to the MFs is causing noise at one point and is getting amplified as it goes through more MFs? I have the excel sheet at home so I can email it to you this weekend. I think I have one other piece of gear that is doing it too that's not related to the Voyager setup. I'll work to find out exactly which piece of gear is causing that because it's probably got something to do Qwave was referring to.

Thanks everyone for the help on this.