Matriarch high frequency sound from output

[rolandos]

Hello together,

I am a new Matriarch user, at the moment I explore this awesome synth and I dont know if that a hardware issue.
Perhaps someone can check this with your device also....that would help me a lot.

The output is in comparison to my other synths a little bit low, here i enable the +10db booster on my presonus 16rc (Mixer + Audiodevice all in one). Now the volume is with 4 voice mode perfect.

But now I hear a high frequently sound over my headphones. This sound varies when I turn the rate knob form the modulation section higher. In this situation I dont play a note etc. This high frequently sound comes only with the main outputs. Over the headphone output I cant hear this sound.
The Matriarch is connected with TS cables to the mixer. Is that a ground issue or is this a normal behavior?

many thanks in advance,
roland

[chocolatyshatner]

I was having a similar issue as you, as well as being able to hear the oscillators droning in the background at high pitch-range and I could also hear the envelopes clicking in the background. I could hear all of this with the main volume all the way down on my unit! Weird. I'm using an old 4-track as a mixer. What I figured out was that even using TRS cables from the Matriarch to the TRS inputs on the 4-track, my 4-track has RCA outs as the monitor outs and my monitors expect a balanced input. Somehow, all of this background noise from the Matriarch was passed on to the speakers from not using a balanced connection from the mixer to the speakers. I've not had unexpected noise problems from any other instruments in this set-up. I found that using either TRS OR TS cables directly to my monitors dramatically reduced the level of the oscillators droning and envelope clicks in the signal. SO, maybe investigate your signal path from the Matriarch to your speakers? My Matriarch output level seems ok, though. I think I read that someone on GearSpace had a faulty output pcb in their Matriarch which caused a too-low output, which was replaced by Moog. So it's possible that yours has a faulty output board?

[Matthew Ashmore]

This May sound silly but keep an eye on your delay mix and feedback settings.
Those delays can introduce some whine and clock noise. I love it for the record! But I've definitely had a couple flat forehead moments searching for the noise culprit lolz..

[rolandos]

@Matthew and @chocolatyshatner - thank you very much for your responses.
I fixed the problem with with TRS cabels. That surprised me very much, because I had never similar problems with my other analog synths (Juno, OB Matrix etc.). Here I always use TS cable without any problems.

I spend hours to find out whats going on. I find out that I have with TS cables a ground loop issue.
When I connect a cooper cable between the presons mixer and the Matriarch on ground, the high frequency sound has been significantly reduced. The next step was to try out TRS cable and this fixed the issue completely.
The good thing is, that my presonus mixer has balanced inputs.

The oscillator sound hiss and the modulation rate beep sounds are disappeared.
I dont know why the matriarch need in my case this extra cables, but I read this also in some other forums.