Yeah, that hiss and the gain that it is accompanying is proof that the
MX802A preamp is part of the circuit - that's the preamp gain knob.
Any hope that the preamp is out of the circuit when using the line-in
is dashed. My RNP will also hiss when turned all the way up...I bet
most pres do. The RNP is known to be slightly noisier than some other
preamps, but as some have observed, even its noise is way less than
that of some treasured vintage preamps in use by professionals daily
(also, see McQuilken's accomanying package notes on design/price
trade-offs). Its nothing compared to the noise you and I will add to
the chain with our PC monitors, PC fans, questionable acoustic
treatment, and whatever else. My set up is so claustrophobic that I
sometimes just turn my monitor off and on again as needed while
tracking to eliminate hum - I use keyboard shortcuts, and don't always
have to see. Get this, my studio is in a square, untreated home office
shared with my wife, who works full-time at home, in that office, and
often into the evening, with 4 PCs networked and humming 24/7. ****ing
terrific environment. but we'll maybe be moving soon, so I'll be on
the lookout for a garage type space.

That PC monitor is going to bleed into everything, it will even affect
your monitor speakers - many studios use active matrix/flat panel/LCD
monitors to avoid most of this.

Regards,

d


George W. wrote in message . ..
On 19 Nov 2003 16:09:02 -0800, Dan wrote:

Twist the little black preamp gain knob while you are plugged into the
line level input. Hear that? That's messing us up, George.


Dan,

I assume you're referring to the RNP when it's connected to the mixer.
With everything up on the mixer it's pretty loud but when I run the
RNP direct to the soundcard and turn the gain all the way up I still
get some hiss. I have to turn up the volume louder than normal (about
1/4 of the way) but it certainly isn't dead quite. I imagine it's
unrealistic to expect it to be but how much noise would be "normal"
for the RNP?

I found that noise other than hiss on the RNP is very much dependant
on location. I had it about a foot from the PC monitor but got a
pretty obvious buzz with the gain turned up. Moving it a couple of
more feet helped. I'm gonna have to re-think the location of some
components and perhaps try some better cables. I'm using regular RCA
audio cables with 1/4" adapters on the RNP side. Along these lines I'd
appreciate any input by anyone on whether the RNP is working as it
should be.

Thanks.

G.