Re: hum..buzz sound !!! help!! it's annoying~

[Ricky W. Hunt]

The worst noise I ever got was from connecting something connected to my
home theater system to my computer/studio. It was the cable TV coax causing
the problem. You need to get a good transformer to eliminate this. Try
disconnecting the cable and see if that stops it.

"KnightRdrX" > wrote in message
...
> I hope i've come to the right place.
> please listen to my problem
> I've had this buzzing sound for a long time now....
> In my room I have, a home theatre system, computer, and stage works amp
which
> i use for my 2 keyboards(no sound problems there) and i also use it as
computer
> speakers. But if i turn the volume up enough, i get a buzz sound playing
back
> any sound on the computer. This is really a problem now because i want
to
> record, and i can hear the noise in the recordings
> I think maybe I have a grounding problem somewhere.
> When I run a long RCA cable from a sound source such as a vcr ,into the
sound
> card and then another set out to the amp I get a buzzing noise and it
affects
> my .wav recordings. In fact all i have to do is touch the other end of the
> plugs w/ my finger and i get noise.
> now i've tested just about everything...
> the yamaha receiver and speakers always sound great by itself w/ the vcr,
cd
> player, dvd player etc.
>
> now...taking any quality/length rca stereo cables.........we go....
> cassette deck to receiver = fine ( i did get the same noise by touching
the
> ''in' end of the plugs, but once they went into the cassette deck, the
noise
> went away)
>
> vcr to receiver = fine (no noise)
> unplug from receiver..plug into amp (NOISE!)
> vcr or dvd player 'out' to sound card 'in' sound card 'out' to
yamaha
> receiver aux 'in ' (NOISE)
> i even have the computer plugged into the wall w/ out the bottom prong.
> the computer is apparantly interfering here...BUT
>
> the noise isn't just coming from the computer. Because i get the noise
if i
> go directly from the vcr 'out' to the amp 'in'.
> i am puzzled!
> i hope someone can help me out here
> thanks
> Paul
>
>

[Roger W. Norman]

Offhand, two things. One, long runs of unbalanced cables (i.e. RCA) can
easily pick up EM interference. Second, if you're computer is on another
circuit it could easily be the place where the other equipment is running to
ground, causing a ground loop. Ideally each of the other pieces should be
going to ground via their own grounding planes, but in a ground scheme using
multiple circuits it's very easy for ground to choose to go through a
different piece of equipment, causing hum. First, put the computer onto the
same circuit (via an extension cord) as the home theater equipment and see
if that eliminates/lessens the problem. If so, you are starting the
elimination process.

However, Ricky does bring up a good point, and that is the cable box. An
easy way to see if that's the culprit is simply to unplug both the
electrical and the signal cable.

--


Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio
Purchase your copy of the Fifth of RAP CD set at www.recaudiopro.net.
See how far $20 really goes.




"KnightRdrX" > wrote in message
...
> I hope i've come to the right place.
> please listen to my problem
> I've had this buzzing sound for a long time now....
> In my room I have, a home theatre system, computer, and stage works amp
which
> i use for my 2 keyboards(no sound problems there) and i also use it as
computer
> speakers. But if i turn the volume up enough, i get a buzz sound playing
back
> any sound on the computer. This is really a problem now because i want
to
> record, and i can hear the noise in the recordings
> I think maybe I have a grounding problem somewhere.
> When I run a long RCA cable from a sound source such as a vcr ,into the
sound
> card and then another set out to the amp I get a buzzing noise and it
affects
> my .wav recordings. In fact all i have to do is touch the other end of the
> plugs w/ my finger and i get noise.
> now i've tested just about everything...
> the yamaha receiver and speakers always sound great by itself w/ the vcr,
cd
> player, dvd player etc.
>
> now...taking any quality/length rca stereo cables.........we go....
> cassette deck to receiver = fine ( i did get the same noise by touching
the
> ''in' end of the plugs, but once they went into the cassette deck, the
noise
> went away)
>
> vcr to receiver = fine (no noise)
> unplug from receiver..plug into amp (NOISE!)
> vcr or dvd player 'out' to sound card 'in' sound card 'out' to
yamaha
> receiver aux 'in ' (NOISE)
> i even have the computer plugged into the wall w/ out the bottom prong.
> the computer is apparantly interfering here...BUT
>
> the noise isn't just coming from the computer. Because i get the noise
if i
> go directly from the vcr 'out' to the amp 'in'.
> i am puzzled!
> i hope someone can help me out here
> thanks
> Paul
>
>

[Ethan Winer]

Paul,

It's very common to get hum and buzz when you connect a computer sound card
to a stereo system or audio mixer. If it's not the cable TV wire as Ricky's
suggested, you'll need an audio isolation transformer like the Ebtech Hum
Eliminator. The two channel version costs about $60, and you insert it in
the audio path between your sound card and receiver/preamp.

--Ethan