GOD Bless You Sir.. been having alot of hums on the pa at church.. this has helped alot as i only thought it was only due to earth loops. Thank and Happy Easter!!! Internal Victory through JESUS
Thank you so much sir, u have said what I was thought doubtfully. But u made it clear now... Whenever I raise my keyboards sound it used to start humming sound. You are right i was using a mono cable for that.
This is such a great video! Thank you for the tips. On top of changing all connections to balanced connections and using DI Boxes/Hum killers where needed, do you think it's safe to run everything through the same outlet? I was put in charge of running a PA system at a restaurant that uses two mixers where they are plugged into different outlets on opposite sides of the room. There seems to be a lot of equipment that are connected to power strips from a single outlet on one end already, and my question is whether or not it's safe to unplug the power from the mixer on the other end and add it to the outlet that's powering everything else so that everything is sharing a single outlet. Thank you.
Glad this video was helpful for you. If the mixers are interconnected or connected to the amplifiers using balanced connections then there is no need to relocate the mixers. Putting everything on the same AC outlet is only when you have unbalanced connections that can not be converted to balanced. Hope this helps.
I have PA system in gym studio - it aux cord, cd player with zone mixer and ceiling speaker… I noticed I getting this ground loop. When playing I don’t hear any voice and only like muffled background audio noise and it’s almost like muffled with bass.. -when I connect speaker wire to metal chassie then sound works fine… could this be ground issue and how do I go about fixing it? How would I connect the ground noise isolator in my PA system so cd player as option working too? I’m confused about connection part.
Your video is great.. What if you are doing a livestream and you are using like an atem mini pro. And it requires a 3.5mm aux cable.. what should I do.. because I get the hum when I increase the volume
May I ask why my wireless receiver makes hum noise when power turns on , no hum noise when power turns off. I realized the power supply has no ground as well and it connected to a power strip along with other gears. Please advice and thanks in advance
If this is a powered speaker, you might want to check if the power connector has the ground connection intact (3 pins). If the power cord does not come with a separate ground connection (2 pins) as part of the connector, you could ask a repair center look at it. Hope this helps.
@@NetworxAudioVideoInc Thanks for your advice! Someone said that I could break the ground pin to prevent the ground loop. I don't know if that's a good idea or should I buy another device like a cheap DI to break the ground loop. But this have to have another pair of the XLR cables and the DI too, that makes my system more messy and complicated.
@@lanphanh Breaking a ground pin is never a good idea - the ground pin is an important safety feature that should never be removed from any electronic equipment to prevent electrical shock. It also provides a ground connection for the audio signal. A DI box can definitely help eliminate hum. Hope this helps.
Generally unbalanced cables use 2 conductors and balanced cables use 3. In some cases unbalanced cables use 3 at one end and 2 on the other end. Take a look at this video that explains hardware that connects to a sound system including balanced and unbalanced cables ... th-cam.com/video/A3W_h26SfuM/w-d-xo.html
Hi James, I Love your videos, very helpful for beginners. Quick question , I bought the Behringer mixer q1202usb to connect my dj controller - mixer- to speaker. When I tested it at home the sounds looks good, the moment I go to an open space , the sound is terrible and very muggy/not clean. I am not sure if this a problem of the speaker (Sony XP 700) , or the Wi-Fi that might be causing the problem. I use 1/4 to connect the mixer to the speaker. Any thoughts?
When setting up speakers, they can produce varying results based on their placement, positioning and aiming. Also tuning can affect clarity. For instance, if you place a speaker within a foot or so of a hard surface like a wall or floor, it will usually result in a low and low-mid boost which can assist in low frequency reproduction but could also add too much bass into the resulting sound causing it to be muddy sounding and not as clear. Also, if a speaker is placed on a speaker stand and kept off the floor and at least 3 feet from a wall, it will result in less low frequencies being reproduced than when placed near a hard surface. If a bass boost is used to try and recreate the sound when near a hard surface, it could also cause muddy sound with reduced clarity. Generally the preferred way to test and setup speakers is as per the manufacturers recommended method(s). In the case of most portable speakers, that would be placed on speaker stands with a flat or recommended EQ setting and using subwoofers to enhance the low frequency reproduction as needed. This will help the speakers be as clear as possible even at higher levels. Hope this makes sense and hope this helps ...
Thank you. I have hum in my PA system and your video seems to have not addressed my problem. I have Harbinger V2312 and when I plug one in and turn it on, with only a balanced power cable I get hum. When the volume knobs are off it's a low pitch hum and when I turn up the volume it adds high pitch hum to the low pitch hum but it's always there. Any thoughts?
Hi Joe, thank you for the question. If I am understanding this correctly, you have a hum when only the power cable is connected to the speaker and the mixer is disconnected from the speaker. If this is the case, I found a FAQ section on the manufacturer website regarding hum on the speaker and what you can do to correct it. I suggest you look at that to see if that might resolve your issue. If you still have hum after following their advice, you may need to have it looked at. Hope this helps ...
@@NetworxAudioVideoInc Yes thanks. I haven't tried a power conditioner yet. I don't own one. I'll stop by Guitar Center this weekend and troubleshoot it.
I have these hissing problems from my setup. If i only use my audio source connected only to my amplifier there is no hissing or humming but when i make a full set ( mixer-eq-crossover) there goes the hissing sound and i cant eliminate it. Where do you think the problem is? Im using xlr and trs cables
There are a couple of common issues that could cause this. The first is the gain setup of the sound system. If this is set too high early in the system, it can easily result in distortion. But if set too low early in the system, it can easily add hiss to the sound as the sound is boosted later on in the other components to make up the difference. In order to set this up correctly, you need to adjust the gain setting of each system component correctly to minimize the effects of hiss and distortion. A simple way to check your setup is to first adjust the level on the mixer. When that is done, adjust the gain on the next component to read the same amount on the indicators as the mixer. Then do the same for each component in the system. When done, all the indicators should show the same. The second is a noisy component due to a mismatched output/input. Sometimes a component just has a noisy output and causes a hiss or hum to be heard due to a connection mismatch. This can be checked by verifying the outputs going into inputs are of the same type. For example a line level output that goes into a mic level input can be a cause of hiss. If that is the case, connect the line level output into a line level input or a mic level output into a mic level input. I hope this has been helpful in resolving your issue. I also recommend watching these videos about setting your mixer inputs as they explain a bit about gain levels and should help you get the levels right: th-cam.com/video/Md6-MEsiFDg/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/UaykNMUQFXU/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/FfO4zznZn2Q/w-d-xo.html
I have a digital piano connected to the Digital Interface via unbalanced cable. The Digital Interface then connects to the laptop using USB cable. Additionally the same digital piano connects to the laptop using USB cable for the MIDI recording. This scenario created an unbearable hum / buzzing. And whenever the piano key is pressed, and MIDI is transmitting, there is a nasty square waveform overlapping the audio signal. Also when the laptop touchpad was active, or there was any activity on the laptop, the horrible noise sounds intensified. I turned off WiFi, I turned the laptop volume all the way down. I don;t touch the laptop while recording the music from my instruments. I ordered 2x USB Isolators, (ADUM3160 Transformer Chip) both for the Digital Interface, and the Piano USB MIDI to the laptop cable. I also ordered a Direct Box, which I will plug to the piano using 1 foot patch cables (to keep them as short as possible). The Direct Box then will output balanced signal over 15 ft XLR cable I hope this plan is a solution to my problems, however I can't confirm it as I'm still waiting for these components. Is my plan sensible? Do you have any other suggestions?
Please let me know which digital interface you were using. I am not sure that USB isolators will help but it is possible. I am not sure, but you might want to check if you could lose the ability to power a device over USB when using an isolator in case the laptop is providing power to the digital interface.
@@NetworxAudioVideoInc thanks for your reply! yes I use Scarlett 2i2 which indeed needs power from the USB data cable as well. that's a serious design flaw by FocusRite, because they should know they have to separate the power from the data cable, especially with high gain preamps circuits. I can't believe they didn't think of that. that's why I bought the best designed USB isolator based on ADuM3160 chip, which combines high speed CMOS and monolithic air core transformer technology. that means it also separates the D-/D+ power, not just the data pins. and it intelligently switches D+ with D- as the data flow direction changes, on a packet by packet basis. so I believe the ADuM3160 is far far superior, at least in the design, comparing to iDefender, which uses physical USB power separation (which shows they didn't know how to do it using electronics components, and ask you to plug the external power to USB dongle, which I find funny cum ridiculous. now barring the above theory, I still need to confirm if that actually works in practice, and I will update you when I receive my 2 ordered USB isolators (ADuM3160 based)..
@@NetworxAudioVideoInc the microphone over XLR on Scarlett 2i2 sounds perfect, no noise. piano over unbalanced 2x TS Mono 5 meters sounds a bit noisy, but I could live with it, after some noise gate in DAW etc electric guitar 2x TS Mono 3 meters sounds pretty good, but I mostly play FX distorted sounds, so it's hard to hear the noise. when Piano USB MIDI i plugged in to the laptop, the noise is unbearable, the robotic square machine guns following the MIDI transmission, as the piano keys are pressed. ........................... I ordered many pieces of gear as we speak, all at once (probably I should do it step by step to see if the next step is even necessary but I am impatient). 1. Direct Box with Ground Lift and unbalanced to balanced conversion for the piano, to be connected to Piano output with 1 foot TS Mono patch cables. From Direct Box, I will use balanced XLR 5 meter cables to Scarlett. Both XLR cables will have ferro choke on each end as well. And I ordered top quality HiFi XLR cables with 6N gold plated blah3 (maxed out) 2. For MIDI USB-B to USB-A iHiFi braided tinned copper shield, with thick 6N = 99.9999% oxygen free copper cores, also with 2 ferro chokes on each end, gold plated plugs with thick aluminum shell covering the soldered area. 3. For Scarlett to laptop USB-C to USB-A, same specs as above (maxed out) 4. 2x USB Isolator based on ADuM3160 chip with air monoblock transformer, which galvanically separates both USB data lines, as well as USB D+/D- power lines, and intelligently switches D- with D+ on packet basis depending on the transmission direction. these USB Isolators will be plugged into the laptop USB ports, and only then the USB cables will be plugged into them. SHOULD the above steps NOT create a professional recording worthy signal, I will buy the sledge hammer, and say good bye to Scarlett, and buy something from the top shelf to match my awaited new system components. I have a feeling, the noise will be gone. It looks to me that the main reason for the noise is the electromagnetic interference from the unbalanced long cables. And the long low quality USB MIDI cable is like a noise transmitter to everything around. so the laptop is picking it up, all the cables and Scarlett, simply everything is picking up the noise, and then Scarlett is amplifying it.
Usually instruments use 2 conductor 6.5 unbalanced outputs or 3 conductor 6.5 stereo unbalanced outputs. In either case, it is probably unbalanced. Also, using a 3 conductor cable on a 2 conductor output may cause no signal or intermittent signal. Hope this helps.
First minute you confirmed my belief , problem solved. Running all the equipment from the same outlet. Thanks
Oh My God... Thanks for removing headache... Excellent information... I don't think i need to finish my Masters .. Thank You !!!
I am glad it was helpful
Thank you for your video. It was exactly what I was looking for!
I am glad it was helpful for you
GOD Bless You Sir.. been having alot of hums on the pa at church.. this has helped alot as i only thought it was only due to earth loops. Thank and Happy Easter!!! Internal Victory through JESUS
I am glad to hear this has helped you.
Thank you so much sir, u have said what I was thought doubtfully. But u made it clear now... Whenever I raise my keyboards sound it used to start humming sound. You are right i was using a mono cable for that.
I am glad it was helpful for you
Awesome troubleshooting strategies
Thank you. I am glad it was helpful for you.
Great video.
Thank you. I am glad it was helpful.
I will try what you say thanks
Thank you for this information
I am glad it was helpful
You saved my system thank you 😀
Glad we could help.
Thank you
Very helpful, thank you
MY GUY!! i litterally swapped 2 cables to balanced which were in a box in my garage and poof. hum gone!! Thank you
Thank You for this video!
Great video
I am glad it was helpful for you
Well done Sir !
Great video. Thanks so much!!!
I am glad it was helpful for you.
good explanation, thanks!
I am glad it was helpful for you
very helpful thank you
I am glad it was helpful for you.
This is such a great video! Thank you for the tips. On top of changing all connections to balanced connections and using DI Boxes/Hum killers where needed, do you think it's safe to run everything through the same outlet? I was put in charge of running a PA system at a restaurant that uses two mixers where they are plugged into different outlets on opposite sides of the room. There seems to be a lot of equipment that are connected to power strips from a single outlet on one end already, and my question is whether or not it's safe to unplug the power from the mixer on the other end and add it to the outlet that's powering everything else so that everything is sharing a single outlet. Thank you.
Glad this video was helpful for you. If the mixers are interconnected or connected to the amplifiers using balanced connections then there is no need to relocate the mixers. Putting everything on the same AC outlet is only when you have unbalanced connections that can not be converted to balanced. Hope this helps.
I have PA system in gym studio - it aux cord, cd player with zone mixer and ceiling speaker… I noticed I getting this ground loop. When playing I don’t hear any voice and only like muffled background audio noise and it’s almost like muffled with bass.. -when I connect speaker wire to metal chassie then sound works fine… could this be ground issue and how do I go about fixing it? How would I connect the ground noise isolator in my PA system so cd player as option working too? I’m confused about connection part.
Your video is great.. What if you are doing a livestream and you are using like an atem mini pro. And it requires a 3.5mm aux cable.. what should I do.. because I get the hum when I increase the volume
Nice sir
Thank you. I am glad it was helpful.
May I ask why my wireless receiver makes hum noise when power turns on , no hum noise when power turns off. I realized the power supply has no ground as well and it connected to a power strip along with other gears. Please advice and thanks in advance
Some churches have ground problems. The speakers hum til we find a grounded outlet for powered speakers.
That is true. Thank you for your comment.
Do you know why I have the humming noise on my speaker still when nothing connected to it except the power ?
If this is a powered speaker, you might want to check if the power connector has the ground connection intact (3 pins). If the power cord does not come with a separate ground connection (2 pins) as part of the connector, you could ask a repair center look at it. Hope this helps.
@@NetworxAudioVideoInc
Thanks for your advice!
Someone said that I could break the ground pin to prevent the ground loop. I don't know if that's a good idea or should I buy another device like a cheap DI to break the ground loop. But this have to have another pair of the XLR cables and the DI too, that makes my system more messy and complicated.
@@lanphanh Breaking a ground pin is never a good idea - the ground pin is an important safety feature that should never be removed from any electronic equipment to prevent electrical shock. It also provides a ground connection for the audio signal. A DI box can definitely help eliminate hum. Hope this helps.
How do you know which cables are balanced or unbalanced?
Generally unbalanced cables use 2 conductors and balanced cables use 3. In some cases unbalanced cables use 3 at one end and 2 on the other end. Take a look at this video that explains hardware that connects to a sound system including balanced and unbalanced cables ... th-cam.com/video/A3W_h26SfuM/w-d-xo.html
Hi James, I Love your videos, very helpful for beginners. Quick question , I bought the Behringer mixer q1202usb to connect my dj controller - mixer- to speaker. When I tested it at home the sounds looks good, the moment I go to an open space , the sound is terrible and very muggy/not clean. I am not sure if this a problem of the speaker (Sony XP 700) , or the Wi-Fi that might be causing the problem. I use 1/4 to connect the mixer to the speaker. Any thoughts?
When setting up speakers, they can produce varying results based on their placement, positioning and aiming. Also tuning can affect clarity.
For instance, if you place a speaker within a foot or so of a hard surface like a wall or floor, it will usually result in a low and low-mid boost which can assist in low frequency reproduction but could also add too much bass into the resulting sound causing it to be muddy sounding and not as clear.
Also, if a speaker is placed on a speaker stand and kept off the floor and at least 3 feet from a wall, it will result in less low frequencies being reproduced than when placed near a hard surface. If a bass boost is used to try and recreate the sound when near a hard surface, it could also cause muddy sound with reduced clarity.
Generally the preferred way to test and setup speakers is as per the manufacturers recommended method(s). In the case of most portable speakers, that would be placed on speaker stands with a flat or recommended EQ setting and using subwoofers to enhance the low frequency reproduction as needed. This will help the speakers be as clear as possible even at higher levels. Hope this makes sense and hope this helps ...
@@NetworxAudioVideoInc thank you so much James !
Thank you. I have hum in my PA system and your video seems to have not addressed my problem. I have Harbinger V2312 and when I plug one in and turn it on, with only a balanced power cable I get hum. When the volume knobs are off it's a low pitch hum and when I turn up the volume it adds high pitch hum to the low pitch hum but it's always there. Any thoughts?
Hi Joe, thank you for the question. If I am understanding this correctly, you have a hum when only the power cable is connected to the speaker and the mixer is disconnected from the speaker. If this is the case, I found a FAQ section on the manufacturer website regarding hum on the speaker and what you can do to correct it. I suggest you look at that to see if that might resolve your issue. If you still have hum after following their advice, you may need to have it looked at. Hope this helps ...
@@NetworxAudioVideoInc Yes thanks. I haven't tried a power conditioner yet. I don't own one. I'll stop by Guitar Center this weekend and troubleshoot it.
I have these hissing problems from my setup. If i only use my audio source connected only to my amplifier there is no hissing or humming but when i make a full set ( mixer-eq-crossover) there goes the hissing sound and i cant eliminate it. Where do you think the problem is? Im using xlr and trs cables
There are a couple of common issues that could cause this.
The first is the gain setup of the sound system. If this is set too high early in the system, it can easily result in distortion. But if set too low early in the system, it can easily add hiss to the sound as the sound is boosted later on in the other components to make up the difference. In order to set this up correctly, you need to adjust the gain setting of each system component correctly to minimize the effects of hiss and distortion. A simple way to check your setup is to first adjust the level on the mixer. When that is done, adjust the gain on the next component to read the same amount on the indicators as the mixer. Then do the same for each component in the system. When done, all the indicators should show the same.
The second is a noisy component due to a mismatched output/input. Sometimes a component just has a noisy output and causes a hiss or hum to be heard due to a connection mismatch. This can be checked by verifying the outputs going into inputs are of the same type. For example a line level output that goes into a mic level input can be a cause of hiss. If that is the case, connect the line level output into a line level input or a mic level output into a mic level input.
I hope this has been helpful in resolving your issue. I also recommend watching these videos about setting your mixer inputs as they explain a bit about gain levels and should help you get the levels right:
th-cam.com/video/Md6-MEsiFDg/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/UaykNMUQFXU/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/FfO4zznZn2Q/w-d-xo.html
I have a digital piano connected to the Digital Interface via unbalanced cable.
The Digital Interface then connects to the laptop using USB cable.
Additionally the same digital piano connects to the laptop using USB cable for the MIDI recording.
This scenario created an unbearable hum / buzzing. And whenever the piano key is pressed, and MIDI is transmitting, there is a nasty square waveform overlapping the audio signal.
Also when the laptop touchpad was active, or there was any activity on the laptop, the horrible noise sounds intensified.
I turned off WiFi, I turned the laptop volume all the way down. I don;t touch the laptop while recording the music from my instruments.
I ordered 2x USB Isolators, (ADUM3160 Transformer Chip) both for the Digital Interface, and the Piano USB MIDI to the laptop cable.
I also ordered a Direct Box, which I will plug to the piano using 1 foot patch cables (to keep them as short as possible).
The Direct Box then will output balanced signal over 15 ft XLR cable
I hope this plan is a solution to my problems, however I can't confirm it as I'm still waiting for these components.
Is my plan sensible? Do you have any other suggestions?
Please let me know which digital interface you were using. I am not sure that USB isolators will help but it is possible. I am not sure, but you might want to check if you could lose the ability to power a device over USB when using an isolator in case the laptop is providing power to the digital interface.
@@NetworxAudioVideoInc thanks for your reply!
yes I use Scarlett 2i2 which indeed needs power from the USB data cable as well. that's a serious design flaw by FocusRite, because they should know they have to separate the power from the data cable, especially with high gain preamps circuits. I can't believe they didn't think of that.
that's why I bought the best designed USB isolator based on ADuM3160 chip, which combines high speed CMOS
and monolithic air core transformer technology. that means it also separates the D-/D+ power, not just the data pins.
and it intelligently switches D+ with D- as the data flow direction changes, on a packet by packet basis.
so I believe the ADuM3160 is far far superior, at least in the design, comparing to iDefender, which uses physical USB power separation (which shows they didn't know how to do it using electronics components, and ask you to plug the external power to USB dongle, which I find funny cum ridiculous.
now barring the above theory, I still need to confirm if that actually works in practice, and I will update you when I receive my 2 ordered USB isolators (ADuM3160 based)..
@@TigerCarpenter Does the scarlett 2i2 work fine without noise if the midi is disconnected or does it still make noise?
@@NetworxAudioVideoInc the microphone over XLR on Scarlett 2i2 sounds perfect, no noise.
piano over unbalanced 2x TS Mono 5 meters sounds a bit noisy, but I could live with it, after some noise gate in DAW etc
electric guitar 2x TS Mono 3 meters sounds pretty good, but I mostly play FX distorted sounds, so it's hard to hear the noise.
when Piano USB MIDI i plugged in to the laptop, the noise is unbearable, the robotic square machine guns following the MIDI transmission, as the piano keys are pressed.
...........................
I ordered many pieces of gear as we speak, all at once (probably I should do it step by step to see if the next step is even necessary but I am impatient).
1. Direct Box with Ground Lift and unbalanced to balanced conversion for the piano, to be connected to Piano output with 1 foot TS Mono patch cables. From Direct Box, I will use balanced XLR 5 meter cables to Scarlett. Both XLR cables will have ferro choke on each end as well. And I ordered top quality HiFi XLR cables with 6N gold plated blah3 (maxed out)
2. For MIDI
USB-B to USB-A iHiFi braided tinned copper shield, with thick 6N = 99.9999% oxygen free copper cores, also with 2 ferro chokes on each end, gold plated plugs with thick aluminum shell covering the soldered area.
3. For Scarlett to laptop
USB-C to USB-A, same specs as above (maxed out)
4. 2x USB Isolator based on ADuM3160 chip with air monoblock transformer, which galvanically separates both USB data lines, as well as USB D+/D- power lines, and intelligently switches D- with D+ on packet basis depending on the transmission direction. these USB Isolators will be plugged into the laptop USB ports, and only then the USB cables will be plugged into them.
SHOULD the above steps NOT create a professional recording worthy signal, I will buy the sledge hammer, and say good bye to Scarlett, and buy something from the top shelf to match my awaited new system components.
I have a feeling, the noise will be gone.
It looks to me that the main reason for the noise is the electromagnetic interference from the unbalanced long cables. And the long low quality USB MIDI cable is like a noise transmitter to everything around. so the laptop is picking it up, all the cables and Scarlett, simply everything is picking up the noise, and then Scarlett is amplifying it.
@@TigerCarpenter I tend to agree that it sounds like a digital noise interference onto the analog audio. Please do let me know how this all works out.
Can I use the 3 conductors 6.5 for my instruments? Or I have to use Di Box?
Usually instruments use 2 conductor 6.5 unbalanced outputs or 3 conductor 6.5 stereo unbalanced outputs. In either case, it is probably unbalanced. Also, using a 3 conductor cable on a 2 conductor output may cause no signal or intermittent signal. Hope this helps.
@@NetworxAudioVideoInc appreciate!