power conditioner?

David Lawrence · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 29 Sep 2006 Posts: 117

Gang,
I get a noticeable hum in my protools session when I crank the gain up on my Mbox2 for those quieter reads. One thing I've gathered is that a power conditioner might help. Does anyone use one, and if so 1) does your sound quality improve with it and 2) what would you recommend? Thankee.

David

Erik Sheppard · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 01:52 (GMT) Post subject:

This is sometimes caused by crappy home wiring. See if you have a ground hum by sticking some of those 3-prong to 2-prong adapters on the power cords.

David Lawrence · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 29 Sep 2006 Posts: 117

Thanks Erik. No, it's not ground hum, though your comment prompted me to do the obvious--completely disconnect the laptop while running PT to see if that altered the hum at all. Nope. I guess I'll just have to deal....

Erik Sheppard · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 02:45 (GMT) Post subject:

You shouldn't have to just deal. The Mbox2 isn't the the most amazing thing on the market, but unless you have a bum unit, it shouldn't hum too much.

A power conditioner might help but that may not be the problem. Have you replaced your cables or tried a different mic?

Brad Venable · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 02:53 (GMT) Post subject:

I have a Furman. They're awesome. Pricey, but nice.

Lowered my noise floor by 10db due to dirty power noise.

Lance Blair · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 04:02 (GMT) Post subject:

David,

What are all the components of your studio? Mics, powered speakers, etc...

Is everything on the same circuit?

Are all wires clear from power lines, and are those that cross power cross perpendicularly?

Are you XLR or TRS into the MBox?

How high are you cranking the gain?

If you can't stop the humming, can you teach it the words? Smile

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

David Lawrence · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 29 Sep 2006 Posts: 117

As usual, you guys are awesome.

Wiring could be an issue in this house; it's a Rube Goldberg special, built in 1906. All sorts of funky stuff. That said, even when I'm simply running a session on my laptop's battery power, there's no difference.

I've changed mics and cables to no avail; I'm currently using a Rode NT-1A with Gotham GAC-3 double-shielded XLR cable.

When I unplug the mic, the hum (which shows up in the level indicator of the track) decreases dramatically. W/ mic plugged in and at medium track height, with the gain at about 3/4, the hum registers about 1/8"; when I unplug the mic the level drops off; I have to crank the gain all the way up to get it back.

After all this it may simply be a matter of my "booth" not being as quiet as I think it is. I live on a quiet street and record in a closet I've lined with blankets and acoustic tile, but....

-David

Bob Bair · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008, 20:42 (GMT) Post subject:

Post a sample. Perhaps we can give you some help that way.

Power conditioners can be helpful not just for noise but fixing intermittent issues with digital equipment. Many times those power bricks have really poor filtering so dirty power in makes for even dirtier power out. Putting my home router, cable modem and Vonage modem on a battery backup / power conditioner eliminated flaky network connections.

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

Clue #1:

Thomas C. Gass · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008, 12:12 (GMT) Post subject:

...could it be related to a balanced/unbalanced wiring problem? (cable, adapters, desk inputs...)

Thomas

Gregory Houser · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008, 17:31 (GMT) Post subject:

I'm with Chris and Thomas on this one.

Dumb question. Is this an MBox 2 or MBox 2 Pro?

Just asking as the MBox 2 Pro also has a power supply which can be used in place of the FW interface.

David Lawrence · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 29 Sep 2006 Posts: 117

Gang,
Not sure what to make of this; fortunately, the music store where I bought the Mbox2 called me yesterday to tell me they're offering free PT workshops on Saturdays. I'll be bringing this up with them to see what they have to say, and will report back...

Bobby Knight · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008, 20:43 (GMT) Post subject:

I've heard that the cheaper Furmans really don't help that much,..can anyone verify?

Erik Sheppard · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008, 20:48 (GMT) Post subject:

I can. Spring for a good one.

I have heard the Monster ones are awesome but I can't stand their business practices so I wouldn't buy from them.