tips...34.
guarding against hums n buzzes n things that go bump in the night.
scenario..your getting a hum or buzz over your speakers.
first thing to check.
are u useing a star grounding system ??
let me explain.
if you plug in say a guitar amp into a different electrical outlet
in your house..than your other studio gear you might get a problem.
what is the star grounding system ??
heres what i do.
i come out of ONE house electrical outlet into a series of surge protected
power bars. thus everything is linked back to the one outlet.
the pc n synths n guitar amps n mixer etc etc.
this way i find i dont get hums or buzzes etc.
you can also go a step further and get a qualified electrician to
install a dedicated electrical circuit for the studio.
but this can cost money of course.
(remember also to put fast blow fuses on loudspeakers..!)
if you have a huge set up of course prolly a dedicated electrical studio circuit is preferable.
one other tip.
before turning on your gear ensure you dont have your speakers up full blast.
i normally turn on my speakers after ive turned everything else on
n booted the computer.
another tip is.if useing vacuam tube based gear n mic pre's...
sometimes they need a warm up time to perform optimally.

while we are at it i'll discuss cableing briefly.
some people claim they hear differences.
i dont buy the cheapest and not the most expensive.
sorry..just imho, but a lot is marketing imho.
but run your own tests with different cables.
in ADDITION if you hear hums or buzzes ,
check you dont have an audio cable..(eg...preamp out connected
to sound card line in.) right by a power cable.
in general therefore keep your audio cable runs seperate
from your power cable runs.
an inexpensive cable tester is also a usefull thing to have around to check
the integrity of mic and other cables.
by the way...if your of a diy bent you CAN buy bulk cable
and make your own mic and other patching cables.
with appropriate connectors.
(just google)
in addition.if you dont have one...consider getting a patch bay.
they are pretty cheap. and LABEL each connection.
they are good for connecting lots of gear and patching things/routing.
you can get RCA or quarter inch types.

(more to come.)