1. It’s good your outlets test ok 2. I thought somewhere it was established the the frequency was not limited to your power at 50 Hz.
By the way, the power can be fine but still cause a problem if connected audio devices are plugged into different circuits. It’s best to have all your studio equipment on one circuit by itself. Lights, phones, routers etc. and especially AC should be on another.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
1. It’s good your outlets test ok 2. I thought somewhere it was established the the frequency was not limited to your power at 50 Hz.
By the way, the power can be fine but still cause a problem if connected audio devices are plugged into different circuits. It’s best to have all your studio equipment on one circuit by itself. Lights, phones, routers etc. and especially AC should be on another.
Thanks Matt, No ground loop that was an easy and early check..all the audio gear is on one circuit and that comes through a power conditioner. Ferrite beads can/may reduce EMI & RFI picked up by cables from the environment...so it's a small investment that MAY be of benefit. Robustly shielded cables may also have to be considered.
Faraday Cage anyone?
Last edited by rayc; 09/10/2102:52 PM.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
If it's caused by 50Hz mains, then the interference would be delivered as a continuous low-frequency hum.
It also may be that something has become dislodged as part of your relocation effort and is delivering the static. Perhaps an edge connector or other internal connector?
To rule out your home environment, can you take the gear to another location and connect it up to test?
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
If it's caused by 50Hz mains, then the interference would be delivered as a continuous low-frequency hum.
It also may be that something has become dislodged as part of your relocation effort and is delivering the static. Perhaps an edge connector or other internal connector?
To rule out your home environment, can you take the gear to another location and connect it up to test?
It partially depends on how "clean" the 50hz is for him. In some places I've seen AC as a nearly pure sine wave, and in others it's got all sorts of spikes and other nasties. Some of that noise can present itself way up into the khz range or even mhz range, which can cause all sorts of weirdness when that's being sampled at the regular audio sample rates.
One thing I've done in the past that can help with situations like this is to use balanced cables with the ground lifted at the receiving end. This can often produce lower noise than having the ground connected at both ends. If you're handy with hand tools and/or a soldering iron it's fairly trivial to lift the ground at the end of a cable, provided it's a jack that can be disassembled.
I agree that some internal connector somewhere could've shifted, which could cause this problem.
... It partially depends on how "clean" the 50hz is for him. In some places I've seen AC as a nearly pure sine wave, and in others it's got all sorts of spikes and other nasties. Some of that noise can present itself way up into the khz range or even mhz range, which can cause all sorts of weirdness when that's being sampled at the regular audio sample rates.
Good points Simon, and definitely worthy of consideration. The area the Ray is in should be expected to have reasonable electricity supply. My brother lives not far away from there and has never experienced an issue. That is not to say that any external interference could be quite local to Ray, which is why I suggested a trial of the same gear at a different location. I understand that his gear apparently worked OK at his previous location.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
If you have access to an oscilloscope, you can put it on the mail lines and see if anything is riding on them that would be causing this. You mentioned the solar panels as possibly having a carrier. Sweep the freq up and down and you'll see what's hiding there.
I'd certainly do the laptop powering the interface and see if it's still there. If it is.... I'd then carry that setup a good distance away to the local pub or something that gets you away from any local noise sources.
This certainly sounds like a detective job for you.
Since you are in AUS.... any aboriginal graveyards nearby?
Do keep us posted when you finally figure it out.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
I turned the lights off, I put Ferrite beads on both ends of each related cable into or out of the interface and computer, I have the power conditioner set & running properly, I have the gain at noon on the preamp, I created a Faraday Cage for the interface, (as best could be expected given cables in n out ), using a foiled lined freezer bag, I turned the monitor screen off, AND I used a "terminated" XLR cable.
Net result a TINY drop in the level of the problem. I tried to filter the noise out using ReaFir... it takes a block at -108dB to filter out the sub hump and a block at -102dB to do the same for the peaks. Those dB levels are according to ReaFir.
With those settings there's quite a bit of "noise" between the hump & peak when the line & HiZ buttons are engaged and quite a bit more when the 4K button is brought in...all expected as a matter of signal increase and colour (interesting to "SEE" the colour of the Heritage 4K thing...a low mid through to upper mid curve and harmonics after the peak). basically some EQ and distortion. a) bass before Reafir b) bass IN ReaFir & c) bass post ReaFir
I filtered the noise from the guitar bus and the bass as they had the most pronounced readings - caused by the HiZ preamping the vocal wasn't as severely affected.
Last edited by rayc; 09/19/2101:54 AM.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
I turned my system on one day and had a really bad hum.... 60hz. I was thinking something had blown up or whatever.... bad cables.... etc.....
After spending more time than I should have spent.... I realized I had left my POD2 output turned up from the last recording session and the guitar cord was in the input and the guitar was not connected.
Some times it's just the simple stuff.... be sure you check those things too.
Do to my personality and how I think....I try to analyze from the hardest things first.....as a result, I often spend more time and effort than necessary.... if I had only checked the simple things first.... such as.... yep... is the switch on the side turned on? No? Oh S%#&!
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
I turned my system on one day and had a really bad hum.... 60hz. I was thinking something had blown up or whatever.... bad cables.... etc..... After spending more time than I should have spent.... I realized I had left my POD2 output turned up from the last recording session and the guitar cord was in the input and the guitar was not connected. Some times it's just the simple stuff.... be sure you check those things too. Do to my personality and how I think....I try to analyse from the hardest things first.....as a result, I often spend more time and effort than necessary.... if I had only checked the simple things first.... such as.... yep... is the switch on the side turned on? No? Oh S%#&!
Thanks for the encouragement HH, As my most recent post makes clear, the only input for the recent test was a "terminated" XLR cable. The images were taken with a bass D.I.'d as I needed some signal to show the variation. The fairly extensive list of variations and changes include using a laptop computer running on battery and in a different room to the problem spot.
There are two steps I've not yet taken..one is to repeat the laptop & interface test but after blacking out the house AND taking the laptop and interface into the street. There're two BIG questions - 1. What's causing this problems? and 2. Does it have an audible impact on my recording, processing & mixing?
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
Good news- we've extended our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® special offers until May 31, 2026!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 is packed with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can transcribe an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
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Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
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FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
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