Having noise issues on your external USB audio interface when connected to a desktop PC and powered studio monitors? Chances are you’re having issues with your grounding… Make sure you are using balanced cables, meaning three wires (two phases + ground) to connect your speakers to the output of your interface.
I recently spent quite a few hours chasing down an extremely annoying crackling hum on my audio setup because of that. No ground loop, all devices connected to the same circuit, I even hooked everything up to an online UPS so I get perfect sine voltage but to no avail. When connected to my main workstation there was a noticeable and extremely annoying background noise on my monitors that wasn’t there when I plugged the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 into my notebook or mobile phone via an USB OTG adapter. Heck, it wasn’t even there when I plugged it into an HP Z600 workstation that is sitting right beside my main computer, all connected to the same UPS, ethernet switches and whatnot…
Turns out I used unbalanced cables from the Scarlett to the monitors and apparently the MSI X99S mainboard (or maybe the power supply?) in my primary desktop computer has for some reason quite a bit of noise on the ground of the USB bus. Or something like that – I didn’t bother to get an oscilloscope to verify.
Swapping the cables from TS to proper TRS (tip-sleeve “mono” to tip-ring-sleeve “stereo” aka balanced) fixed it and everything sounds perfect, no matter what computer the interface is connected to.
Hi, Just wondering which brand of cables you used and where to purchase? Thanks, George
For the short distances I tried (up to 15 meters / 50 feet) it doesn’t seem to matter – I usually go with whatever is the cheapest I can find on Amazon. Haven’t had any problems with noise interference, as long as they’re balanced.
I am learning how to record.
That is why I am using Audacity. I am using a Scarlett Solo.
I am hearing a hummmm in my headphones when I turn the recording volume up and it shows up on the Audacity recording volume.
Here is the rub.
If I press down on the Focusrite solo in the middle above the instrument line, the noise goes away.
Another quirky thing is the noice is there when using a Pacifica electric and an Admira Classical Acoustic Electric but it does not appear with the Yamaha bass guitar that I bought.
With this high learning curve in learning how to play again and to record, thi shuming sound is causing a lot of frustration.
At first I had no problem with the focusrite scarlett solo 3rd Gen, on my desktop. After about a month I suddenly started getting noisy recordings (both inputs, mic and ac guitar) even with speakers off and unplugged. I can hear it and see it on the waveforms in Audacity. I installed Scarlett on my laptop and do not see the problem. Here is a screenshot – http://kindwhile.com/graphics/FocusriteNoise.png
What if I still hear the hum after switching to balanced cables? I am using Mogami 1/4″ trs – Male XLR. Never had a hum like this out of my laptop.
After multiple disgusting noisy years with my Scarlett 2i2 3rd gen and Yamaha HS5 monitor speakers I finally swapped from 1/4″ to 1/4″ TS mono jack cables to balanced TRS XLR-M cables. All the noise is gone and the sound is much clearer too. I got some premium cables from Mogami, just to be sure. I don’t regret it, am fully happy now!