[sdiy] general question: causes of high noise floor on ouputs

[harrybissell]

For 'old school' gear... replacing carbon composition resistors
with metal film can make the noise floor go er.... through the floor.
Often its an order of magnitude improvement.

In a digital design (presumably Surface Mount Technology) the noise is
probably more a side effect of the design, not the components.  You
would
need to study the noise and see if it is an artifact of the circuit
operation
of if it leaks in from a switching power supply, or backlight inverter,
etc.

Then you might attack it, but probably not without doubling the price of
the unit.
If its really worth it, go for it

H^) harry

hbeaumont hbeaumont wrote:
> 
> Hi list,
> 
> I hope this question is not too much off topic for the list. If you
> have a better place for me to ask please point me there (for the group
> of lists I lurk on, this was my best choice).
> 
> I have a piece of gear (store bought) whose outputs are very noisy.
> The noise is a known issue among all owners (not just something with
> the one I own). The gear not high end but also not the very cheapest
> (around $799 at introduction and $499 now).
> 
> My question is if there is a common cause of a high noise floor and
> something that one could work to replace (ie. cheap parts used). Or if
> it is often just an accumulation of small bits of noise thoughout the
> whole that add up to the large noise on the outputs.
> 
> Do you believe there are ways to test and replace components or would
> it be a long search? Would I be just as well adviced to buy some sort
> of noise filter or just work on EQ'ing out the worst?
> 
> Thanks for any input.
> 
> P.S. For those interested, the gear is the Korg Electribe ESX-1
> sampler. I would just buy a different sampler/sequncer but the ESX is
> hard to replace. Very nice xox-style sequencing with nearly all
> operations (including pattern write) able to happen as the sequencer
> runs. Plus a decent amount of knobs for sample manipulation.
> 
> You may notice that the ESX has the optional routing of the outputs
> through the tubes. The noise is there even if you bypass the tubes or
> replace them with higher quality tubes (I don't really use the tubes
> at all though many people seem to love them).