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Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

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Message

Re: I got the hum

2002-04-24 by ezra_gold

The other thing to do is run "balanced" signals and cabling whenever 
possible. This would be and XLR or 1/4in TRS wire where 3 wires carry 
a monophonic signal. Balanced signals seperate ground from the audio 
signal. Balanced signals are higher level (+4dbm vs -10dbm) and less 
affected by electrical noise. You can also "lift" ground at one end 
of the cable to prevent hum causing ground loops. 

There are conventions on how to lift ground and this is the source of 
the arrows on Monster cables (which I think are bunk too but Im just 
sayin....). 

You also need to be carefull when converting between unbalaced and 
balanced signals. You need to follow the manufacturer reccomended 
grounding and conversion practices our use a "DI box"/Impedance 
Transformer. Pick up a good studio book it will explain things 
better. 

On the xl-7 the main outs are balanced but the subs are not. Using 
a "guitar cable" that grounds "ring" to "sleeve" is acceptable 
practice for converting the balanced outs on the xl-7 to unbalanced.

--Ezra


--- In xl7@y..., Alex Strudley <Alexs@e...> wrote:
> Biggest thing that helps is to use high quality shielded cables.  
Don't use
> those plasticky orange and grey 6 dollar Hosa cables. Do not run 
regular
> instrument cables through your mixer to your sound card.  Get the 
more
> expensive cables for that.  You can use regular instrument cables 
on your
> synths to go into the mixer but not on the soundcard and not from 
your
> studio monitors back to the mixer.  The extra money is worth it.
> Above all use a power conditioner like a furman Rack Rider.
> Don't get a Juice Goose because they are simply a power strip in a 
rackmount
> case but the Furmans have RF filters in them.  A Furman Rack Rider 
is about
> 50 bucks from AMS or Musician's Friend.  Best 50 bucks you will 
ever spend.
> I've got a few of them and can not imagine the horrors I would face 
if I ran
> all my stuff through regular power strips that you could buy at a 
hardware
> store.  No ghetto cables and no ghetto power supplies.  Your world 
will be
> better.
> 
> Alex
> ------------------------------------
> 
> 
> 
> miki3mikius wrote:
> 
> > --- In xl7@y..., erik_magrini@B... wrote:
> >
> > thanks for your help! It was a grounding problem. I had the cabels
> > from my computer soundcard next to mp7 in the mixer and that 
produced
> > the infamous hum. Still there is a very slight hum (higehr in 
tune),
> > but thats tolerable. Btw can anyone tell me how these grounding
> > problems happen and what to do to avoid them? Still I would like 
to
> > run both the emu and the computer through my mixer.
> > Michael
> >
> > > Does any of your other gear make a hum when connected to those 
same
> > leads
> > > by any chance?   Not saying it's not your XL_7, just make sure 
it's
> > not  a
> > > grounding issue first.  If you still have it, maybe pop open the
> > botom and
> > > make sure everything is screwed in tight?
> > >
> > > rEalm
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > brand new machine with the hum. Not on the headphones but on the
> > main outs
> > > (not on the subs). Anyone any idear?
> >
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > xl7-unsubscribe@y...
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to 
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