Ableton instrument input noise? help?

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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CloudEx
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:24 pm

Ableton instrument input noise? help?

Post by CloudEx » Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:31 pm

- EDIT -
I'm now sure there a problem the bass guitar itself, a grounding issue with the wiring as the noise/buzz is happens when one of the pickups is turned up and disappears completely when turned all the way down.
Also sure that using compressor/multiband presets raised the noise floor and made it more pronounced.
thanks all.

Heya, i'm having some trouble and i need help.
I'm getting a really loud noise/buzz/hum when i'm recording bass guitar (and ukulele but it's not as bad). I recently just replaced my usb interface (new komplete audio 2) so i know for sure it's not that. AND when i'm listening to just the interface input there's NO NOISE, but as soon as it hits albeton it's there. and it's loud, when i'm playing bass it's equally as loud as the guitar.
I've tried messing with settings and nothings worked, i've tried turning off effects one by one to try and isolate it. I've bought new balanced jack cables to try and it's still there. I've looked into the bass guitar itself and there's no loose/broken connections. i've tried noise reduction plugins (reafir) and it's a little better but still really really loud and pronounced, it's like the noise to signal ratio is way way off. i've tried to isolate the frequencies and notch them out with EQ and it doesn't work cause the noise spans a large amount of frequencies.
and idk what to try or how to fix it.
i'm a solo artist and trying to get a professional clean sound.

any advice or hints would be lovely,
thanks.
Last edited by CloudEx on Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.

CloudEx
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:24 pm

Re: Albeton instrument input noise? help?

Post by CloudEx » Mon Sep 30, 2019 2:06 pm

i uploaded an example of the problems i'm having.

https://soundcloud.com/user-669466713/noise-examples

first ones bass no effects just normal,
second is just the noise with high gain,
third is bass with effects no gate,
fourth is bass with effects and gate
fifth is ukulele no effects just normal
sixth is ukulele just the noise with high gain

hope it's more clearer with the examples.
thanks

TLW
Posts: 809
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2018 2:37 am

Re: Albeton instrument input noise? help?

Post by TLW » Mon Sep 30, 2019 4:20 pm

A bit more information might be helpful:

Is the noise something new or has it always been there?
Are the effects plugins in Live or are they hardware?
Is the computer a desktop or laptop?
When you say “high gain” do you mean with the interface input cranked, or gain/noise increasing effects, e.g. a compressor or distortion being used?
Live 10 Suite, 2020 27" iMac, 3.6 GHz i9, MacOS Catalina, RME UFX, assorted synths, guitars and stuff.

CloudEx
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:24 pm

Re: Albeton instrument input noise? help?

Post by CloudEx » Mon Sep 30, 2019 5:34 pm

Sorry -

I don't know if it's a new thing but it's something i've only just noticed in the last couple months.
Proccessing is all LIVE and no external plugins (basic gate/comp/EQ)
I'm using a desktop.
High gain meaning i just cranked the input on the interface so ya'll could hear it isolated - but it's always there with the bass.
and for some reason it's way worse on just the bass/guitar compared to the ukulele.

thanks

CloudEx
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:24 pm

Re: Albeton instrument input noise? help?

Post by CloudEx » Mon Sep 30, 2019 5:53 pm

so the first two samples were clean no processing.

these were the processes i used on samples 3/4.
Image
Image
Image

then these were on the mastering tracks.
Image

this is an image of the signal with nothing being played, you can see it on the channels with no processing.
Image

this is a pic of the setup i used to do those samples.
Image

hope thats a little bit clearer,
thanks.

pottering
Posts: 1808
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2014 4:41 am

Re: Albeton instrument input noise? help?

Post by pottering » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:06 pm

CloudEx wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:31 pm
I'm getting a really loud noise/buzz/hum when i'm recording bass guitar (and ukulele but it's not as bad). I recently just replaced my usb interface (new komplete audio 2) so i know for sure it's not that.
No offense, but you got it backwards, the last thing you changed before some problem happened is the most probable culprit, not the opposite...

Besides, Live is software, it doesn't have input noise.

In your pics you have dozens of FX, including multiple OTT...

Seems you don't understand "noise floor" or what FX like Compressor and Multiband Dynamics do.

That OTT preset RISES THE NOISE FLOOR. So do most compressor presets.

You say you tried "turning off effects one by one to try and isolate it".

Seems you disabled one FX that rises the noise floor, while other FX that rises the noise floor was still enabled, concluded it wasn't the cause, then RE-ENABLED IT and disabled the other FX that rise the noise floor and concluded it wasn't the cause either....
♥♥♥

CloudEx
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:24 pm

Re: Albeton instrument input noise? help?

Post by CloudEx » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:13 pm

Hmmm okay. I'll try removing all compressor/multiabands and see if that helps.

thanks.

annihilator.1
Posts: 291
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:17 pm
Location: England

Re: Albeton instrument input noise? help?

Post by annihilator.1 » Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:39 am

In the image of your interface it seems you have 48v enabled!

TLW
Posts: 809
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2018 2:37 am

Re: Albeton instrument input noise? help?

Post by TLW » Thu Oct 03, 2019 6:28 pm

48v phantom power only gets sent to XLR mic inputs, unless NI have done something seriously weird and stupid with the interface design. Which I doubt.

Passive DI boxes and dynamic mics ignore phantom power completely, and it shouldn’t be reaching the line sockets even though they’re a shared type. So it’s (usually) harmless. Plugging or unplugging a mic in with phantom switched on isn’t a good idea though - it’s a rare occurrence but it can cause damaging voltage spikes in the preamp stages. Plug in condensor mic/active DI box then switch phantom on and switch it off before unplugging is the safest way to do things.
Live 10 Suite, 2020 27" iMac, 3.6 GHz i9, MacOS Catalina, RME UFX, assorted synths, guitars and stuff.

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