Horrible hissing

tezzerstar · Post by **tezzerstar** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:28 am

Hi there
Could any one give me a little help, im new to Ablerton live 5 and im impressed so far, but ive got a problem that when i plug my guitar into live and enable record I get a horrible hissing sound, What causing this? and how the hell do I get rid of it?

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:32 am

isn't it possible that you're guitar is hissing? this happens when you are too close to the speakers I think. I think it may be some sort of digital feedback. or your guitar might not be grounded properly. but even still I don't think it's any setting in ableton.

amo · Post by **amo** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:34 am

Hi,

A bit more details are needed to understand your problem:
- do you hear a digital hiss or a feedback?
- How do you plug your guitar ? directly in a soundcard ? does it have an instrument input ? In a mixing board ?

You'll get answers by describing your setup and the steps you do in order to monitor your guitar through Live.

Best,
amo

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:07 am

possibly even tell us what guitar you're using. are you going through any pedals before you enter the computer? other details.

tezzerstar · Post by **tezzerstar** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:13 am

Hi
At the moment im using a pc lap top and pluging my guitar directly into the mic socket on the computer, the hissing sound comes soon as I enable record think ist a digital hiss, and can be heared through headphones and the computer speakers. Ive turned down the levels to stop the hissing but its not very loud when I play??

Thanks
Tezzer

tezzerstar · Post by **tezzerstar** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:15 am

Ive got a Stagg (les paul replica) not going through any pedals or effects just staright into the computer.

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:28 am

in the past I experiended noise when recording guitar into my pc(which i don't use anymore) but I found if I unplugged the internet and turned my chair away from the computer it was greatly reduced.

also you could try the ableton gate plugin. set the volume very low(possibly to zero) so that it detects the lowest of sounds.

this may not be the only fix but it would be A fix....

amo · Post by **amo** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:31 am

Hi,

First, the input of a laptop's souncard would give you quite a lot of hiss, even if used as meant, with a microphone. And then, to plug a guitar, you need a low impedence input, it is a special kind of input that you find on some soundcards, when it says line/instrument input.
So the his is just the low quality of the soundcard coupled with a missuse of it.
Hope you find a solution soon,
best,
amo

tezzerstar · Post by **tezzerstar** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:31 am

Thanks for that ill try it and see if it works. Would it make any difference if I went through a Mixing desk first??

amo · Post by **amo** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:32 am

tezzerstar wrote:Thanks for that ill try it and see if it works. Would it make any difference if I went through a Mixing desk first??

Could be better, but still, you would need a guitar preamp in order not to have to increase the gain on the mixer too much....

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:40 am

I sudjest buying a cheap usb audio device

wilxon · Post by **wilxon** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:17 pm

th reason it is only hissing when you enable record, is because that is the first point in which you start monitoring the input. i have used the internal soundcard on my laptop which adds hiss quite loudly, i would definatly vote that i cannot make any kind of pro recording using it. i also have an edirol fa66 sound module that has no hiss.

Before trying a mixing desk i would also advise sorting a decent input to your computer, through the PCMCIA Cardbus, USB, or Firewire.