My God - I am going to go mad . . .

[lord toranaga]

It may be of interest, that I had many RF interference problems when using event monitors.

I had two different sets, and both we horrible interfered with..



Once I replaced my monitors, The RFI was gone.

[perplex]

Had a similar issue (whining/ interference buzz) with my FA-66 soundcard and my monitors (had mackie hr624, now these samson 65a - both same issue)

Whole issue solved by buying a set of: BALANCED 1/4" audio cables (soundcard to monitors).
cost about $12 for 6'.
Problem... Gone immediately.

Try that... Balanced cables available at any pro-audio shop.

i have a fa-66 to bro! woo hoo. I had the same buzz, and although i had balanced cables, they were still there. I just did a ground lift by removing the ground wire on my XLR cables, and wala, all gone

[intensemojo]

I could not get my setup for the life of me to remove the constant hum. Ground lifted, rewired the room at great expense, everything. Gave up until I read that usb itself could be a problem so i bought an Apogee Duet which is FW800 on a whim and surprise surprise the noise went away. While I am not saying that is the fix I would say it may be an option.

[crofter]

This is what I use, works well,
http://www.amazon.co.uk/HARD-TO-FIND-CA ... NX1MJD6ME4

[adam_mc]

How do I get a photo of my Cable on here? I have taken a detailed photo but have no idea how to put it on this forum. Cut and paste seems not to work.

[The Carpet Cleaner]

Ground loop. I cut the ground on my trs cables to speakers, no more noise. If you don't want to cut anything, use Xlr cables and ground lift adapter for Xlr cables. I'll do that soon, it's cleaner

[perplex]

How do I get a photo of my Cable on here? I have taken a detailed photo but have no idea how to put it on this forum. Cut and paste seems not to work.

you will have to upload it to a site like imageshack.us, and then link us to it.

but if you know the name of the cable, just do a google image search, and paste the link here

[DSPI]

This is a common problem caused by the laptop power supply you either need a power supply that is double insulated or use a ground loop isolator or DI box between the audio interface and your monitors.

This is a big problem I have in band practices, where I use Live just for samples in a live band. It 'buzzes' through the PA only when the laptop's plugged into the mains, not when it's on battery. However, when we play gigs the soundcard output (phono out to 1/4" jack} is always put through a DI box and this eliminates the buzz caused by the mains cable... DI box is your answer, I feel!

[adam_mc]

Well, I've got loads to be getting on with and I really appreciate all you help, even the goofy boy picture.

I have read pleanty on here over the last 5 years but written little and it's great to get so many people willing to offer help.

Cheers to all.

Now finding a way to show you my cable.

[adam_mc]

Okay,

I think my cables are unbalanced (as am I at the bloody moment!)

I found this http://forum.fractalaudio.com/amps-cabs ... les-2.html

and mine do not have the "ring" part that the "balanced" cables apparently have. Could this be enough reason for me to be having all these problems?

[hps909]

balanced cables will only work if your i/o are balanced aswell speakers are usually balanced ins are the souncard main outs balanced? if not a DI box is your only hope or a double insulated power supply for your laptop ie a power plug without an earthpin
.. groundloops suck

[martin808]

I have had a ground loop problem with my last 2 laptops. I have a small extension lead that has the ground removed which i plug my laptop power supply in to. It's been working for me for around 8 years with no problems. I've occasionally turned up to a gig and forgot my ungrounded extension and just used electrical tape over the ground on the plug.

I realise this isn't the best advice, removing the ground, but it does work and i've never had a problem

[adam_mc]

HOORAY.

I popped to my local music shop and with a couple of leads being replaced and a couple of DI boxes (with a decent discout too) everything in my studio is happy once more. Actually it is better than it has ever been.

Thanks to everyone who offered some help - much appreciated.

Adam

[jibbs1234]

I went thru the exact same learning experience the last few days with the saffire usb 6 and a new samsung qx410-s02 laptop. Determined it to be a crappy power supply with the laptop, good to know the proper method to break the ground loop, opposed to the 3-2 prong trick - don't want to get zapped!

But that was just the beginning of my headache configuring this laptop to work without spikes with the saffire. The DPC latency checker was very helpful identifying a crappy ethernet driver, second was setting the power plan to maximum performance, third was picking a less heavy windows theme, fourth was configuring some nvidia settings.

One other thing to note with the saffire, is that it is usb 1.1, and it is noted by focusrite that usb 1.1 is not handled well by win7 w/core intel i-series processors (i3,i5,i7) - search their support site there is an article on it. So the buffer time cannot be dropped less than 3ms. That is actually sufficient for me - yields around 20-some ms in/out latency. No more dropouts for me, at all.

Two remaining problems though - and I haven't fully determined the sequence of events leading to them yet, but I think occur when I return from sleep mode:

1) I have noted that the audio (the highs particularly noticable) sometimes sounds kinda bit-reduced/rough.
2) If I return to an open ableton (something which I will avoid), I have had it completely lock up on me, aside from the toolbar.

-Both I can solve by going into preferences, toggling back to on board sound then back to the saffire, it snaps out of it, sorta "reboots" their connection I guess.

adam_mc, or anyone experience anything similar????

Thanks!!!

[The Philosopher King]

Whomever mentioned Balanced Cables. Thank you. I just checked, and find that both my Stealth Pedal, and my Roland Powered Monitors have Balanced ins/outs. I'm looking forward to getting my own problem solved real soon.