APC40 creating high pitched noise

channelite · Post by **channelite** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:15 pm

I sold my APC because of the noise. When the studio was silent in between edits, I could hear the hiss. I actually like going back to my Axiom and pad kontrol, two controllers I was already very familiar with. Had the apc been silent, I would used it and been happy.

Hermanus · Post by **Hermanus** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:25 pm

I've sold my car for the same reason

drumguy1234 · Post by **drumguy1234** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:42 am

I can't be bothered reading this whole deal here... sorry... i saw an argument brewing.. I'll pass on that.

Bottom line please- Is there a defect in the apc40 design or is the high pitch just a fluke?

Thanks

Spazi · Post by **Spazi** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 12:07 pm

Just checked, and mine does it too. I have never noticed since the db's of noise is so low.
It's probably just the circuit making the noise. Getting a better PSU would probably fix the problem.
So far, Still happy with the APC 40

yellow · Post by **yellow** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 1:28 pm

pffft...
i never noticed the noise before i read this thread...now i do.
but i don't know how loud your noise is that it's so annoying.
i must press my ear almost on the faders to hear it.
however i would buy all your crappy noisy APCs for....hm...
let's say 100€

cheers
yellow

toph · Post by **toph** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 1:52 pm

yellow wrote:pffft...
i never noticed the noise before i read this thread...now i do.
but i don't know how loud your noise is that it's so annoying.
i must press my ear almost on the faders to hear it.

The one possible reason is, that different units produce different volumes of hiss. The other could be, that some people have better hearing in those high frequencies than others (may belong to how often you visit clubs and if you wear ear safes or not).

Mine does also hiss and I don't need to put my ear on it to hear that. It's about 60cm away from my head when I'm working in the studio and the hiss is terrible. The frequencies and volume seems to change depending on how many and what LEDs are on/off.

C.

Hermanus · Post by **Hermanus** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:32 pm

I think some people like to self-torture themselves.

The noise is NOT a problem

toph · Post by **toph** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:26 pm

Hermanus wrote:I think some people like to self-torture themselves.

The noise is NOT a problem

What do you know about the problems other people have with their units? - Have you heard mine, have you been in my studio?

When you just use the APC live, you will never have any problems with this hiss, but when you use it as a studio controller and don't have any loud desktop/laptop-fans in your room, it definitely CAN be a problem.

C.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:32 pm

toph wrote:
Hermanus wrote:I think some people like to self-torture themselves.

The noise is NOT a problem

What do you know about the problems other people have with their units? - Have you heard mine, have you been in my studio?

When you just use the APC live, you will never have any problems with this hiss, but when you use it as a studio controller and don't have any loud desktop/laptop-fans in your room, it definitely CAN be a problem.

C.

and vice versa, I have my APC on all the time and have only heard this noise when I put my ear up against it.

I believe some are louder than others.

toph · Post by **toph** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:39 pm

Tone Deft wrote:I believe some are louder than others.

That's exactly what I considered here:
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?p=990816#p990816

C.

Hidden Driveways · Post by **Hidden Driveways** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:55 pm

I got my first APC40 last night. I believe mine is from the 2nd batch (it was on order for over 10 weeks).

I can hear the noise. My apartment is pretty quiet, and at the end of the night after playing with it and having a blast, I tested this out. All of my gear was off, except for the APC. All I had to do was to turn the power on and off once or twice to notice the sound of the unit once it's switched on.

I agree that it's an annoying sound. But, I also agree with the sentiments from the Depeche Mode video thread.... about how the pros sit around and laugh at the forumites who complain about every little detail there is to complain about. The bottom line is that Ableton Live is one of the most powerful audio tools to ever come along, and the APC40 is an affordable controller that takes the whole experience of using it to the next level, and then some. So to sit around and whine about a slight whining noise from this unit is crazy. 15 years ago the best you could do at this price point was a Fostex 4 track cassette recorder.

If you don't want your APC40, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who do. No one is forcing you to be tortured by it.

Make music.

chelemasty · Post by **chelemasty** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:13 pm

The gentle sounding hiss is just normal for LEDs, or any kind of lights or light bulbs. You could stick your ear near any lights and you'll know what I mean. But if it's really too loud,I guess just exchange it. Even the logo from my KRK monitor which has an LED underneath causes hiss louder than the APC.lol

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:23 pm

chelemasty wrote:The gentle sounding hiss is just normal for LEDs, or any kind of lights or light bulbs. You could stick your ear near any lights and you'll know what I mean. But if it's really too loud,I guess just exchange it. Even the logo from my KRK monitor which has an LED underneath causes hiss louder than the APC.lol

no, LEDs do not hum and they are not the same as a regular light bulb. saying so is as out there as saying a seagull is the same as a helicopter because they both fly. your KRK LED is not what's causing hiss, it's the noise floor of your system.

chelemasty · Post by **chelemasty** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:31 pm

Tone Deft wrote:
chelemasty wrote:The gentle sounding hiss is just normal for LEDs, or any kind of lights or light bulbs. You could stick your ear near any lights and you'll know what I mean. But if it's really too loud,I guess just exchange it. Even the logo from my KRK monitor which has an LED underneath causes hiss louder than the APC.lol
no, LEDs do not hum and they are not the same as a regular light bulb. saying so is as out there as saying a seagull is the same as a helicopter because they both fly. your KRK LED is not what's causing hiss, it's the noise floor of your system.

I'm not even saying they're the same.LOL Anyhow, I think it's still the light from the APC40 that causes the hiss. I tried to lit only one button and stick my ear to it and that's the only part of the APC that has a hiss. And it sounded the same as the hiss of a light bulb or fluorescent.

8O · Post by 8O » Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:31 pm

Tone Deft wrote:...I have my APC on all the time and have only heard this noise when I put my ear up against it.

I believe some are louder than others.

Not sure if it's been discussed already, but I think I asked it in another APC-40 noise thread a while back... I wonder where that noise is coming from? There's no screen on there, no fans, transformer is external... I can't imagine the APC-40's got anything more special under the hood than my UC-33e really, at least not in terms of major noise-generating components. So, any guesses?

APC40 creating high pitched noise

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