Ableton Forum

I have one hooked up to a pc. I notice that i get a small but annoying hum from the computer that goes into my monitors. Have you experienced this? Its like the whirl of the hard disk or something that i can hear in the monitors? Any ideas how to get rid of it?

turn off your monitors.

Im using the monitors for playback, It happens when there is no sound from ableton

Got an Fa-66 with my Mac.

But have had similar issue (with several different interfaces at times), in different venues and studio setups.

First - break your setup apart and test each component seperately to isolate the issue (PC, fa-66, monitors). Use the PC headphone jack to the monitors, run fa-66 with an mp3 player input, have a buddy with a laptop come over and test your fa-66. It takes time - but you will know the gear better though.

Basic suggestions:

I will assume that you have the Fa-66 hooked up by firewire to your PC (not the optical in, or PC into other gear then into an Fa-66 input).

#1 - Check your cables. Are they shielded? Move your audio cables away from your PC, electronic gear & power cables - it is possible to pick up EM interference and your monitors could be amping that up (like pink noise or a ground hum). Change firewire cable (check it). Wornout cables are a nightmare you cannot see.

#2 - monitors themselves could be in a ground fault loop (power hum up and thru the grounding plug). Change outlets/ circuits that the monitors are plugged into. Fa-66 has a grounding screw on the back - try using it - connect to same ground as monitor circuit. Use an extension cord without the grounding plug (sry- dont know if this exists oversees?) to isolate the ground out.

#3 - PC could be transmitting a RF signal that the monitors are picking up and amping into audible range. Had this issue with my G5 until i turned 'nap' off to make sure the processors never rest - as the rest state created a churping in my studio mates self-powered monitors. Check PC - use different programs and/ or drivers to see if problem is software.

Good Luck

Cool thanks for all the suggestions. i feared i would have to do something like this

im using a fa66 with a sony viao. i havent had any issues. do you have an external hard drive in the vicinity? is phantom power on? do you have a lo-z mic(sm7 for instance) plugged into input 2/r with the hi-z option on?

overall i love this interface for the price.

i had issues like this but with different gear,

if you have a 3 pin plug on your pc,s power supply cut the ground out, for me this worked