Community: Message List - Grounding issue?- noisy

Re: Grounding issue?- noisy

support@line6.com — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:38:17 GMT

I can't say why the 22k setting helped, but what I didn't see was that you tried a different location to determine if the unit is faulty or there's an outside grounding issue. I would go to a music store and connect it side by side with another unit. If you get noise from yours only, it looks like it will have to be a warranty repair at a service center:

http://line6.com/service_centers/. If both hum, I would try a couple other "clean power" candidates to find if the unit is faulty or not.

Re: Grounding issue?- noisy

support@line6.com — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:33:19 GMT

From everything you've said the problem would appear to be a less than good ground rather than a ground loop as such. Electrically I'm sure the ground in your mains wiring is 100% safe, but in terms of audible hum caused by a tiny amount of AC being induced in the house wiring ground wire by the regular AC cables running in close proximity to the ground wire, it's not being grounded as well as it could.

At home I have zero grounding issues with my HD500 and any guitar. However there is another location I go to regularly and the grounding in that property is not as good, so I get a bit of hum which goes away when I touch the strings on the guitar.

In terms of induced voltage we are talking about probably a lot less less than 500mV, which is nothing in electrical terms, but in audio terms that can be a lot

You might be able to improve matters at your property, by getting an electrician to install an earth 'spike' in soft, damp ground outside, and then to make a connection from this to your property's electrical ground. The problem with a lot of modern properties tends to be a lack of underground metal pipes as would have perhaps been the norm in days gone by, which would have normally been bound to the electrical ground. Modern day utility services like gas and water tend to be supplied to your property using plastic pipes these days.

Nick

Re: Grounding issue?- noisy

support@line6.com — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:59:13 GMT

Made an interesting observation today. If I set the resistor values to 22k in the global settings, although it decreases the output volume a lot, it takes away quite a bit of noise. I'm not even sure what this feature is, Any reason why 22k could help?

Re: Grounding issue?- noisy

support@line6.com — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:17:06 GMT

At this point I think the best thing is for you to try another unit - perhaps at Guitar Center where you bought it - and see if you get the same level of noise. Perhaps you can take the HD back to where you bought it and try one of theirs alongside yours. If theirs is notably quieter then I think you need to go down the repair route.

I honestly dont know what the deal is with Vendor warranty in the US but it may be worth checking to see if the Line 6 one get you the repair done free (assuming that is what is required). What is the thing with Guitar Center... do they offer a really lousy return policy or something?

Re: Grounding issue?- noisy

support@line6.com — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:17:52 GMT

Nope. I do not have the USB plugged in. I don't even have the laptop plugged in. I've tried Xlr out, 1/4", and just guitar>pod>headphones, and the noise is present in all of the above. I bought brand new cables, and even with humbuckers, the noise is still prevalent.

Re: Grounding issue?- noisy

support@line6.com — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:41:25 GMT

I see you're recording using the XLR outs. Do you also have the USB cable plugged into your computer while doing so? If you do, unplug it.

Re: Grounding issue?- noisy

support@line6.com — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:22:21 GMT

Thanks for all the responses guys. Nothing I've tried has helped. I did a global reset and the thing is still buzzing. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do at this point. Very disappointing. I'll try to post a sound sample of what I'm getting, any suggestions websites I can post audio files for free to?

Re: Grounding issue?- noisy

support@line6.com — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:39:03 GMT

I was getting a lot of buzz when using any of my music gear that was plugged into the wall, even just the pod and headphones and especially when recording over usb when laptop was plugged in.

My solution was to shield the electrics cavities in my guitar and bass. I have lost 90% of buzz on drive sound and clean sounds are completely buzz free! The bass has no buzz with any sound.

You can find lots of info about shielding on the net.

Re: Grounding issue?- noisy

support@line6.com — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:45:59 GMT

I also have this problem. I noticed that if you are connecting 1/4" unbalanced to a mixer or amp without a 3 prong chord you get the open ground noise, if you connect to an amp with a 3 prong chord or if you connect the XLR balanced the hum goes away. So even if I am not using the XLR, I will sometimes connect it to get the ground. Does the job for me, don't know if that helps you or not, but something to try.

Thanks

Dave

Re: Grounding issue?- noisy

support@line6.com — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:56:57 GMT

I had a similar issue with my HD500. See http://line6.com/support/thread/72204. The issue persisted several days, trying it out in different rooms, with different guitars, and with different cables. I took the unit to a local repair shop and they ended up sending it off to Line 6. Got it back a little over a month later with Line 6 saying that they couldn't replicate the issue. So, I took it home, and sure enough, the issue was gone. I was spooked enough though to sell it before the issue arose again. Now I have a HD bean, which I find generally to be a lot less noisier than the HD500.