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Annoying 'hiss' under input signal


LiamWayne
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Hi everyone,
I have an issue with Helix Native where I'm hearing a noticeable 'hiss' where there should be silence and even over played notes and chords.

As you can imagine, this issue is driving me to the point where I don't even want to play through it anymore! I am still awaiting response to my service ticket.

As far as I'm aware my gain staging is correct. I will attach an audio file to this post to clarify.
My interface is a Mackie Profx12, gain @ 3o'clock peaks at 0dBVU. My DAW is Cubase 10 Elements and levels in Helix peak at about -18dBFS.

I'm absolutely baffled...Has anyone else experienced this? Did I get a bad plugin? I've looked everywhere and no one else seems to have this problem!

 

Thanks in advance,

Liam 

HelixExamples.mp3

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That's strange, but I don't suspect Helix Native. Yet. To me, it sounds like noise is being injected into the guitar signal somewhere else in the signal path. Have you done more troubleshooting, e.g:

 

- record the guitar signal through your Profx, then try different single plug-ins that boost the signal (compressors, etc) and see if you hear the noise.

- insert only Helix Native on the guitar track, but don't put any blocks in the preset .... just run the guitar signal through it, adjusting input and output to achieve unity (same volume if the plug-in is bypassed or not). Any noise?

- listen closely to your signal coming out of the Profx with headphones...any noise?

 

Etc.....

 

 

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....a noise gate wouldn't help here....if you listen to the OP's file you can hear that the noise is part of the guitar playing, rather than during the silent parts. Gotta figure out what is causing the noisy guitar signal. Laptop power supply?? Bad cable? Faulty audio interface? Jupiter aligned with Mars? Active guitar with low battery? WTF?

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On 6/1/2019 at 3:30 PM, soundog said:

That's strange, but I don't suspect Helix Native. Yet. To me, it sounds like noise is being injected into the guitar signal somewhere else in the signal path. Have you done more troubleshooting, e.g:

 

- record the guitar signal through your Profx, then try different single plug-ins that boost the signal (compressors, etc) and see if you hear the noise.

- insert only Helix Native on the guitar track, but don't put any blocks in the preset .... just run the guitar signal through it, adjusting input and output to achieve unity (same volume if the plug-in is bypassed or not). Any noise?

- listen closely to your signal coming out of the Profx with headphones...any noise?

 

Etc.....

 

 

 

 

On 6/3/2019 at 6:29 PM, soundog said:

....a noise gate wouldn't help here....if you listen to the OP's file you can hear that the noise is part of the guitar playing, rather than during the silent parts. Gotta figure out what is causing the noisy guitar signal. Laptop power supply?? Bad cable? Faulty audio interface? Jupiter aligned with Mars? Active guitar with low battery? WTF?

 

Hey soundog ,

 

I've spent the last week trying to get to the bottom of this and even brought in an engineer last night. 
I'm playing through a Strat with DiMarzio PAF humbuckers. They sound clean on the dry signal so I know they aren't contributing.

I am on a solid state Mac OS Mojave so no issues there.
 

I've ditched my Mackie mixer for my little Apogee guitar interface. I get a MUCH cleaner signal through that little thing for whatever reason. I've turned my studio upside down & inside out, still no idea how to get a better signal through my Mackie...life's too friggin' short so Apogee it is. 

We've established that I do a mild ground loop issue in my set up and that a power conditioner will go a long way, so I've got a Furman coming my way hopefully tonight or tomorrow.

Still got that damn overwhelming hiss on certain hard driven presets though!!! At the same time there are some crunchy presets that are beautifully noise-free...That leads me to believe that the issue is inside the plugin. 

 

In case you're wondering what I tried with my Mackie mixer in an effort to feed the Helix the cleanest signal possible, I've tried the following:

-Swapped out guitar cables

-Walked away from my Mac to different areas of my studio incase my guitar was picking up something 

-Moved the usb cable well away from any power cables

-Ran my guitar through a D. I. box with a ground lift

-Plugged my mixer into a different power outlet on a separate circuit breaker to eliminate the possibility of a ground loop
-Plugged my entire set up into a 2-prong power adapter to lift the ground (not that I'd want to do that long term but what the hey)

-Boosted the channel fader a tad further to help strengthen the dry signal

-Ran mixer and Mac through a power conditioner to eliminate the possibility of dirty power

...Still only a small difference once I got playing the hard driven presets in Helix Native...Nothing useable if I was to record. Yes, noise reduction tools at the mix stage are always an option, but I'd rather not have to screw around like that for the amount I paid.

 

I cut out all the boxes in the presets and made sure levels were at unity with and without plugin. No noise - Super quiet. 

As soon as I add distortion the noise starts. I've never heard distortion pedals that add this amount of lollipop to the signal in my life! The tone rocks - the noise ruins it.

Man I'm stumped...WTF...my words exactly!

Still waiting on a response from my service ticket.

 

 

 

 

 

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On 6/3/2019 at 7:50 PM, aaron__aardvark said:

OK, sorry.  Didn't notice the mp3 file that was attached.  I wonder if the guitar pick-ups have anything to do with it.  Are they hum-buckers?

I am playing through DiMarzio PAF Humbuckers. I'd hate to know what single coils would sound like!

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Any chance of trying a different electric guitar and see what happens?  I have a Yamaha electric bass that I like, though it has gone through phases in the the past where it would have some extra unwanted noise on occasion, mostly on open notes (when no fingers were touching the strings).  I even jerry-rigged a wire from the bridge of the bass to the inside of my mouth that helped at times (some sort of weird ground issue?).  Not sure how safe that was, though I never got a shock.  I don't think I've had that problem in years though.  Maybe it didn't get along with a particular cable?

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8 hours ago, aaron__aardvark said:

Any chance of trying a different electric guitar and see what happens?  I have a Yamaha electric bass that I like, though it has gone through phases in the the past where it would have some extra unwanted noise on occasion, mostly on open notes (when no fingers were touching the strings).  I even jerry-rigged a wire from the bridge of the bass to the inside of my mouth that helped at times (some sort of weird ground issue?).  Not sure how safe that was, though I never got a shock.  I don't think I've had that problem in years though.  Maybe it didn't get along with a particular cable?

Yeah, I forgot to add that I've tried on 2 other guitars - no difference. Like I say, I've swapped out cables. Very close to ditching this whole product.  

Thanks for reaching out.

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  • 10 months later...

I have the exact same issue on my Helix Floor unit. (attatced mp3)
Latest FW (2.92.0)
The Helix is somewhat unusable for recording as this issue is right now.  The noise is produced by the unit. Example file is my Taylor acoustic, but i have the same issue with my electrics.

Anyone heard of any solution for this?

Helix Floor Hiss.mp3

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