urimish Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 Hi, I've been noticing a lot of electrical static noise from my Helix, when plugged via 1/4' to the mixer. Same setup using XLR eliminates 90% of the noise. Anyone encountered something similar? Can/Should I clean the 1/4 output port somehow? My unit is out of its warranty period, BTW Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd2rk Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 Are you using a quality EMI/RFI Filtered Surge Suppressor type power strip on all devices? Are you using long cable runs (unbalanced is USUALLY good up to 20')? Are you using quality shielded cables? Are they old or worn? Is the wall outlet you're using on the same circuit as major appliances? Are you within 10' of a router or other wireless devices on either end or in between? Cell phone nearby or in your pocket while playing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urimish Posted June 9, 2020 Author Share Posted June 9, 2020 I'm using new, high-quality shielded cables, but some of these questions need to be checked - thanks. However (please correct me if I'm wrong) , if that were the cause I would expect some of the noise to remain even when I connect to the mixer via XLR .The noise is practically eliminated when i use the XLR output instead of the 1/4' output, so It looks to me like there could be something in the 1/4 output jack causing noise. Has anyone seen something similar with their Helix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malhavok Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 When using the 1/4" outs you are running an unbalanced signal. With XLR, you are running a balanced signal. A balanced cable run carries two copies of the signal out of phase with each other. The mixer then flips the phase on one copy before summing them back together. This means it will auto-cancel any noise/interference picked up in the cable run. The most likely thing at play here is that your unbalanced 1/4" cable is picking up a ton of electrical interference. Technically, your XLR is also picking up all the same interference but it's getting canceled back out by the phase shift. Or maybe you've got a grounding problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigGT Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 Have you got the USB plugged into a computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.