How I got rid of high pitched USB noise – once and for all

Something I have been trying to fix for a long time is the annoying high pitched noise that I would hear in the background when recording sounds from my external gear. I guess it has been there more or less since I got my expensive Asus motherboard for the PC. That was years ago but it wasn’t really until I started building and using my modular synth that I started noticing the noise. Somehow it was enhanced by the modular to a degree where I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

I tried a lot of things to solve the issue including buying two kinds of audio ground isolators. They did work. Well sort of… First of all I had to use a lot of them, because I have a big selection of external gear I want to record. Secondly the isolators capped a good part of the lower end spectrum, so a bass sound or kick drum would sound very week. I could compensate with an EQ but it was just too much hassle and I would never get it to sound exactly like it did without the isolators.

Hi-speed USB IsolatorThere is this thing called an USB isolator which you can buy on the cheap from Amazon or from China, or whatever. And they really do work as promised, by removing just the USB noise and keeping everything else. The problem is, until now if you wanted an USB isolator that could be used for Hi-speed USB, meaning it should be able to shuffle enough data for more than two audio channels, they would cost in the range of $250-300. But luckily, technology tends to evolve and today a hi-speed USB Isolator is finally affordable.

HiFImeDIY is now selling a Hi-speed USB Isolator with a price tag of $79. I got mine a few weeks ago and I’m super happy with it. All USB noise is gone and I’ve had no problems like dropouts etc running 16 channels in 24 bit and 96 kHz sample rate.
So.. yeah I’m super happy. One less problem to worry about. :)

December 3rd, 2016|Blog, Hardware, Music production, Studio|
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QU-Bit Chord Eurorack module

My GAS level went up a bit for this new module from QU-Bit. The Chord is a four wave oscillator with individual and summed outputs. All voices are tuned together, allowing for quick and easy sequencing of chord progressions. Lets see if I can find a place for this little beauty in my modular rack.

Chord from Qu-Bit on Vimeo.

August 28th, 2016|modular, Studio, Synthesizer|
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AKAI LPK25 Micro midi USB keyboard

AKAI LPK25

Yesterday I visited a local synth yard sale. Well actually it was more like a basement but anyway. People were selling used synths, studio equipment and what have you.
I got myself this little nice MIDI keyboard for just 300 SEK (around $35). I plan to use it whenever I’m too far away from my main keyboard, like when I’m playing on stuff at the left side of my studio.

August 26th, 2016|Blog, Studio|
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Finally it’s quiet

I recently re-wired my studio and also decided to fix a problem that have been plaguing me for awhile – USB noise.

Now exactly what is USB noise, you might ask. Well it’s a sort of digital, high pitch buzzing noise you can get whenever you have external audio devices connected to a computer via USB. For example my Waldorf Blofeld, XoxBox and LXR Drum machine has it.

It’s pretty easy to get rid of, either by disconnecting USB from the device or by using some sort of Audio Ground loop isolation thingy on the audio out signal from the device. I got a bunch of pretty cheap isolators from a local electronics store. They worked great for my synths. The noise was gone as soon as I connected them.

Recently I got another problem and this time it’s from my Eurorack modules. The two external soundcards I use to get 16 channels of sound into the computer, the Traktor Audio 6 and 10 are both connected to my computer via USB so that’s where the noise comes from. As soon as I connect audio out from any of my modules to any of the audio ins on the soundcards I get that dreaded USB noise on top of the wonderful analog sound. I tried to fix the problem with another cheap ground isolator but that didn’t work as it also cut away all the lower frequencies.

I figured the isolators probably had to high resistance so I looked online for something more sensitive. Today Mr postman brought me three of these from Thomann: The Sirius Pro Cable GL Isojack extension. They work pretty well, but not perfectly. The USB noise is gone, however there is a ca 20 dB drop in volume around 40 Hz, which means there is much less punch to the sound. I can compensate it OK with an EQ but it’s still doesn’t sound exactly what it did without the isolator, minus the noise of course. It will have to do for now, but I will probably get hold of a more professional solution in the near future. Like the Behringer DI800 Ultra-DI Pro, which has 8 channels of wonderful ground-lift.

If anybody knows a better solution please let me know.

August 3rd, 2016|Hardware, modular, Studio|
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My studio is re-wired and everything works, mostly

I’m finished with re-wiring my studio and it works great, for the most part. All my gear is now plugged into the Behringer PX3000 Ultrapatch Pro. I can very easily select which ones should connect to my sound cards, depending on what gear I want to use and record simultaneously.

Technically I could do this earlier but now it’s so much easier. The thing that works best for me when making music is that when I get an idea I want act on it immediately. Earlier it was such a hassle each time I wanted to record different hardware synths, so I tended to always stick with the same – which is a bit bad for creativity. For me anyway.

The only thing I need to solve now is to get rid of the USB noise / hiss that recently, somehow found a way into the sound from my Eurorack modules. The noise originates from the computer, via the external sound cards. I earlier had the same problems with the sound from a couple of the synths with USB (The Blofeld and the Modemachines Xoxbox) but solved it using a couple of cheap Ground loop isolators.

I tried the same approach with the sound out from the Eurorack modules. The USB noise was removed but so was also everything below 2000 Herz. I’ve ordered different isolators from Thomann. If that doesn’t work I will have to get something more expensive.

July 31st, 2016|Gear, Music production, Studio|
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Rewiring the studio

Behringer PX3000 Ultrapatch Pro
The project for today is something I should have done long ago: installing a hardware patch-bay and rewiring my studio.

Right now all of my gear goes straight into two external sound-cards, the NI Traktor Audio 6 and 10. Since there are more outputs from the gear than inputs on the sound-cards I use to switch cables when producing. After doing that for a few years you get to a point where you have no idea which cable goes where and also there is a huuuuge bundle of cables, where some of them are probably never used.

I got the Behringer PX3000 Ultrapatch Pro and 2 x The Sssnake MPP8050, which is a multicable with eight 6.3 mm mono jacks on both sides.

Wish me luck..

the sssnake MPP8050

July 28th, 2016|Gear, Music production, Studio|
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