Gold Tip Plugs?

jaepilla

New member
ARE THESE CORDS REALLY WORTH IT AND WILL THEY SOLVE MY PROBLEM? basically I do all my sequencing on the asrxpro and all of my sounds are samples on the computer and when i sample from the pc I get a slight humming noise thru the outputs...is this due to cheap 1/4'' plugs? IF i got better plus would this stop the noise or is it worjh purchasing the gold tips?
 
sounds like you have a ground loop problem. Is everything plugged into the same outlet or into different outlets.. also do you have flourescent lights (they can cause a wicked hum)? A Power Conditioner usually helps too.
 
the are in different outlets.....so should they be in the same one?? and I do have a flourecent light in the booth, but i've had this humming noise b4 I added the light...but the power plug may be the issue
 
you should try a power conditioner, it helped out my setup. plus i noticed when i need to turn the gain up on the mic or when im tracking it eliminated a lot of the noise
 
A Power Conditioner Huh? Let Me Do A Lil Research Then

just as i thought i see there are alot of different models, brands and types of these conditioners, do I just get one with enough outlets? or is there any certain criteria for a specific one that fits what i need?
 
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jaepilla said:
ARE THESE CORDS REALLY WORTH IT AND WILL THEY SOLVE MY PROBLEM?
The only reason for gold tips is to reduce oxidation of the metal, and thereby over time improve your connection. Regardless, you should periodically check and de-oxidize your tips.

Humming/buzzing or other noise is likely the result of a ground loop or crosstalk between a power cable (60Hz) and audio cable(s). In practice, never run audio parallel with power, and try to make sure all your equipment is earth-grounded once and only once. Your cables should also be properly shielded (I recommend balanced cables and gear).
 
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Ok well thats sounded very helpful but i dont know ANYTHING about grounding, can you please elaborate on that comment....keep them parallell?
 
Crosstalk:
All cables are antennas. They transmit and receive signals (technically, it's called mutual inductance). Power cables carry relatively *huge* signals compared to audio. In the US, it's 120VAC at 60Hz (a sine wave with 60 revolutions per second). Your audio cables pick this up just like a radio tunes to a station, except that 60Hz is already audible (radio stations require demodulation to separate the audio from the carrier).

HOWEVER you can reduce this effect if your cables cross at 90 degrees. The reason for this would take a long time to explain...so I won't.

Grounding:
Audio cables have a ground conductor. Most equipment has a three-prong, U-ground plug. Unless the equipment has a ground-lift feature, it's usually the case that the audio ground is connected to the U-ground in some way. So what happens if you connect two U-grounded pieces of gear with an audio cable? The U-ground of one is now effectively the same conductor as the U-ground of the other.

You want them plugged in as close together as possible; as closely in-phase as possible. Any signal which reaches them both at the same time will be rejected. The further apart, or the more delay between them, the more out of phase they become, and whatever signal hit them becomes audible (usually electronic noise from the earth itself).

Another solution is to only ground your highest-powered piece of equipment (like an amplifier, or mixer)...and to lift the U-ground of anything connected (directly or indirectly) to that device.

I hope this makes sense, if not, I can clarify.
 
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ok now that i have the power conditioner...what exactly do I plug into it? Is it the computer and all my audio devices? or just the audio devices....because the power conditioner doesn't have enough outlets for everything...what devices should i plug into the power conditoner...so which of these items is more than likely causing this humming noise.....
 
If you're running stuff into a PC's internal sound-card, unless you've got something particularly nice, there's always gonna be some hum. PCs are inherently very noisy (electrically).
 
jaepilla said:
ok now that i have the power conditioner...what exactly do I plug into it? Is it the computer and all my audio devices? or just the audio devices....because the power conditioner doesn't have enough outlets for everything...what devices should i plug into the power conditoner...so which of these items is more than likely causing this humming noise.....
Drape a power strip off the conditioner and keep plugging...the point is to get it all running off the conditioner, and therefore inherently all from one somewhat cleaner source. See if that works. If not, start systematically eliminating gear until you find the gear or link(s) between gear that cause the problem.
 
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