Hum!!!!!

Hey everyone I have been having some issues with hum and its starting to effect me mentally so I figure You guys can shed some light on me hopefully. Heres the issue I have a new Mackie onyx 1640i mixer with 1 new Shure SM58 mic plugged into it on channel 1 with a new XLR cable I think its switchcraft. When I turn up ch1 fader on full and turn up the master fader to full then turn up the gain knob to full gain I get a hum which I cant get rid of. My mixer is the only thing in the room thats plugged in that goes to its own breaker. no cables are touching any other cables. my power bar is 6 feet away from my gear. I tried the ebtech hum X but it did nothing. the hum was still there. I am now out of ideas if any of you have a suggestion I would love to try it out. thanks everyone. back to the buzzz

Are you using mostly unbalanced cables to connect your gear? Is there a lot of consumer oriented gear used as well?

Give a list of what you're working with and how things might be connected.

could be a grounding issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_hum

Unplug everything (everything... including audio cables and power cables) on all your gear. Connect your speakers/headphones to your mixer, turn the faders up and check for hum. If no hum, then start hooking everything back up one piece at a time until you get hum. The piece that is causing the hum will identify itself. Unhook that piece (audio and power), then keep going to identify if any other pieces are causing hum.

Or you could go the other way: unhook one piece at a time (audio cable and power cable) until the hum goes away.

It could also be the wiring in your house. If you fail to identify the device causing the hum, then try a power conditioner. Everything (everything...) has to be hooked up to the power conditioner, so if you have a lot of gear, then you may need two of them.

I figured out the problem it was the menacing switchcraft XLR cable Drrrr. back to long and mcquade with you. thanks everyone

ok so its not the cable I just got a new xlr to xlr neutrik mogami cable and I took back my shure sm58 mic and got a new one as well. the hum is still there. I tried the Hum x and it didnt work. The guy at long and mcquade suspects that it is some electro magnetic force in the house? I have the breaker panel in my room which is in the basement. So now I am going to unplug everything in my house washer dryer fridges everything. Does anyone have any ideas?

to tell if it's electromagnetic interference or a ground loop hum, you can record the hum and analyse it. ground loop hum will be 50Hz or 60Hz.

are you in the states? it's a country notorious for it's poor earthing. maybe have a look around the outside of the house and see if you can find the earthing connection - if there is one. my apartment block in los angeles wasn't earthed.

Dimmer switches are a pain.
Every time the downstairs (I am in the attic) dimmer light is turned on in the kitchen I get buzzing on my mixing desk. Slightly different to hum but very annoying.

Ok so i moved my mixer, mic and headphones upstairs in my house in the living room from my bedroom in the basement. The hum has disappeared completely. I believe the problem is Electro Magnetic Interference and not a grounding issue. I have the circuit breaker in my basement bedroom. Do u think this could be the suspect? I tried all the dimmer switches in my house unplugged everything in my house fridges vacuum tvs everything and the hum was still in my room then I moved it upstairs no hum. I ran a cable from upstairs to my room in the basement and the hum was there. Moved it upstairs no hum. Can someone tell me if this points its finger at EMI? and is there any solutions to fix this? Thank you all so much.

great to hear you've stopped the hum.

in moving your gear, you may have moved to a different circuit, one that does not cause a ground loop hum - or removed appliances that were causing the ground loop hum. so i don't think it settles the question of whether it is a ground loop hum or electro-magnetic interference.

backtothelab wrote:Ok so i moved my mixer, mic and headphones upstairs in my house in the living room from my bedroom in the basement. The hum has disappeared completely. I believe the problem is Electro Magnetic Interference and not a grounding issue. I have the circuit breaker in my basement bedroom. Do u think this could be the suspect? I tried all the dimmer switches in my house unplugged everything in my house fridges vacuum tvs everything and the hum was still in my room then I moved it upstairs no hum. I ran a cable from upstairs to my room in the basement and the hum was there. Moved it upstairs no hum. Can someone tell me if this points its finger at EMI? and is there any solutions to fix this? Thank you all so much.

I have all my gear connected via rack mount power conditioners. I've learned early on to do this because of what you're dealing with right now.

Even my master power source comes from an APC ups, then everything branches off from there.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=140684

beach_break wrote:to tell if it's electromagnetic interference or a ground loop hum, you can record the hum and analyse it. ground loop hum will be 50Hz or 60Hz.

are you in the states? it's a country notorious for it's poor earthing. maybe have a look around the outside of the house and see if you can find the earthing connection - if there is one. my apartment block in los angeles wasn't earthed.

You'll find this mostly in older homes & buildings. Kinda hard (though not impossible) to pull this off these days because of building code enforcement.

jimmie wrote:Dimmer switches are a pain.
Every time the downstairs (I am in the attic) dimmer light is turned on in the kitchen I get buzzing on my mixing desk. Slightly different to hum but very annoying.

yes i know the problem
very annoying

Ok so I bought a ART Pro Audio SP4x4 Pro - Power Distribution System. It still didnt fix the hum!!! I plugged it into my basement bedroom with the mixer in my bedroom and the hum was still there. I left my mixer in my bedroom and used an extension cord to run up stairs to the outlet that I used when I had my mixer upstairs (earlier when I brought my mixer upstairs and plugged it in there was no hum) While the mixer is still in my basement bedroom and the power conditioner is upstairs plugged into the the successful outlet THERE IS STILL A HUM!!! Now I really dont know what to do! I guessing its EMI can anyone confirm this and let me know ways I can treat it?

is your house built on an ancient indian burial ground?!