Hmm, Im really having difficulty getting rid of hiss/noise on my A16 Ultra inputs.
The outputs are extremely quiet. I have my 2448 mixer plugged into the first 2 zlink outputs which are connected to my A16 and that in turn is connected to 2 channels of my mixer (mackie 1604vlz pro). If I set the levels sensibly (so that the onboard synths play at a reasonable level) it is nice and quiet.
If I now connect a couple of channels from zlink source to my mixer I suddenly hear hiss. I tried various different cables and discovered that the hiss is there
even without connecting cables to the inputs of my A16.
Ive managed to remove hum by moving my wallwart power supplies away from my rack.
Anything that doesnt use a wallwart style psu is connected to a euro 3pin style 10 way poweradaptor.
Im using balanced hosa and vandamme cables throughout.
At the moment im having to do some creative EQing and gating to remove this hiss, has anyone got any suggestions? could it be a problem with the A16?
Problems getting rid of hiss on inputs of A16 Ultra
A couple things to check:
1. There is a set of dip switches on the back of the A16 to set Unbalanced/balanced per bank of 8 I/os. Do you have this set properly for each bank?
2. You will want the wall wart power supply (and ALL your wall warts) as far away from audio cables as possible, and no audio cables should cross it's path (I had interference causing my computer monitor's image to shake really badly, moved my strip of wall warts away from it, and my monitor was clear again...)
3. Are you running balanced 1/4" cables, or unbalanced? Be sure you use balanced cables when the dips are set to +4.
1. There is a set of dip switches on the back of the A16 to set Unbalanced/balanced per bank of 8 I/os. Do you have this set properly for each bank?
2. You will want the wall wart power supply (and ALL your wall warts) as far away from audio cables as possible, and no audio cables should cross it's path (I had interference causing my computer monitor's image to shake really badly, moved my strip of wall warts away from it, and my monitor was clear again...)
3. Are you running balanced 1/4" cables, or unbalanced? Be sure you use balanced cables when the dips are set to +4.
How is the back ground noise level when you actually plug something into it(something that has a good signal level)? It is quite common that an input that doesn't have anything plugged into it will pick up line buzz.
If your inputs are set to -10db, as refered to by subhuman, that also will manifest itself as a high level of hiss at your mixer input. How-ever you might find that your audio signals coming from those sources are very loud in relationship to your mix. At that point turning the channel down will cause the hiss to disappear also.
So it might be misleading for you to have all those signals active, running into open channels on your mixer, especially if the A16 input is set to -10db.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: emenelton on 2002-06-21 11:44 ]</font>
If your inputs are set to -10db, as refered to by subhuman, that also will manifest itself as a high level of hiss at your mixer input. How-ever you might find that your audio signals coming from those sources are very loud in relationship to your mix. At that point turning the channel down will cause the hiss to disappear also.
So it might be misleading for you to have all those signals active, running into open channels on your mixer, especially if the A16 input is set to -10db.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: emenelton on 2002-06-21 11:44 ]</font>
Hi guys, thanks for the quick and helpful replies.
Sub, yes I'm using good quality balanced cables.
I had all the dip switches on the A16 set as they came which was in the up (+4) position.
I have now pushed them all down to the -10 position and its given me an increase in volume on the inputs without increasing the noise level much. So this seems to be a definate improvement.
I think also I need to work on maximise the velocity levels of notes to use all available headroom.
I have my rack setup so that audio cables run down one side and power cables on the other side. I also keep the audio cables high and the power cables low so they are kept apart as much as possible and the external wallwarts are well away from the rack. Hum isnt really a problem. The only hum I get is when I turn up the volume very loud I get a bit of hum from the A16, but I get this even with the powersupply several meters away.
It is really a hiss issue. But I think the -10 setting will help allot and spending a bit more effort with keep general levels higher in the pulsar mixer.
Whats the best way to remove hiss afterwards?
I tried a little parametric EQing using the including PEQ4 but found myself pulling out allot of frequencies to have any success and this rather distroyed the actual sound.
Cheers again for your help.
Sub, yes I'm using good quality balanced cables.
I had all the dip switches on the A16 set as they came which was in the up (+4) position.
I have now pushed them all down to the -10 position and its given me an increase in volume on the inputs without increasing the noise level much. So this seems to be a definate improvement.
I think also I need to work on maximise the velocity levels of notes to use all available headroom.
I have my rack setup so that audio cables run down one side and power cables on the other side. I also keep the audio cables high and the power cables low so they are kept apart as much as possible and the external wallwarts are well away from the rack. Hum isnt really a problem. The only hum I get is when I turn up the volume very loud I get a bit of hum from the A16, but I get this even with the powersupply several meters away.
It is really a hiss issue. But I think the -10 setting will help allot and spending a bit more effort with keep general levels higher in the pulsar mixer.
Whats the best way to remove hiss afterwards?
I tried a little parametric EQing using the including PEQ4 but found myself pulling out allot of frequencies to have any success and this rather distroyed the actual sound.
Cheers again for your help.
You should be able to get your source level high enough that hiss would not be an issue. Try making sure that your initial sound generating devices have there volume turned all the way up and proceed downsteam from there. At each gain point in your signal stream try to set the level as 'hot' as you can without clipping.
If you're using the Mackie's main output with balanced cables, that is a +4db system. When you start maximizing the signal level in the Mackie and getting it's output meters to approach 0db, that signal running into the A16(set to -10db) will probably overload the inputs of the A16.
Sonic Foundry Noise Reduction 2.0 is excellent at removing hiss.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: emenelton on 2002-06-21 19:21 ]</font>
If you're using the Mackie's main output with balanced cables, that is a +4db system. When you start maximizing the signal level in the Mackie and getting it's output meters to approach 0db, that signal running into the A16(set to -10db) will probably overload the inputs of the A16.
Sonic Foundry Noise Reduction 2.0 is excellent at removing hiss.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: emenelton on 2002-06-21 19:21 ]</font>
