Apogee One problem - static on recording - please help I'm a novice.

[Fender_Fan]

Hey guys, I bought an apogee one to use with my macbook to use with garage band.

I seem to be having a problem with static, this static is here if I record with monitor switched on and record with the speakers on, or record using earphones to listen, or even if I record a guitar track with the monitor switched off!

Here is an example with some chords ...

http://www.soundclick.com/player/sin...=12016854&q=hi

here is my setup:

Gibson explorer with bare knuckle riff raffs, volume and tone controls wide open, 5ft fender custom shop lead, straight into apogee one connector, apogee one plugged into macbook air. Harman Kardon soundsticks plugged into the apogee one.

No matter what, earphones, monitor off, or through speakers, I get this static noise even on recordings.

Turning the noise gate right up helps the issue, but it's still there. I've also reduced the input volume from the guitar and that helps ... but there must be an underlying problem!

Thanks guys, help would be appreciated loads ... I bought this yesterday so I'm keen to solve the issue!

[IsildursBane]

It's not overdriven preamps and it's not feedback, so you don't have to worry about your gain structure or turning your monitors off.

It sounds like ground hum, which you shouldn't be having if you're just going direct, but you never know. What's it sound like when you turn your amp sim off or switch to a different patch? Some sims will add things like noise.

-Dan.

[Zooey]

I wasn't sure I even heard the issue. There was a roomy, reverby sound I assume is just part of the amp model.

There was also a crispy kind of high end fizz on the attack of some of the chords, which to me sounds like you could be clipping something. It could be something simple like the DA converter, which case you just lower the master fader. Or it could be the input signal is too strong, in which case you could bypass or remove the amp model plug-in and see what your input levels are doing without the amp model instantiated.

[Fender_Fan]

Thanks so much for both your replies!

The hum is there in every amp model, lesser in the clean ones but more so in the dirty ones which means I have to turn my noise gate up higher.

I see what you mean zooey, it does sound a bit like fizz from the amp! It's not though, that noise you can hear at the end of all the chords is there in every amp model ... If i turn the noise gate down you can hear that humming in the back ground all the time!

Do you think it's possible I have a defective apogee unit? I've tried changing my cables and guitar but i still have the same issue.

I have made all my volumes, really low, experimenting trying to get rid of the sound to no avail ... I can't really understand it!

I'm using garage band, I'm not sure how to play with no amp sim at all.

Thanks again for your help it's massively appreciated!

[WRGKMC]

Probibly a guitar ground issue.
The noise gate is a give away the hum is coming from the guitar.
Since the pickups have been swapped out its likely the pickups, wiring
or guitar cavity grounding issue. Gibson pickups have good ground sleeves
on their pickup cables. Replacements? you can be looking at anything there.
4 lead conductors may have exposed wire picking up hum even if they are soldered
together for a humbucker connection. Using the wrong hookup can put the hot wires
on the outside wind of the pickup bobbins and the ground on the inside,
instead of the inside wind being hot and the outside wind grounded which can increase hum.

If you have other fancy wiring schemes and longer bare wires inside where the pots are the
unshielded wire acts as an antenna and picks up AC hum. The signal wires need to be short
and the shielding needs to come as close to the soldering lugs as possible without shorting issues.

Other common issues changing pups would be a loose bridge wire or pot cans that arent properly
grounded. If this is a DIY job, you can post some pics of the guitar cavity or have it inspected by
a qualified tech. You may need to have additional copper shielding added to the guitar and its
an absolute necessity for single coil pups and pickups that have long unshielded wires inside.

Other items would be a crap cord with poor shielding. (Sorry, all the Fender cords I've seen have chrap shielding)
You want 90% shielding cords. Most budget cords are only 70% and hum when close to an EMF source)

CRT monitor on the computer, Light dimmers, bad or floating ground for power connections, Power connections
of the components connected to different outlets, IE, computer connected to one outlet and the interface power
connected to another outlet can cause ground loop hum. Any pedals used or their AC adaptors can introduce hum as well.

You have to rule these issues out one by one. The problem can be a single problem or several issues causing a collective
increase in the hum problem.

[Zooey]

Originally Posted by Fender_Fan

I see what you mean zooey, it does sound a bit like fizz from the amp! It's not though, that noise you can hear at the end of all the chords is there in every amp model ... If i turn the noise gate down you can hear that humming in the back ground all the time!

I didn't realize your recording had the noise gate turned on, so I was listening for the wrong problem.

If there is excessive noise in your recording, then WRGKMC's suggestions will help.

It is the nature of electric guitar that you will probably never get 100% of it out. If you were playing live, that same noise would be there but it would be covered by the music and ambient noise.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Can we hear a few chords like that, but without the gate? Just palm mute between them. I am definitely hearing something weird - just at the end of the notes. It's almost as if it's "trailing" the actual notes. I'd like to hear more of it, if there's a longer, un-gated version. I'm not sure what the heck it is... it could be a ground issue, it could be the interface. Have you tried unplugging your speakers? Not just not using them - completely disconnecting them and everything else you can from the Macbook except for the interface. Maybe it's a USB bus power sharing issue.

What apps are you using for the amp simulator and to record with?

[Fender_Fan]

Originally Posted by Phil O'Keefe

Can we hear a few chords like that, but without the gate? Just palm mute between them. I am definitely hearing something weird - just at the end of the notes. It's almost as if it's "trailing" the actual notes. I'd like to hear more of it, if there's a longer, un-gated version. I'm not sure what the heck it is... it could be a ground issue, it could be the interface. Have you tried unplugging your speakers? Not just not using them - completely disconnecting them and everything else you can from the Macbook except for the interface. Maybe it's a USB bus power sharing issue.

What apps are you using for the amp simulator and to record with?

Thanks for the ideas, the problem has been identified! When no speakers or headphones are connected the problem goes away!

Here is a recording showing what's happening, I have the noise gate off completely for this recording. The first 17 seconds is me playing with the speakers plugged in, after that I have unplugged the speakers and the problem has gone! http://www.soundclick.com/player/sin...=12021427&q=hi

My next question is, what do I do now?

I still have the same problem is I use earphones as monitors instead!

I'm glad I've found the problem (hah or you did) I'm just a bit puzzled about what to do!

Thanks for your help on this everyone.

EDIT

It this also happens when my laptop is unplugged from it's power source, I've also moved all other electrical equipment out of the room!

[Phil O'Keefe]

Are you plugging your earphones into the Mac's headphone jack, or the one on the Apogee? If you're still getting noise when using the Apogee's headphone jack, and everything else is disconnected, then I would strongly suspect an issue with the Apogee.

One thing you might try is taking it back to the dealer you bought it from (assuming it's local), along with your laptop, and trying it with another Apogee while you're at the store.

[IsildursBane]

Just so I understand: do you get the noise if you've got ONLY the headphones plugged in, but NOT the speakers (i.e. the speakers are disconnected completely)?

-Dan.

[Zooey]

The Apogee One has a single 1/8" jack for everything. He said the act of connecting either speakers or headphones to that jack injects noise that is recorded to disk.

[IsildursBane]

Originally Posted by Zooey

The Apogee One has a single 1/8" jack for everything. He said the act of connecting either speakers or headphones to that jack injects noise that is recorded to disk.

I was thinking that the speakers Could have a headphone jack/amp on them. I'm not sure if this is correct. If it is, you could plug the headphones into the speakers, muting the speakers.

-Dan.

[Fender_Fan]

Hey guys, just to let you know some of the info I gave you before it wrong.

When I said it was humming through headphones, it isn't. It does hum through headphones when the speakers are turned on in the room and the macbook is plugged in, when the speakers are off and laptop isn't plugged in and I've plugged earphones straight into the apogee it doesn't hum.

What's strange is, if I'm using the apogee as the soundcard and have the speakers plugged into the apogee to play music i get no hum at all, sounds perfect.

Do you think the problem is something to do with the mains electricity in my house!?

I'm so puzzled!

[IsildursBane]

If you want to figure this out, you have to isolate different parts of this chain, so that you can tell what one thing is causing the problem. As it is, you're doing multiple things at once (turning on this, disconnecting that), so we can't figure out what's what.

Start with one thing at a time.

Laptop, on batteries:
-Headphones only (speakers disconnected, turned off)
-Speakers only
-If possible, both headphones & speakers plugged into computer (and speakers into wall)
--Headphones on, speakers off
--Headphones on, speakers on


Laptop, plugged into wall
-Headphones only
-Speakers only
-If possible, both headphones & speakers plugged into computer (and speakers into wall)
--Headphones on, speakers off
--Headphones on, speakers on

Do both of these playing itunes, then do both playing just your amp sim.

Now, once you've figured out which cases experience the problem - do you have the hum only when you are touching (or not touching) the guitar strings?

I think it's probably just a ground problem, but you need to do some more methodical troubleshooting if we're going to figure it out.

-Dan.