New house, LOTS of buzzing.,,

[s6275]

OK, so I moved into a new house a few months ago. Once the weather turned cold, I noticed that my previously dead-quiet TransFex Pro 212s/ DigiTech RP500, and Music Man Axis setup got VERY noisy, of the 60 Hz variety. My "studio" (if you want to call it that) is a carpeted room on the third floor, and all receptacles are grounded.

The first thing I did was to try the RP500 by itself, with headphones plugged in. It turns out it doesn't matter what outlet, or more strangely, what CIRCUIT I plug it into. ANY receptacle on the second or third floor that I plug my guitar into causes buzzing.

Next I tried the RP500 with different GUITARS, and got the same result.

So next, I purchased a $100 "isolation transformer" to plug my amp/ processor into, on the advice that it could solve this type of problem when everything else has failed. Unfortunately, the isolation transformer also failed to correct the problem, again, no matter WHERE I plugged it in.

One thing I did notice is that putting a finger on the metal sleeve of my guitar cable pin causes the buzz to basically stop. Obviously, though, I am unable to do this while the cable is in the guitar, and the buzzing returns.

Has anyone ever encountered anything like this? I feel like I have done everything short of calling in an electrician, because who wants to do that?

[kittonian]

Originally Posted by s6275

I feel like I have done everything short of calling in an electrician, because who wants to do that?

Someone who wants the problem solved would do that, and that's exactly what you need to do.

Tell the electrician to install home run, dedicated 20amp circuits (two should be sufficient, one for the control room and one for the live room with the amps) and make sure that they understand what you mean by home run (i.e. no junctions or splices). Tell them to use high quality electrical wire, not the cheap stuff, as well as high quality circuit breakers and GFI outlets that are rated for 20amps.

You won't get rid of the dirt coming into the lines from the outside but you will sure solve the buzzing problems. On top of all of that, if you want to lower your noise floor considerably, you'll need to look into voltage regulation and balanced power solutions.

It's not sexy but proper power will help you get the most out of your gear, and make your recordings sound much better in the long run.

[Plugin]

s6275,

This happened to me a few years ago, and the solution was the simplest thing in the world - for me at least. Make sure that there are no halogens sharing the same circuit - in your studio and maybe in the room next to it. Make sure as well that you're not using dimmers or neons. If these steps in addition to the one that you've already taken do not work, yes, definately call an electrician. Nothing beats the ''old fashion'' was of doing things. You'll be surprised how ''clean'' your sound will be when you don't use those accursed halogens.