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Hi, anybody using one of those fancy furman balanced power boxes?

I've got weird noise & hums throughout my system, they are a combination of very faint 60Hz & this weird noise that soinds like the computer accessing the hard drive. The latter sound is very prominent when the inputs from my 828mkII are plugged into my Ghost console.

I have standard Furman strips on all the gear & have tried the tree/branches method (plugging everything into one outlet) but that actually increased the 60Hz. The power in the studio is a dedicated 20 amp circuit. Any thoughts?

Make sure you have no florescent lights on the same circuit or dimmer switches.
Also if you are taking an audio out from the built in outputs from the back of your Mac unplug them and see if it goes away if so you need to put a
Ground Loop Isolator on it. http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/GLI1-X1.html
this one looks expensive I paid $15 for the one I use.
If that fails check your elec for a hot ground you've a ground loop somewhere.

Balanced Power and Isolated Transformers will often make a significant difference. The electricity that is wired in your place is designed to power lights, radios, etc.... but audio equipment wants the best possible electricity it can get and it will help your gear sound better, but also protect it over time. In addition to balanced power, having voltage regulation is important to keep those spikes as well as extreme in too much or too little voltage from being an issue. I had a studio in Connecticut where I had (4) IT1220's, without them the place was unuseable.

I do have a battery backed APC on my G5 but the rest of the rig is on standard Furman's. What is the most cost effective option out there to see if that is my problem? Thanks!

Are you using the Audio outs on your Mac for anything?

I had an electrician install an isolated ground to dedicated 20amp circuits. The ground runs from the circuit breakers to two 10' rods that are sunk into the ground 6 feet apart. An Equi=Tech 2RQ balanced power system is connected to this circuit and all gear is powered off of that; though I've hit the limit of the Equi=Tech's capacity, so am gonna have to invest in another one

I haven't bothered to check if the main benefit is due to the Equi=Tech or the isolated ground, but the rig is definitely less noisy since doing this (not that it was overly noisy before...). I might do some noise floor measurements this weekend with/without the Equi=Tech (using the isolated ground in both cases). If I get around to it, I'll post some results in this thread.

not using the mac outs for anything & the lights in the studio are on a spearate circuit & they are a 12 volt system with a high end knock-down transformer for the dimmer - supposedly a quiet setup.

I'm going to look outside today at my ground & see what I have. Thanks.

qo wrote:I had an electrician install an isolated ground to dedicated 20amp circuits. The ground runs from the circuit breakers to two 10' rods that are sunk into the ground 6 feet apart. An Equi=Tech 2RQ balanced power system is connected to this circuit and all gear is powered off of that; though I've hit the limit of the Equi=Tech's capacity, so am gonna have to invest in another one

I haven't bothered to check if the main benefit is due to the Equi=Tech or the isolated ground, but the rig is definitely less noisy since doing this (not that it was overly noisy before...). I might do some noise floor measurements this weekend with/without the Equi=Tech (using the isolated ground in both cases). If I get around to it, I'll post some results in this thread.

I have had the opp to do both types of wiring.

Trust me the Equi=Tech is the one. My next deal will be the equi=tech in the Main breaker panel..... Isolate the whole studio (outlets of course) with a sep panel for lights...

The Equi=Tech looks really nice might have it invest in one.
I just have all my gear on an isolated circuit but after I made some changes once I could hear a slight static sound every time a hard drive would start working.
It turned out to be a ground loop caused by the Mac out puts plugged in to two channels on the console.
I unplugged those and everything as quite again.
It took me a couple of weeks of hair pulling to figure that out though.

Thanks Giles, that saves me some testing

I almost cut my pinky finger off last weekend as I was lowering the Equi=Tech into a rack. I'd laid the (20 RU) rack on it's back to make it easier to install things and was lowering the Equi=Tech into the bottom two spaces when it slipped from my grip and barely pinched my pinky between it and the rack rail as it proceeded to fall through the rack rail and onto the carpet below. I consider myself very lucky! Giles knows how heavy this thing is

It's very very heavy. LOL even the cheap unit/

I used the equi=tek on my remote truck and WOW things were so much cleaner and you cna literlly "see" the stability in the lights, etc....

what model are you guys using? I have a Soundcraft Ghost and about 14-15 pieces of outboard gear/MIDI modules, 3 keyboards and my g5 which already plugged into a APC battery backup.

KarlSutton wrote:what model are you guys using? I have a Soundcraft Ghost and about 14-15 pieces of outboard gear/MIDI modules, 3 keyboards and my g5 which already plugged into a APC battery backup.

I'm using the 2RQ. Beware that it connects to a 20AMP outlet (NEMA 5-20), so will not work with standard (USA) 15AMP household outlets:



The 1.5 model will connect to standard household (NEMA 5-15) outlets. So, you might think about two 1.5's unless you're willing to call an electrician or already have NEMA 5-20R installed.

Hi Karl

I also use a Ghost, and have about the same amount of outboard. I've never connected all the outboard at once so don't know for sure if the 2Q will handle it all. The 2Q has a 16.5A continuous duty rating, so I just need to add all the outboard gear's ratings up and see if it's under this number. In comparison, the 1.5Q has a 12.5A cont. duty rating.

All of these provide surge and GFCI protection, voltage regulation, and include EMI/RFI filters.

Though, one thing I wish these had is sequenced/timed power up to power everything BUT the monitors up first, then power the monitors... It's nice to flip one switch and have your entire studio power up. But, make sure the CRM Level on your Ghost is turned all the way down

Another thing, I don't connect my G5 to the 2Q (though it IS connected to the same outlet so is on the same isolated ground). Perhaps I should (since the Apogees are connected to it), but I don't notice a difference in noise when using the studio with the mac/apogees powered off.

EDIT: as best I can tell, the Ghost's PS draws 6.3A @120V (going by the fuse rating silkscreened on the back). All the other outboard in my place (minus the really low draw stuff like e.g. Triton Rack, Lexi 'verb, etc) draws about 5A. So, I think the 1.5Q would have barely worked for me (sigh ) and would probably also work for you Karl. But, the 2Q's additional headroom is a comfort.