Home studio Power and HUMS??

[brendley]

So 22 years Producing here guys, should have listened more to otto and mike at rhino when i did my time 20 years ago, BUT Ihave set up my studio at home now and have a question. MY GEAR.. YAmaha m1532 1980, plus outboard Neve 51series( ALACTRONICS) urei la4, and lots of others. (SYmetrix, jbl,valley people, smart c1, ect ect)..seem to at times generate some def HUM on recording ..at times I have moved equiptment away from others when plugged in to eachother and that seems to have effected the hum from certain gear. The studio sounds great BUT the hum is definatley intermittent..MY question: does any of this gear especially older LIke Neve 51 series,,,have distance requirements from other certain equip to minmize hums?..What should i do to the power at my home..in the studio..(PLEASE basic Producer language not tech talk ) AND Finally,..Would a computer monitor benq fp351, induce hi freq hum (LIKE 17kHz)..into 2 avedis e 27 eqs in a api 500 series rack..It is sitting on it in the studio??

All help apprecciatted.....

Thanks

BRENDAN ANTHONY
Producer / mixer

[rick]

none of that stuff should hum brendan - no matter where it sits

there is a million ways to skin a humming cat but the best way is to unplug everything at the power point
and start checking with the speakers and amp first
if you get no hum plug the next thing in untill the humm shows up
leave that box off and unplugged
then add another thing back into the system

usually ground loops are to blame - not radiating fields err usually

basic stuff but hell i was chasing a mysterious humm an hour ago
it happens to the best of us

[Alastair Reynolds]

Hi Brendan, yes the LCD screen could introduce a whistle around 17KHz. LCD screens (usually)use a high frequency drive circuit for the backlight, also the switchmode power supply may put out a bit of RFI as can any switchmode PS in computer gear. Probably best to move it away from the EQs or remove power from it see if the whistle goes away .Apart from that, go through step by step as Rick said . Also keep , where possible, the gear feeding from the same or very close power points. This will help minimise earth loops. Experiment with Gnd lift switches on gear that has it.
Like Rick said, chasing Hums is still a regular task.

[brendley]

Rick/Alastair

Thanks Boys..Most helpful..

I am building a desk to hold my console in the next few weeks and need to pull the whole lot down anyway..Sounds like a good place to do Ricks tests...

Thanks for the heads up especially about the same power outlet, wasnt aware of that one.

hum hum hum...BA

Brendan Anthony
Producer/Mixer

[heathen]

Yeah same power point, very important for recordinmg at home with less than ideal earthing.

[The Tasmanian]

Also check that the power supply to the neve is not too close to any equipment (including the console) - this has caused hum for me in the past and moving it fixed the problem.