Grounding issue on PC?

[No1YeeTer818]

I'm beginning to record more music and I've been noticing when I use my e609 mic with a usb interface I get a lot of hiss. At first I thought it was the interface that was bad but it's USB powered and I've tried a premium USB cable and didn't solve the problem.

I've tested other USB ports and noticed it's worse when I use the connectors on the back of the mobo instead of the top on the case.

Any idea what's causing this and how to fix it?

When I use a laptop I have zero noise.

 

[Sabretooth-Ninja]

Audio is definitely not my strength.

Some sort of ground loop within the motherboard? USB terminals on the mobo may be in poor locations for audio noise. mATX board? Budget board?

Maybe you have dirty power with unmatched impedances from your service entrance and within your house, but I figure the PSU would filter this. Do you live near a hospital or radio/television station? Shared neutrals? How old is your place of residence?

See if we can isolate or duplicate the problem: plug your laptop into the wall and see if you get the hiss.

 

[No1YeeTer818]

Audio is definitely not my strength.

Some sort of ground loop within the motherboard? USB terminals on the mobo may be in poor locations for audio noise. mATX board? Budget board?

Maybe you have dirty power with unmatched impedances from your service entrance and within your house, but I figure the PSU would filter this. Do you live near a hospital or radio/television station? Shared neutrals? How old is your place of residence?

See if we can isolate or duplicate the problem: plug your laptop into the wall and see if you get the hiss.

ROG Strix gaming ii.

I'm using a Furman power conditioner. Don't live near hospital, radio or tv station. House is from the 60s and don't even have a ground in the wiring... Could be my PSU wires to the board. I just stuffed them rather than actual cable manage.

 

[Sabretooth-Ninja]

ROG Strix gaming ii.

I'm using a Furman power conditioner. Don't live near hospital, radio or tv station. House is from the 60s and don't even have a ground in the wiring... Could be my PSU wires to the board. I just stuffed them rather than actual cable manage.

Inductance in coiled wires from just stuffing them in could be the problem. Try re-managing your cables, and twist them whenever you can.

Just yo eliminate things, try plugging your laptop in when it needs a charge and run your mic then and see what happens

 

[Sabretooth-Ninja]

1960s wiring would absolutely be a very likely culprit on it's own. You might have copper-to-aluminum connections somewhere installed by some hack, leading to unmatched impedances. Unbalanced loads across shared neutrals, or open neutrals somewhere could also be a culprit, but again I'm not a sound guy and I would expect the PSU to filter this noise, but I dont know enough about that. Do you get dimming lights when your fridge compressor comes on, or you run your washer/dryer?

 

[PlanoPete]

There are a couple of group sites out there that may be able to lead you down a path without trying a ton of different boards and components for professional recording. It does sound like you need a proper recording interface instead of USB.

 

[Sabretooth-Ninja]

I imagine with the power conditioner and filtering within the PSU, the problem must be within your case and/or mobo.

Rethink your cable management, avoiding loops. Form twisted pairs whenever you can, with each pair consisting of individual lines that would normally run concurrently so the cancellation afforded by the twisting actually does something, and maybe consider applying your own shielding of the cables within your case.

See if you can bring your setup to a friend's house, or even to work if they will allow you, and test your mic together with your PC in those seperate locations.

I notice that your motherboard has some AI driven microphone noise cancellation. I'm weary of anything AI driven.

 

[CR8Z]

I would say fans causing interference in the lines. While not directly related to recording, we had a guy on here a while back that would get loud hiss on his comms whenever one of his fans clicked on to high. Try unplugging one of your fans one by one to see if it affects the hiss at all.

 

[Covert]

I'd say CR8Z is correct with his assumption on fan interference.

I'd also recommend looking at your PSU, I've had a few die out on me in the past and it was giving me a bunch of issues before I figured out it was the power supply.

 

[FunkyForReal]

I'm beginning to record more music and I've been noticing when I use my e609 mic with a usb interface I get a lot of hiss. At first I thought it was the interface that was bad but it's USB powered and I've tried a premium USB cable and didn't solve the problem.

I've tested other USB ports and noticed it's worse when I use the connectors on the back of the mobo instead of the top on the case.

Any idea what's causing this and how to fix it?

When I use a laptop I have zero noise.

Do you have the correct drivers? Make sure you’re audio settings are correct and there are no conflicts between I/O devices. Sometimes default sound card/chip need to be disabled in BIOS/UEFI. Are the USB ports on top different from ones on back? (Example USB 3 vs USB 2). Is the audio hardware you purchased compatible with your desired OS?

 

[smokerob]

the mic you are using has a 3 pin XLR plug that uses ground...the issue could be the mic not having real ground when using the USB interface....the laptop may not have this issue do to the power supply it uses VS the tower PC....i would start by getting out a multi meter and checking the ground from the mic to the ground in the PC power supply....unplug the computer and then plug everything in like it would be when working(but leave the power unplugged)....then set the meter to OHMS and see if you get a dead ground from the mic itself all the way to the PC case....this will tell you if the mic has ground all the way thru the circuit....you could also have a bad ground wire on pin 1 of the XRL plug if its the standard 3 pin.....only other place i can think of would be to look at the power supply to the USB interface if it has one....

 

[PlanoPete]

Doesn't the 609 have some sort of built in hiss compensator? I think iIread somewhere that this was the case. With what Rob stated above, i still think the best solution would be to get a capture board. Unfortunately, if you're doing this on a laptop it limits a bunch of solutions.

 

[xBlastFTPastx]

I'm beginning to record more music and I've been noticing when I use my e609 mic with a usb interface I get a lot of hiss. At first I thought it was the interface that was bad but it's USB powered and I've tried a premium USB cable and didn't solve the problem.

First of all is it a 'hiss' or a 'buzz/hum'? A hiss is usually due to improper gain staging from mic->interface->computer (which is not a technical problem and is easiest to fix). A buzz/hum is a bit more complicated and all the advice here is fine but usually that problem isn't due to bad wiring in your house/computer or radio/tv interference. More likely culprit in a home recording setting is some type of LED lights (do you have roof pot lights where your computer is or maybe some type of RGB setup?) or some other small mundane thing like that.

I am assuming you know what phantom power is (that mic requires it) because if that is not on it will hum like a son-of-a-bitch. Do you have access to an electric guitar by any chance? If so plug it in to your interface, crank it and move it around around the room; the guitar pickups will point out where the noise is coming from. If you tell me what interface you are using I can try and help you more.

 

[PlanoPete]

I thought about the phantom power issue as well and looked up the specs. The 609 does not require phantom power. Common use for the 609 is to pick up the guitar speaker for recording or to connect to the PA instead of using a line input from the amp. Now I have thought of another possible scenario...does the interface to the computer have some sort of auto-gain setting that keeps bringing the mic up until it detects something? Is the hiss eliminated once you start playing?

 

[smokerob]

shit i forgot about phantom power after reading the mic did not need it.....it being on when the mic wont use it could also be the problem....i have seen interfaces with phantom power options even being USB powered with no extra power supply.....

 

[No1YeeTer818]

update.

It has to be the modo. I reconnected a USB type c cable and PC shut off. Nothing was connected to the cable.

After I powered the PC, message came up saying over voltage. No clue how or why but I think it's time to upgrade.

 

[No1YeeTer818]

I thought about the phantom power issue as well and looked up the specs. The 609 does not require phantom power. Common use for the 609 is to pick up the guitar speaker for recording or to connect to the PA instead of using a line input from the amp. Now I have thought of another possible scenario...does the interface to the computer have some sort of auto-gain setting that keeps bringing the mic up until it detects something? Is the hiss eliminated once you start playing?

Hiss has to be caused by the mobo. It powred down after an over voltage after connected a USB type c cable with nothing connected to it.