Bad ground ?

[Riakstonic]

Hey folks just picking you brains here , First I'd like to say I wish you all had a great Holiday and New years and my you find all things good along your journey this year

So to my issue , all of a sudden I have a bad ground coming my system . was not here before the Holiday came back and Hello ! yikes ! so what may be the cause ?

PC.. ? .... wouldn't surprise me LOL

Interface ? hope not !

Bad house ground some where ? .... How I locate that ?

how would one go about Isolating the cause ? thanks

Ray

[FolkRock Rules]

Originally Posted by Riakstonic

So to my issue , all of a sudden I have a bad ground coming my system . was not here before the Holiday came back and Hello ! yikes ! so what may be the cause ?

By "bad ground coming [from?] my system," do you mean an AC hum, or something else?
I'm no electrician, but a "bad ground" generally means a (wiring) condition, rather than a symptom of a problem. In an AC circuit, a bad ground is something that might give you a shock, but luckily that's rare.

how would one go about Isolating the cause ?

A better description of what's going on would help, and maybe some more info about your system. Since you mentioned a PC, I'm guessing it's more than just guitar and amp connected.

[Riakstonic]

It's a static hum kind like a hot TRS cable when you step on it or touch it . It's bad in my monitors and so so on the headphones though the sound is the same .

I've not been able to mess with it as w7 updates a whopping 8 have tied the system up thank you MS

A pior simple check was unplug USB yes the sound went away . I moved the a/c plug for the interface from the power strip outlet though no change so I'll change to another outlet see what happens .

Trying to think of a way to prove if it's the PC or interface . I have an old m audio pro if the drivers are still there I can see it works and report back .

[muscmp]

unplug everything until it goes away. then you've found the culprit.

play music!

[Riakstonic]

Yeah but ... But .... I did if I unplug the USB it's gone or the power lol dang if it's the PC then my guess would be power supply I hate the thing anyways but better it then the interface . Funny I ordered one from tiger direct but they didn't tell me it was out of stock or that the were shipping from a third party after 2 weeks of no gift from Mr Ups I had to call then they spilled the beans still could say when I'd get so I cancelled never looked for a replace to it since . The reason for replacing my existing one was a very noisy fan since all my gear is closely set it interferes as the Mics pick up the noise .

[Ty Ford]

based in your description, I 'd say you have a loose connection somewhere.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Riakstonic]

Originally Posted by Ty Ford

based in your description, I 'd say you have a loose connection somewhere.

Regards,

Ty Ford

I can hear the hum in the headphones but it's low even with the vol full up .
if I turn on the monitors it's it really jumps in volume .

I've unplugged my mics and my monitor cables the noise is still in the headphones .

Unplugging the USB cable eliminates it .

I just found turning up the line level gain on any channel increases the hum .

I gunna switch out interfaces right quick ......... ok got the M-audio I have up and running ..... Dang it man no noise .

K so at least it's not the pc which would have been cheaper to fix if the Power supply was the issue .

so My lexicon I-onix is the issue ... either it's power supply or something internal. a bad thing about this unit is it has no off switch so it's on for very long stretches over the years . figured this could happen but it becomes a out of sight out of mind thing . The new ones have a on/off

Now what to do ........ bad timing in my world guess it always goes that way LOL

I'll try to find a new power supply cross fingers that the culprit ?

I report back thanks everyone helps to talk about it

found a adapter 20 bucks should know something in a week or less fingers crossed

[FolkRock Rules]

Originally Posted by Riakstonic

so My lexicon I-onix is the issue ... either it's power supply or something internal. a bad thing about this unit is it has no off switch so it's on for very long stretches over the years . figured this could happen but it becomes a out of sight out of mind thing . The new ones have a on/off

Would an outlet strip/surge protector help with any of that? I don't know if it would isolate AC noise at all, but it would at least give you a way to shut off the I-Onix without unplugging it. If it somehow also kills 60 Hz. noise, then so much the better.

[Riakstonic]

It's plugged into one then I unplugged it and went direct ..... The ac adaptor was hot as heck took a while to cool down to and yes the strip had a shut off but I have other things in it actually I use two strips for my PC , preamps , monitors .

I'll certainly change the set up when I know what's up after the new power adaptor gets here. The blame is squarely on me but I don't recall lexicon saying oh by the way unplug the interface when your not using it lol

Since all my audio goes through this set and the PC is on almost 24-7 most times ... Another thing I been in the process of changing up .

But I just scratch my head at why they would not put a on off switch on the unit ? What were they thinking that would scream .... That's a good idea ! We'll save 20 cents a unit hahahaha ... I think I mentioned the new units now have said switch .

[myersbw]

They often don't include a switch with the idea that most that have multiple pieces of mic/line level style equipment will mount it in a rack and use a master switch (i.e. surge protector, power conditioner, etc.) to turn ON/OFF all your equipment.

I'd likely suspect either the power supply or an oxidized input/output jack. I'm really surprised at a power supply getting really hot for that style of equipment. But, some do. Also, coiled up power cables near audio lines can cause some issues, too. And, so can switching power supplies located in close proximity to the Lexicon or other audio equipment.

Something worth exploring...?

Cheers & good luck!
Brad

[Riakstonic]

Originally Posted by myersbw

They often don't include a switch with the idea that most that have multiple pieces of mic/line level style equipment will mount it in a rack and use a master switch (i.e. surge protector, power conditioner, etc.) to turn ON/OFF all your equipment.

I'd likely suspect either the power supply or an oxidized input/output jack. I'm really surprised at a power supply getting really hot for that style of equipment. But, some do. Also, coiled up power cables near audio lines can cause some issues, too. And, so can switching power supplies located in close proximity to the Lexicon or other audio equipment.

Something worth exploring...?

Cheers & good luck!
Brad

Thanks Brad , good points you listed . Hum was still there though every thing less the USB cable and power cord were unplugged .

I unplugged the USB leaving only the power hum was gone so I was maybe the PC was the culprit but I removed the lexicon and re installed my old m-audio pro and its whisper quiet . That why I'm hoping its the power supply certainly the cheaper of items to replace lol .

It should be here soon .

[MikeBmusic]

Did you try a different USB cable? A different USB port?

[Riakstonic]

No need I switched out interfaces . My main interface is my lexicon I-onyx u42s I switched back to old M-audio fast track pro .

Using the same USB cable and port and there is no hum so it all points to the lexicon and the hopes I have for issue being the 9v power adaptor . As mentioned above it was getting hot .

The factory adapter is sealed unit type . I have had it on perhaps more hours then it's life expectancy lol I did by this unit used years back .

The new adaptor has a vented case and thermal heat breakers . I had to order it online as no one local carried it that I could find .

So another day or two it should be hear then I know if that was issue or the interface itself .

Thanks

[Riakstonic]

Update , plug in new power supply and epic fail man do I have the luck .

So my interface has bad something going on and the static hum is on all channels so Monday I'll make a call to lexicon repair or make the decision to pay up for a new one as always very bad timing cash flow wise

[Riakstonic]

Have a replacement coming it's the newer model of the Lexicon u42s just named io-42 I bought used off Reverb redesigned preamps are the perks and an on off switch Brilliant ! Lol

Hopefully all will be good again