pianoman1976
Level 1 (100 points)

Q: Apogee One: Very Noisy

Hello, 

 

There is a large amount of static/hum/hiss that I have isolated to the Apogee One.  It is not in the signal path after the mixer, as I can plug instruments into the mixer and the problem is not present.  The culprit is either the audio cable from the Apogee One to the mixer, the Apogee One itself, the USB cable from the iMac to the Apogee One, or the iMac.  Here is a video so you can hear for yourself:

 

http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p77/pianoman1976/Me/?action=view&current=P100 0415.mp4

 

Is the Apogee One known to be noisy like this?

 

Is the iMac the culprit?

 

I presume the first thing I should do is buy another audio cable and check it, yet this cable I'm using is new. 

 

Thank you. 

iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/ 4 GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 26, 2012 6:14 PM

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pianoman1976

Q: Apogee One: Very Noisy

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  • by m.fromottawa,

    m.fromottawa m.fromottawa Feb 6, 2013 6:56 AM in response to pianoman1976
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 6, 2013 6:56 AM in response to pianoman1976

    I have the EXACT same problem.  So exact, in fact, that when I watched your video I heard a chorus effect as your speaker noise and my speaker noise combined.  And, I am using KRK speakers.  I do not hear the hiss in the headphones, just the speakers.  I swapped my audio cables, tried different power sources - always the same buzz.

  • by m.fromottawa,

    m.fromottawa m.fromottawa Feb 6, 2013 7:14 AM in response to m.fromottawa
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 6, 2013 7:14 AM in response to m.fromottawa

    Ok, I tried something different.  I read the manual for the ONE.  Under troubleshooting it says: 

     

     

    Symptom - When connecting speakers to ONE, there is hum and/or

    buzz at the output.

    Solution - In most cases, a steady hum or buzz at the output is

    caused by grounding issues between ONE and the connected

    equipment. Because bus-powered USB interfaces are grounded

    through the USB and audio connections, and not through a

    3-prong grounded AC connection, the situation may arise where

    the grounding configuration of the connected equipment must be

    modified. This may be done by connecting a ground lift adaptor to

    the equipment’s AC connector to disconnect (or “lift”) the AC ground

    prong.

    Some experimmentation may be required to find the grounding

    configuration that results in the lowest noise. It may be useful

    to disconnect all equipment except ONE, the Mac and a pair of

    headphones, and then connect additional equipment one piece at a

    time.

     

     

     

     

    So it looks like the solution is buying a ground lift adapter.