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Noise from REDDI, need your help to diagnose!

ShrimpHeavenNow

ShrimpHeavenNow

Oct 12, 2020
54
171
#1
Hello! I hope this is the right place to put this.

I recently picked up a REDDI after spending way too much time on this forum. Got it plugged in today, made a quick direct vs DI'd comparison recording, and noticed a bit of noise. I'm wondering if any of ya'll with more experienced ears have an idea of what this could be from.

The signal chain was a Fender Player P direct into the REDDI, with the XLR out going to an Apollo Twin as well as the Thru going to the other channel of the Apollo Twin.

Through my Yamaha HS8's I didn't notice the noise, but listening back to the quick comparison recording I made (it goes back and forth between the two each time it goes through the bVII IV I progression) with good headphones, it's very much there.

I bought the unit used so I'm not sure if there is anything from it being used a lot in the past that could cause that, or if my chain in general could be an obvious culprit. Looking for more experienced ears here!

Here's the clip:
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Thanks so much for your time!
 
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#2
The volume control on the REDDI is an attenuator. Try turning down the level.

You may be sending a signal into the Apollo that is too hot. Turn down that input. Don’t go near the red clipping at the input. Don’t record just under the red, you need room for processing while mixing. Look up gain staging. It can help to look at the digital signal for peaks that are clipping. I can hear it on some of your peaks.
 
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#3
beans-on-toast said:
The volume control on the REDDI is an attenuator. Try turning down the level.

You may be sending a signal into the Apollo that is too hot. Turn down that input. Don’t go near the red clipping at the input. Don’t record just under the red, you need room for processing while mixing. Look up gain staging. It can help to look at the digital signal for peaks that are clipping. I can hear it on some of your peaks.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I thought I was in the mid/upper-green with both channels on the Apollo, BUT 1. I could be remembering that wrong and 2. I'm pretty sure I had the the volume control on the REDDI turned pretty high, so I'll definitely check this out tomorrow.
 
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#6
Is it possibly sitting on, or near another device that it might be picking noise from? Someone had noise problems with I believe the Noble DI, and turned out it was sitting on an amp or something. Try isolating it in that case.
 
#7
Alright round 2! Turned the REDDI down to 9 o clock, made sure to hit the Apollo somewhere between middle-green and just before yellow, and put it on the ground away from the computer/amp/apollo on the desk and backed way from it a couple feet. Can't quite tell if it's better or not.

Being new to tube DI's, perhaps this is a pretty normal signal/noise ratio. Could any of ya'll speak to that?

Thanks again for lending your ears!
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#9
It sounds much better.

There is a slight hum which isn’t unusual. That can be reduced by applying a HPF in the DAW. As an example, at Motown on all those great songs in the 60’s, they used 70Hz. The hum was 60Hz line noise. Be aware, some equipment generates 120Hz power supply noise.
 
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#10
Shoot, I know this isn't the optimal listening situation, but listening to both of these clips through a phone speaker, the noise amount sounds identical between the two. Not sure if any of those things helped as much as I hoped! Wondering if ya'll have ideas on how to get rid of that. New tube? New IEC cable? Who knows. I'm not loving how much noise is coming from this way to expensive piece of gear lol. I tried throwing an la2a on the track and it's not great.

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#12
...

...

I'm a dingo. Figured it out.

Finally got a chance to take the reddi to a different location. I know I know, I should have done this way earlier. With the same gear but different location, totally silent. There's enough ambient noise in my regular space that I don't notice it, but when I plugged in my in-ears it was really rough.

It's probably some random power/wires running along each other/etc situation. Underneath my desk is a bit wild so I should have tried this first.

I'm just glad to know I wasn't crazy with what I was hearing hah!
 
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