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sansamp xlr noise problem

V

vic_6

Dec 19, 2004
502
2
42
Manila, Philippines
#1
ok, so i just sold an old sansamp to a friend. now he's kind of having problems with it. he tried recording with it this afternoon and there was hum/hiss going on from the xlr output. but when he used the normal output, it was clean. very weird.
i went over and tried it and it didnt matter what bass i used (both active and passive). the hum/hiss got even louder when i turned up the presence to max. drive did too but i think that that's normal.

by the way, connection went, bass-sansamp-mixer-pc. i dont think that matters though cuz i think we're pretty sure it's the sansamp that's got a problem.

what do you think is it? i think it just might be dirt. is that even possible? if so, what do i use to clean it?
i also read that a possiblity could be either somethin werong with the soldering or a loose pin. i looked at the soldering and it seemed fine. didnt get to check the pins though..

any help would be great guys. thanks

vic
 
#2
I have a grounding problem with one of my basses, i think, that is only really noticable when i use my BDDI, so i get hiss when using it now :(

turning the presence up increases the treble as far as i care, so yeah, it'll make the hiss much more noticable, i cant stand either the drive or presence much past 12 oclock, so im fine :D

anyways, maybe he's knocked they phantom/ground connect switch, try changing that to ground connect, i might be wrong here and it might do absolutly nothing, but its worth a shot, also, if he's riding the level at full with it switched to line, it will amplify any hiss from and instrument a fair bit, i think, i dunno really, try it back at your place and see if its ok how you used it ?
 
#5
vic_6 said:
sorry but can you explain what ground lift is?
Click to expand...
There should be a switch on the sansamp that says ground lift.
What this does is disconnect the ground connection that you have from the Mic cable to the mixer.
Sometimes if electrical equipment is connected to the same ground on different paths you will get a hum caused by the fact that you are creating a ground loop.
The ground lift would disconnect this connection, eliminating the hum.

Here's an article on it that might help.

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/avhardware/groundloopcableTV.php
 
#6
For what it's worth, on my own BDDI, the XLR has a little bit of hiss while the 1/4" is quiet. The hiss isn't too loud unless I crank up the treble or presence (which I don't do), but it is noticeable.
 
#9
vic_6 said:
quality: the ground lift isnt doing anythin... still hissing...

kurt: really? you havent done anythin to take it away?

this is really weird... xlr SHOULD be much more quiet...
Click to expand...
Just to clarify, is this the the floor pedal driver version or the rack mount version of the samsamp.

I had this problem with the floot pedal unit as well where it had a little hiss. I was using the wall wart plug that they suggested. When I switched to a clean battery, it was noticably better. Maybe excessive noise from the transformer in the plug or the fact that it isn't grounded.

I don't have much experiece with the rack mounted version though.
 
#11
vic_6 said:
well, it's the BDDI. the original floor unit...

it was being run on 9v. but when it's on xlr, it should be phantom powered. therefore negating any other power needs.

so is it really normal to have some hum??
Click to expand...

I wouldn't think so. I've used these in the studio and it was very clean running on AC though.
Do you get the same hum with the 9V and the phantom power turned off?
I have had 2 of these same units, the first one died after much abuse and the first thing it did was start to hum like crazy.
 
#12
Just to expand and clarify a little, I don't get any hum, it's just a little background hiss on the XLR output. I don't know of any workaround for that other than a noise gate. I too just record using the 1/4" jack, which isn't bad since the BDDI is connected to my mixer with only about 5 feet of unbalanced cable.
 

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