Guitar picking up electric noises when recording :(

    Hi there. I was hoping you guys could help me with this problem I'm having.


    I recently built a new PC to replace my MBP Retina to be the main computer at my studio but my PRS Custom 22 guitar picks up so much noise from it that I can't really record anything. I record straight to my UAD interface via Kemper Profiling amp (XLR to XLR). I'm 100% sure it's the guitar pickups that are so sensitive and therefor they pick up all kinds of electric/static/crackle noise. I'm also 90% sure that it's picking up my hard drive noise because when I hit ''play'' in Pro Tools I can hear extra noises come in and when I press ''stopp'' those sounds go away. If I would have to describe the noises I would say they are like having a little Star Wars fight inside your speakers. When I turn off the PC and just play through my UAD audio interface (for monitoring) or plug my headphones to the Kemper I have zero noise so I'm 100% it's the PC.


    I NEVER had this problem with my MBP. The noise goes away if I go 2 meters back but that isn't a good solution because I have to be able to reach my keybord and mouse to press record and do all sorts of things while recording.


    I've tried pretty much everything I can think of for the past 2 days. I have tried:


    *Change the guitar cable
    *Change the power cable of the amp
    *Turn off all electric things in my studio (monitors, speakers, hard drives) except my PC
    *Move my PC to the other side of the room and 70cm farther away from where I sit
    *Plug the PC to another power outlet in the room.
    *Ground lift on my amp


    Nothing has solved my problem. So what can I do to ''isolate'' my PC hardware from interfering with my guitar pick ups? Someone suggested buying a dedicated Furman power conditioner to ''clean up'' my electricity so I went out and rented Furman pl-8 and plugged my computer in it but it didn't change a thing. Then I plugged my Kemper in it and again, it didn't do a thing


    What could be wrong? Could my brand new Power Supply for the PC be broken? Does the computer case need to be grounded? Maybe I'm using a case that doesn't have any EMI/RFI shielding. Do I need a better case with better shielding against this kind of interference?


    Do you have any recommendations for me to solve this problem? Thanks in advance! [Blocked Image: https://www.tonymacx86.com/styles/default/xenforo/clear.png] ^^

    Quote from nightlight

    Without hearing the problem, I'd say that the electric socket where you're plugging into hasn't been grounded. That can cause all kinds of noise to come into recordings. Get an electrician to check and I'm 90% sure that is what the problem is. Computers alone will not cause noise.

    Wouldn't it have been noticed with the old computer then?

    @nightlight Thanks for the quick reply. At first I also thought it had something to do with the socket not being grounded but I've had multiple speakers powered on by this socket (NS10, Focal and more) and multiple electronic devices and never have I heard noise before. Is it possible that if that socket isn't grounded that it only affect my computer?


    Someone told be to get a really long extension cable and plug it in the next room, drag it to my studio room and plug the computer in there. I did that and it didn't fix it. I've been working on that computer for 1 month now, I've edited 3-4 TV shows, done 3 commercial mixes and probably 10+ audio mixes for numerous tv shows and never have I had trouble with it. No noise, no failures but when I connect my guitar and play then it gets crazy. I called the computer company that put the hardware I choose in the case for me to ask if it could be possible that they did something wrong. If they had maybe forgot to ground the computer or something. The guy told me it was highly unlikely.


    If my socket wasn't grounded, shouldn't the noise/sound change when I touch my guitar?

    Quote from fannar182

    @Michael_dk Do you think there's a possibility my electric sockets aren't grounded and It didn't affect my old computer because it's a laptop? Idk if this is a stupid question but I literally don't know anything about this stuff.


    Electronics can be finicky and perhaps because it was a laptop without its own power supply, as opposed to a cable that hooks up to your computer, you did not run into that problem. Checking whether the grounding is fixed seems to be my guess, your computer per se does not require to be grounded. The power socket, on the other hand, does.

    @Gary_W Thanks for the info Gary. I already had read on this ''C-State'' problem and I tried disabling them one by one (C1, C6,7 and something in the BIOS) but that didn't work. I read your post and I have a 500gb SSD disk as my main drive and a 2TB WD secondary for storage. I disconnected that but still no changes. I noticed that 1 of maybe 8 screws are missing from the motherboard (screws that go in to the motherboard to tighten it to the computer case), could that do any harm like this?


    - Fannar

    Quote from fannar182

    @Gary_W Thanks for the info Gary. I already had read on this ''C-State'' problem and I tried disabling them one by one (C1, C6,7 and something in the BIOS) but that didn't work. I read your post and I have a 500gb SSD disk as my main drive and a 2TB WD secondary for storage. I disconnected that but still no changes. I noticed that 1 of maybe 8 screws are missing from the motherboard (screws that go in to the motherboard to tighten it to the computer case), could that do any harm like this?


    - Fannar

    Hi Fannar,


    It's a long shot but it's possible; in theory, all the screws that secure the motherboard will be on a common ground so if any one is properly secured to the case then 'that'll do'. However, it can't hurt to try. At least you'll have eliminated that from the enquiries.


    It's worth researching more on the power saving features of your board / cpu to see if there is anything here. Power saving modes change their names through the years but most seem to work on turning the power up or down very rapidly. That can act as a very strong transmitter.


    If the worst comes to the worst, you can do what I did..... when I bought a new computer, I didn't want to go through the same issues so I got some USB extension cables, a long HDMI cable, a network extension cable and a long FireWire cable. My PC is now at the other end of the room so I'm happily playing at the other end. It might sound crazy but if you've already proved that distance cures your issue, USB repeater cables are pretty cheap on eBay / Amazon. Certainly cheaper than hair replacements when you tear it all out :)

    @Sharry I've also tried my Gibson Les Paul Standard (humbuckers) and it's all the same. Noises, crackle, static noise, spikes.


    @Gary_W Thanks alot Gary for trying to help me. I seriously appreciate the effort. I'm thinking about getting an electric tech guy to come and look at my sockets. If they weren't grounded properly, could that cause me hearing the inside of the computer ''work'' through my pickups? I can hear my hard drive, my CPU. When I turn on another software in my computer I can literally hear the computer go to work to open it up. When I play a video on YouTube I hear the processing start up and everything. It's so weird.


    Another option like you said is to buy alot of extensions :( I'm also thinking about just selling it and getting myself a 2016 MBP. I've had my 2013 MBP for yeah 3 years now and I've never once had trouble with it recording. I've recorded a 48 track concert that went on for 4 hours with no problem for example. I just wanted a new computer because it was getting to slow for all those new audio plugins and editing 1080 videos with maybe 3-4 streams playing at the same time. But it's just so goddamn expensive.

    If you have the mbp still, try to record with that, disconnected from the wall socket. Try recording:
    1) WITHOUT the PC turned on
    2) WITH the PC turned on
    3) WITH the PC turned on, but in another room or as far as you can get from the PC (with the kemper connected to the same wall socket)



    If you get the noise only with 2) above, then I seriously doubt there's a grounding issue.

    @Michael_dk Thanks for the reply. I've recorded with that setup and my MBP for the last 6 months (Same room, same speakers, same audio interface, same amp (kemper) and without a problem. I've tried recording with the MBP with the PC turned on and then I get the noises/star-wars sounds. I'm gonna try tonight to move my PC to another room and record with my MBP.

    Ideas:
    Try turning guitar 90% to the PC while playing - find a position where noise is reduced
    Turn off PC monitor screen
    Turn off the room light! - Sounds amazing, but interference from certain lights can be picked up and amplified
    Get a passive DI box - may fix the problem, if not then it will improve signal/noise ratio of your guitar signal anyway!
    PCs are notorious for sound card interference - are there connections to it at the front and back? If so, try them.
    Try muting PC's own sound card Mic inputs during recording. Could also look at moving the power supply for the PC sound card to an alternative location in the case, reroute the cables - or disconnect it!


    Good luck

    Quote from fannar182

    @Sharry I've also tried my Gibson Les Paul Standard (humbuckers) and it's all the same. Noises, crackle, static noise, spikes.


    @Gary_W Thanks alot Gary for trying to help me. I seriously appreciate the effort. I'm thinking about getting an electric tech guy to come and look at my sockets. If they weren't grounded properly, could that cause me hearing the inside of the computer ''work'' through my pickups? I can hear my hard drive, my CPU. When I turn on another software in my computer I can literally hear the computer go to work to open it up. When I play a video on YouTube I hear the processing start up and everything. It's so weird.


    Another option like you said is to buy alot of extensions :( I'm also thinking about just selling it and getting myself a 2016 MBP. I've had my 2013 MBP for yeah 3 years now and I've never once had trouble with it recording. I've recorded a 48 track concert that went on for 4 hours with no problem for example. I just wanted a new computer because it was getting to slow for all those new audio plugins and editing 1080 videos with maybe 3-4 streams playing at the same time. But it's just so goddamn expensive.

    Hold your guitar next to the PC with everything cranked. Noisy.


    Now move the guitar away from the PC. If the noise level changes then it's not the sockets IMO - it's airborne noise from the PC.


    Of course, this could be caused by lack of earth in the sockets I suppose but my bet is still something on the PC throwing out noise. Sorry not to be specific - all I know was I chased my tail too for a long time!

    Computers + electric guitars = noise . It doesn't matter for lots of instruments and microphones, but items with motors and other electromagnetic moving parts are simply not compatible with instruments with magnetic pickups. Fan-noise may also be a problem in a studio setting. My solution is a fan-less water-cooled computer with SSD in a sealed and shielded/grounded cabinet. The radiator for cooling is the only part placed outside the cabinet. When I work with the most sensitive single-coil guitars I also use a transparent grounded magnetic shield in front of my monitor(s). LCD-displays were a huge improvement over the old cathode ray tubes, but most still generate significant noise. OLED may be better, but I haven't done any significant testing yet.