Beeping sounds in the background please help :(

    I'm so frustrated. I moved my desk from another room because it was noisy there (neighbors and main street).

    Now I have a smaller desk, which sucks.


    But something is terribly wrong

    I hear this beep in the background.

    Replaced the cable, swapped to different guitars.

    I tried disconnecting devices like usbs and chargers

    I even brought in a ln electrition to check my apartment grounding line

    Rolling up the noise gate to over 50% does the job. But it's profiles with no so much gain. And profiles I used to play with no issues like that. (And definitely kills the sound!)


    I really don't know where and from where to start researching.


    That's my sad desk setup:

    External Content youtu.be
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

    ;(

    The best thing to do is start disconnecting things until the sound goes away. You said you disconnected a few things.


    It is not clear from the video but I am assuming you are here because the sound is coming from the Kemper.


    1) Disconnect any USB cables connected to the Kemper. USB is a very noisy cable. USB Cables will create ground loops from your PC to the Kemper. Especially if your Kemper and PC are not connected at the same location.


    You want all of the devices being used to be plugged in to the same electrical circuit with short as possible cables. If you do not do this, each device ground will have a different amount of voltage on it. This creates electrical currents that run from one device to another on the ground connections. This is called a GROUND LOOP. The electrical currents are heard as noise.


    Since your Kemper noise gate reduces the noise, the noise you are hearing is most likely coming from your guitar itself.


    2) Computers/PCs emit a lot of electrical noise. The emitted/transmitted noise will be a Distance Squared function. This means the farther you get your guitar from the PC the better. Your guitar may be closer to the PC in your new configuration. You stated a smaller desk/area. A meter can make a huge change in noise pickup. Your noise sounded like a regular pattern of noise which would point me right at your USB cables or the PC itself.


    Guitar cables are usually coaxial (wire down the middle surrounded by the shield/gnd). These cables are designed this way to avoid picking up noise. So the noise you hear is usually coming from the guitar pickups and lack of shielding inside the pickup cavities. Wires are antennas.


    Single Coil pickups should be much much worse. Try a single coil guitar and see if it gets worse. This means it is being transmitted thru the air and received by your pickups (antennas).


    Move your guitar closer and farther and the noise should get louder and quieter.


    3) There is always a very slim chance something near your setup is transmitting noise. This can be a refridgerator, neon lights, Light Dimmer, etc etc. But these things may not make noise 100% of the time. Turn off lights in the room, fans, anything close by, etc and see if the noise is reduced.

    I second everything RosboneMako says - I'd add try turning down the volume completely on the guitar while plugged in to rule out the guitar cable picking up sound.


    If the noise persists while all the connected equipment is connected to the same outlet - try running a lead from your original room to your new location and plug everything in that. The outlets may be on different circuits.

    Dear awesome people of this thread,


    As mentioned before, I replaced the cable, swapped to different guitars (with/out single coils), tried disconnecting devices like USBs and chargers, paid an electrician to check my apartment grounding line.


    After reading your comments and talking with an e.engineer from work, I did the following:

    I started by disconnecting devices such as USBs, including the one connected to the Kemper.

    Ending up only with my Kemper, PC, and monitors connected, I decided to try another socket, just in case it's not a grounding issue of some sort, and changed the extension cord I have to another one.


    I started moving around my guitar in weird angles and noticed some changes in the noises. Touching the pickups/bridge/strings stopped the noises too. So clearly I'm ~picking up~ noises from somewhere. I placed the guitar on my chair so nothing touches it while hearing the "beep"ing. The more I rolled the chair away from the desk, the less I heard noises (the other side of the room had NO NOISES!), the more I got close to my desk the stronger the noises. Then testing the last thing @RosboneMako said - on the right side of my desk, right behind the fake closet - which is actually a niche for the kitchen fridge. I placed the chair with the guitar facing it, and the noises were the worst. I disconnected the fridge and voila - no noises!!! after some research, seems like it's common with inverter fridges.

    Just so I am extra sure this is the guitar and not maybe the cable, I rolled the cable and moved it back and forward from the "closet", there was no change, so I know for sure it's not a cable placement issue.



    Now that I know it's the fridge, any idea what I can do about it?

    Quote from hAtul

    Now that I know it's the fridge, any idea what I can do about it?

    Ouch :pinch:


    I am not a licensed Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) Engineer, I only play one on this forum.


    When electronic devices switch on/off they create large current pulses. Current is the movement of electrons thru a conductor (wire). The moving electrons create magnetic fields that transmit energy into the air. So the wires on your noisy device become antennas and transmit noise into the air. Like a little radio station from hell. This is called RADIATED EMMISIONS.


    The devices also draw power from the wall outlet. This creates noise in the power lines in your house, etc. This is called CONDUCTED EMISSIONS. Basically your equipment is being fed noisy power. Most devices are DC powered which means they have filtering built in to their internal power supplies that reduces the noise effects.


    Since the noise got quiet when you moved the guitar around, that means your issue is mostly RADIATED noise. Which means distance from the noise source is your best bet. Get away from that "radio station".


    When electronic equipment is designed, it needs to meet specific EMI laws/regulations. Assuming there is nothing wrong with your fridge it is probably working within the legal design limits for noise.


    1) Reconfigure your room to get as far away from the noise sources (fridge, computer) as possible.


    2) Verify that your fridge is grounded.

    RADIATED

    Most noise is trying to get to ground. Metal boxes tied to ground (Faraday cage) block RADIATED noise. Your fridge is partially a giant grounded metal box. Most fridges have an open back to cool the compressor and components. So noise can transmit right out of there. Could try rotating the fridge as a test to see if it is radiating out the back. Or move your guitar around the fridge to see if it gets worse in certain spots.


    CONDUCTED

    Many noisy electronic devices have EMI filters built in. These filters may also require a ground to be most effective. If your noise issue was Conducted, you could also buy some form of filtered power item for your Kemper/recording equipment. This would not be a $10 outlet strip with surge protection. Surge protection will not help a noise issue.


    3) Try setting the various GROUND LIFT options on the Kemper. Once you connect the USB cable it will be grounded to the PC thru that cable and the noise will still be present. So test this with the Kemper not connected to a USB cable.


    4) Make 100% sure the power outlet you are using is not on the same circuit as the fridge. If the fridge noise is CONDUCTED, your stuff is being fed noisy power. Moving your stuff to a new circuit may help.


    5) Try using a ground lift solution between the guitar and Kemper. Since the noise is trying to get to ground, this may help by isolating your guitar from ground. These devices are usually little transformers in a box. This will make it so your guitar has no DC electrical connection to ground. But transformers will let AC noise pass right thru. So it will probably have no real effect on your issue.


    6) Could try nutty last ditch effort things like putting up a grounded metal wall between your guitar and the fridge. Or putting up a grounded metal screen system on the back of the fridge to block its radiated noise, but still allow for cooling.


    7) Hopefully someone on this forum has dealt with this issue before. There are a lot of veteran studio people here. They have fought with light dimmers, etc for decades.


    Good Luck!

    Quote from BayouTexan

    Buy a new fridge! ^^^^^^


    Seriously, try a surge protector with built-in "noise suppression".


    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=power+strip+with+noise+filter

    The term NOISE SUPPRESSION is the key part. That means it includes an actual filter. Because what you want is an EMI/RFI FILTER.


    Like:
    https://www.amazon.com/Furman-…id=1683843164&sr=8-6&th=1


    Not all devices are created equal. Its not like one thing will fix every issue.


    Your wall power is a frequency of 50/60 Hz. The noise coming in will be much higher than that. So the EMI/RFI filters try to block high frequency from entering your equipment.


    A SURGE SUPPRESSOR is usually a device that does nothing unless the power voltage gets really high. It is meant to stop a high voltage spike from destroying your stuff. Like a lightning strike nearby will drive up the power line voltage.

    Quote from Robrecht

    Start with your PC display. It's right next to your interface, audio cables and (especially) speakers. Probably close to your guitar too when you're sitting there playing. Try moving it away a little and see if the sound changes.

    Old CRTs were insane! I actually put my guitar up to it and used the noise as an intro to a song. 8)

    It may be an expensive fix but noiseless pickups, kinman etc may help, better cable or move the fridge 😀. Some of these suggestions are clearly more practical.

    A brace of Suhrs, a Charvel, a toaster, an Apollo twin, a Mac, and a DXR10