There is of course a middle ground

SwitchBack wroteThere is of course a middle ground

Just curious: Are you suggesting OP should buy some real expensive tool(s) that need a qualified contractor to operate?

Nope, it's a rental site. And ground testing isn't rocket science. Advice from the rental company, a good manual plus a thorough read-through of that 'ground' wiki page should go a long way.

To make changes (especially to a building's grounding) on the other hand must be left to the experts. Any mistake there can be lethal.

Oof, this reminds me of the thread I had on (probably) exactly the same problem over at Gearspace. I got some good comments there, but there was also a rash of people coming in late to the thread and pointlessly suggesting things that had already been tried, and since a couple of grumpy old-school posters seemed to want to disbelieve half of what I said and bicker with each other, the thread ended up getting closed.

https://gearspace.com/board/so-many-gui ... ckups.html

And similar questions have been asked elsewhere: https://www.kemper-amps.com/forum/index ... recording/

Here's what I know:

- when most people say "it's a ground loop", they're usually referring to a low 50/60Hz hum, and noise that won't change just because you move the guitar. This is not that.
- people also tend to speculate that it's just unbalanced monitor cables (easily disproven by recording the audio and listening back on headphones)
- people might think it's a problem with the audio interface's input (easily disproven by plugging the guitar into an amp rather than the computer - the noise can then be heard coming from the amp even though the computer is not attached)
- they will suggest ferrite beads (useless - that's for solving a different problem)

Most likely it's switching noise radiating from the motherboard, being picked up by the guitar pickups. It's often worse when there's an audio interface involved because that is doing some high-speed USB transfer which itself causes a lot of power switching at the USB polling rate, but sometimes additional noise can be heard when moving a mouse, or similar.

Why exactly this happens, in electrical engineering terms, I don't know. But it does, and it's so incredibly common that it was immensely frustrating to have a thread of 'experts' basically getting it consistently wrong. If you watch high gain guitarists on YouTube you'll hear this telltale noise at the end of takes time and time again.

People will say that a higher quality power supply will help. It certainly could. I got the highest quality power supply that I could find and it made no difference.

I also found that using a laptop was fine, probably because it was DC power and that has an effect somehow. That's not usually an option for a desktop PC though.

Some people will also say that "disabling C-states" on your motherboard can help. This is about the various power-saving features on a modern computer and it's definitely plausible that it could make a difference. However, it's rarely as simple as just finding a box to uncheck, and it potentially stops you from being able to put your computer to sleep, or hibernate, etc.

What did I do, after fighting this for over 6 years?
1) Move further from the computer
2) Turn the guitar to the angle where it is least audible
3) If it's still audible and I can't re-record, notch it out with Izotope RX (while watching out for ringing artifacts which are sometimes even worse)

I have two suggestions as I had somewhat similar aggravations years ago.

1. In one scenario I solved everything by putting a 29 cent 3 into 2 converter (the little adapter from the hardware store that eliminates the grounding) into the wall before the main power supply. I did that and all of the buzzing went away. Absolute silence through the wires.

2. The second one is what I use today, an inexpensive DI box. Completely clean signal when I use this. Noisy buzzing when I do not use it (which is never these days).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07FZ93L ... asin_image

So here's the deal: I went back to my ol' 4770k build and...... drumroll please.......

IT'S KICK BUTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Almost no issues. In fact, I recently took delivery of an Ibanez with SC's in the neck/middle position. NO PROBLEM AT ALL, and I don't even need a noise gate anymore

Again, thank you to all who participated, your efforts are not lost on me at all, but as I originally suspected, it's the "new" computer

Not sure what I'm going to do. Right now, it's just a 1500 bone paperweight.

Well, I've run into more problems Though nowhere near as bad as the "new" computer, clearly I have some electric issues. Again, it's not insane but I've at least isolated the outside lights on the sides of the garage as being an issue. There is MOST DEFINITELY something else that is adding to the issue, but I have not isolated it.

However, though really not much info on the web, I discovered this:

https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Plug- ... B07W682STV

Just ordered after watching this video:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hu ... M%3DHDRSC3

Not sure if it will really do anything, but it's worth a shot. If it doesn't work, I can return it.

Yeah, it makes no more than about a 10% improvement (if that).

Something I never thought of was though I'm not in the market for a new computer, asking the people that make DAW computers. Hopefully they won't be bothered, that's the next step. Oh, and I ordered a new mobo/OS for this newest computer. I swapped PSU's and that didn't make a difference so that's not it (someone mentioned that somewhere)

Thinking back to the 90's, I had a wicked noise problem in monitors that ended up being an improperly wired attic space outlet. Once found and corrected, ALL noise problems disappeared.

My crib......all "sounds" are in the box (all amp sims, etc). My LOVELY audient id4 and headphones. But yeah, monitors can be a beotch for some.

One thing I'd like to say is that youboob is almost exclusively a SHAM for info on this. It's embarrassing really. That one "hum x" vid was the closest thing I've seen. I don't understand it, I absolutely CANNOT be the only one

Remember, this is NOT a 60 cycle hum or noise from a "high gain" plug. It's interference from the computer to the guitar (a perfect mess!)

I've now contacted a couple of audio computer companies, I hope they are not PO'ed that I'm not looking buy from them, but I did mention I'm willing to pay $$$$ for help if needed.

Again, I bought a new mobo and doze for this computer. I've eliminated EVERYTHING other than that stupid "gaming" mobo even though that lighting is off Likely, it will help quite a bit, but then again, who knows.......grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

The "old" computer isn't as much of a problem, but lately even it's reared it's ugly head. I keep thinking now it's some kind of shielding from the case even though I know there are some electrical bugaboos.

One last thing to mention in the "it's not that" category, even though I'm frequently using SC's, it's NOT the 60 cycle hum at all. It's simply interference from the COMPUTER!!!!!!!!! Uggggggggggg!

BobF wroteThinking back to the 90's, I had a wicked noise problem in monitors that ended up being an improperly wired attic space outlet. Once found and corrected, ALL noise problems disappeared.

Allow me to elaborate more on this, I REALLY do think that I have some weird electrical issues. You are NOT wrong. But between everything else and all the suggestions, something should have made "a bit more" of a difference. At least in my limited experience.

It's getting on my nerves!!!!!!!!!! I want to solve this, I was ready to kinda give up, now......not so much!

There absolutely HAS to be a logical explanation. HAS TO! Yeah, electrical issues, could very well be.

And before I self-exile myself for a bit, here in California, we had EPIC rain and floods, sorry, I had to worry about that as far as expenses are concerned lately. Now, I'm getting closer to calling an electrician and getting to the bottom of this

I've been reading this thread, but not studying each post completely so l may be repeating others' suggestions...
Is the PC connected to the internet with a LAN cable? That, in effect, can be an extra unwanted earthing point.
Have you disabled all WiFi and Bluetooth? Being a gamer Mobo, it's probably configured to connect with every joystick, headset, mouse, controller ... all wirelessly, and probably putting out more weird "radio" waves than Area 51.
Have you tried turning off your monitor? If the new mobo means you're connected, for example, by DPort instead of HDMI or digital, your monitor might be emitting stuff it didn't previously.
If you were going to pay for anything, I'd recommend a computer geek who is expert at BIOS and can shut down the mobo to bare bones operation. A lot of gamer mobos have, by default, all sorts of performance-enhancing tweaks enabled.
Have you tried plugging into a DI and running a really, really LONG mic cable to the interface so the guitar is a mile away?

GMHague wroteI've been reading this thread, but not studying each post completely so l may be repeating others' suggestions...
Is the PC connected to the internet with a LAN cable? That, in effect, can be an extra unwanted earthing point.
Have you disabled all WiFi and Bluetooth? Being a gamer Mobo, it's probably configured to connect with every joystick, headset, mouse, controller ... all wirelessly, and probably putting out more weird "radio" waves than Area 51.
Have you tried turning off your monitor? If the new mobo means you're connected, for example, by DPort instead of HDMI or digital, your monitor might be emitting stuff it didn't previously.
If you were going to pay for anything, I'd recommend a computer geek who is expert at BIOS and can shut down the mobo to bare bones operation. A lot of gamer mobos have, by default, all sorts of performance-enhancing tweaks enabled.
Have you tried plugging into a DI and running a really, really LONG mic cable to the interface so the guitar is a mile away?

Oh, repeating is quite alright LAN/WIFI or nothing, same. Monitor, on/off/unplugged, same. Not a long cable, but I did get a DI with a lift and all that. Luckily, it was a good price and I do feel it makes a difference in tone (especially with bass) but I've tried moving the computer around. With this one (the newest) it makes 0% difference where the computer is. In fact, moving it further away makes it worse! (wrap your head around that one! ) The older computer I've had some luck with moving it away, but not enough to justify the inconvenience.

@Gaming board: I've already ordered another board and win 11 copy. Not sure when I'll get that put together (ugggggggg, I hate having to do that) But I'm certain the board I have is part of the issue since this one is quite a bit worse than the old one.

Also, somewhat to my surprise, one of the companies I reached out to recommended something called "electromagnetic dampening material" ... that sounds like a project I'm not excited about

To summarize in the "I know there are these issues" category:

-I know the mobo is part of the problem, I'm changing that.
-I know I have some electrical issues. However, I'm only now able to push that to the top of the todo list (flooding, tree removal, teeth issues, and the holidays might possibly be in the past .... whew! )
-I know that part of it is just the simple issue of computers and guitars having interference no matter what I do. There are workarounds for that that are, somewhat acceptable.

Oh and @ electrical/house projects (or any for that matter ) ... I don't know where all you peeps live on planet blue, but here in the Sacatomatoes area, it's virtually impossible to get competent contractors/dentists/luthiers/doctors, you name it. Out of ten projects, you might get 3 that do an adequate job.

Point being I'm nervous about spending anymore coin on stuff that might be dubbed nebulous. I either want it fixed that right way, or toss off

EDIT W/O POSTING AGAIN! See this link, I've given up on this POC!

viewtopic.php?f=151&t=50558&p=297316#p297316

reggie1979beatz wroteOh and @ electrical/house projects (or any for that matter ) ... I don't know where all you peeps live on planet blue, but here in the Sacatomatoes area, it's virtually impossible to get competent contractors/dentists/luthiers/doctors, you name it. Out of ten projects, you might get 3 that do an adequate job.

Point being I'm nervous about spending anymore coin on stuff that might be dubbed nebulous. I either want it fixed that right way, or toss off

EDIT W/O POSTING AGAIN! See this link, I've given up on this POC!

viewtopic.php?f=151&t=50558&p=297316#p297316

I live about 8 hours north of you. And yes it is hard to find much more than warm bodies most of the time. You obviously want to fix this. it can be fixed. Anything can be fixed. The question is: what amount of cash is it going to cost and who do you turn to. I have the same dilemma occasionally.

Lucky, i have been in the trades for a number of years. What I mean by that is I have done a lot of most everything in construction. I pretty much know where to start asking about something i need help with.

So, my advise to you (you have likely done this already) is check with family and friends about decent electricians or possibly check into people that may offer trouble shooting like a Home Inspector. There again, all of this depends on the person you may get. Some of these Home Inspectors are very knowledgeable and could possibly lead you in the right direction. Maybe try to find one that as an electrical background. .

I hope you get this resolved as this type of stuff can be madding to say the least

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, and YAAAYYYYYYYYY!

Unbelievable.......and is it true? Could it be??????????

So, in preparing for tomorrows "new again" computer, I took the liberty (has to be win 11, after 10 days, you cannot revert) of doing a "clean" install to get myself ready for the new.

OMG, it works like a CHARM so far!

The only thing I didn't install was the stupid idiot "armory crate" garbage.

No click, no pops, and nowhere NEAR as much unacceptable noise.

I'm so embarrassed, I don't get it.

Oooooooooo KAY!

So, I've already put the specs in my sig.

Newegg is totally cool with me sending back doze 10 and getting a refund. It's 170 USD for a "downloadable" version of 11 pro But as of last night, this thing is ALSO purring like a sweet kitten.

I'm 99.4% certain I want to go for the new build, but there is a side of me that is on the fence. Other than the "BUZZZZZZZZ" noise (which doesn't seem to be that bad now) that I've done EVERYTHING to try and kill, this is working great right now.

What to do? Oh man, I really want to keep this stuff and have an absolute BEAST, but do I mess with success? Sigh...........

I'm leaning towards doing the dirty deed and doing 11 and sending back the DVD version of 10. Hmmmmm, maybe a Scotch night to think it over? I dunno.