I just LOVE all the responses peeps, REALLY appreciate it!

So today I get the Furman. I've got my "template" set up to do some testing, including turning off and on some lights, fans, and appliances.

Gotta love sweetwater. 99.9% of the time what you ordered comes earlier than expected. Hmmmmmm, I wonder if they do that on purpose? Then again, that "other" company (well, two from the same place shipped) is basically either on-time, or late. So maybe not.

Well, as I pretty much expected, no help. If the direct thingy doesn't work, I'm going to set fire to everything and give up.......... well, no.

Back to square one, for now!

I'm pretty sure the DI boxes will help some, maybe even a lot. But it will be masking the root cause which, from your accounts, lies in or around your computer and allows your instrument inputs to pick up an unreasonable amount of noise. It's probably not a good idea to leave that untreated, even if the DI boxes make it bearable.

reggie1979beatz wroteWell, as I pretty much expected, no help. If the direct thingy doesn't work, I'm going to set fire to everything and give up.......... well, no.

Back to square one, for now!

How much do you know about electricticy? Might be the next thing to check, maybe you have already but i will throw a few things for you to check if you have not already.

First: Are your power outlets grounded? If you don't know buy a power outlet tester. Amazon as Sperry outlets testers for around 14 bucks. These are very nice testers and will tell you if outlet(s) are wired properly and tell you what the issue is with wiring. Just because an outlet is a 3 prong outlet does not mean it has a ground wire especially in older homes. If the home is newer than 1965 (or there about) then the outlet(s) should be grounded. If older that 1965 the bare ground wire on power plugs and light switches are likely NOT present unless home completely remodeled.

An older home is not wired like a newer home or a home in the last 20 - 30 years. If you have an older home there may be lots of power plugs and / or lights on the a circuit. You can check this pretty easily by flipping breakers on / off at panel. If this is the case consider running a new circuit to to area in question.

I hope you get this sorted. Please do post fix once you find issue. It may help someone in the future.

Working with the assumption that you're dealing with a ground loop...

A ground loop can occur if you have more than one path to ground, even on the same circuit. This can happen if you have two or more pieces of equipment connected together, which are plugged into different outlets. That's because there is a small phase difference between the two paths back to ground, since the actual wire length isn't equal.

Try setting up a test where all of the equipment you're using is connected to the house wiring via just one outlet (using a power strip or whatever). If your noise goes away, that's your problem.

One common cause of a ground loop involving a computer is a USB connection. All cables are not equal, and sometimes swapping cables can make a big difference.

Well, we'll see how this DI box does (which BTW, is VERY highly rated for the price, and just overall) but once you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains......

It's gotta be something in the computer, it has to. What that is? Who knows But it's really down to that. Remember, the other two computers are nowhere near as bad.

It tasks me. It tasks me and I shall have it! I'll chase it 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round Perdition's flames before I give it up!

Excellent attitude!

(PS. Do make sure that all those places have electricity)

It's difficult to get a beat on when the Klark is going to arrive. Could be today. Could be next week. The little XLR cable is here (and it's lonely )

It's one of those Amazon thingies that ships from some third-party store, ya know?? So doesn't look like today, but it could be.

While you wait, you could look into the computer itself - you suspect it anyway.

What happens if you touch bare metal on the case? Does the noise level change?
Try a different power cord for the computer. Maybe the ground lug isn't making good contact.
*Temporarily* unplug case fans. Does the noise level change?

Could even be the power supply itself. The PS might have excessive ripple on the DC outputs.

IMX these difficult to track down problems end up being something simple most of the time.

I'ma try that. What I suspect after everything is it's the MOBO. Why? Because even though I have the lights "disabled" (it's a gaming board, good grief long story) I really believe it's the main culprit. I can't find my other power cables right now (still painting the interior, everything is a mess! ) but I'm pretty sure that isn't it. The other computer isn't as noisy, same cable.

Power supply is another possible culprit. OR the way it was put together. Everything is really neat and tucked away. It's a seasonic, it came highly recommended and its whisper quiet as far as that is concerned. Case fans are stock (Corsiar), but the CPU fan is a Noctua, really silent, I almost NEVER hear the fans (well, in the summer sometimes, but still really quiet). One thing is that at times I've had to have the outer side panels off, this seems to make things worse. But it's roughly the same case as the older computer.

Again, I'm going to track it down, one way or another. But who knows what/when/if, ya know?

My suggestion on the fans wasn't because of operating noise, but to see whether or not they are producing electrical noise.

It will be interesting to see what this turns out to be.

Does your MB have a WiFi/BT card? These are/(can be) notorious for noise in a DAW. When I built my current machine a couple of years ago I yanked out the wifi card and use LAN/Ethernet into the DAW only. (Actually I use a WiFi extender for network access to Ethernet into the DAW)
Sorry if I missed reference to internet access in any previous posts.
Good luck!

FWIW I only use wired mouse and (qwerty) keyboards for the same reason.

reggie1979beatz wroteIt's difficult to get a beat on when the Klark is going to arrive. Could be today. Could be next week. The little XLR cable is here (and it's lonely )

It's one of those Amazon thingies that ships from some third-party store, ya know?? So doesn't look like today, but it could be.

Just a word on DI boxes: To minimise overall sensitivity to noise have the (unbalanced, high-impedance) instrument cable as short as feasible with the (balanced, low-impedance) XLR cable covering the majority of the distance.

AAV wroteDoes your MB have a WiFi/BT card? These are/(can be) notorious for noise in a DAW. When I built my current machine a couple of years ago I yanked out the wifi card and use LAN/Ethernet into the DAW only. (Actually I use a WiFi extender for network access to Ethernet into the DAW)
Sorry if I missed reference to internet access in any previous posts.
Good luck!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I'll check that out. YES, it does, I don't think it's connected though. I'm LAN currently.

So I'm getting closer. I can now say w/o any doubt it's the interference from the computer, with the instrument. ANY guitar or bass is this way and ANY cable, regardless of length, doesn't matter (BTW, I LOVE my Ernie Ball cable. It's a green/black tweed/braid. I don't know why I care, but I do. )

So, what I've done today/tonight: I put the computer sideways. Helps a bit. But with "crunch" settings, it's actually a significant improvement. Clean"ish" settings are really not detectable. One thing I noticed is that if I unplug the input cable, it reduces the problem significantly. That is how I now know it's a play between the computer and any instrument.

Now, on paper, it makes allot of sense that this DI box would help since it's converting the instrument input to XLR/lower noise. Will it work? Won't find out until next week it looks.

The Furman is built like a tank, and even though it didn't improve anything in this regard, I still think it's better than simply plugging into the wall. So, I think I'll keep it. Got it on the cheap considering.

I've learned more here than stupid youboob Man, WAY too many people stammering about w/o actually addressing the issue. Honestly, it's embarrassing that these toads make the kind of money they do.

reggie1979beatz wroteNow, on paper, it makes allot of sense that this DI box would help since it's converting the instrument input to XLR/lower noise.

To be precise the DI box will be quieter because it avoids using your noisy instrument inputs; You'll be using a (balanced) mic input instead. The box also has a ground lift switch which allows you to detach your guitar from a noisy system ground. This may also help a little but not as much as going balanced in.