Acoustica User Forums

I have a white noise/static sound in the background whenever I try to record vocals or guitar. It is really bad and I can not make quality recordings with this issue. I am not sure where the white noise is coming from in my setup but I would sure love to find it. I know the problem isn't the microphone I am using because I have tried three different ones and they all have the same white noise problem. Same with the microphone cable that plugs into the audio interface, have tried more than one. I know the problem isn't in in my headset or speakers either. That leaves either the audio interface or whole computer the needs replacing. I am using a Scarlett 2i2 audio interface and my computer is a Dell XPS 8500....specs are in this link (https://www.cnet.com/products/dell-xps- ... ries/specs)

Do you suppose the problem is in the audio interface or computer or something else entirely?

What is your electrical situation like? If you have bad wiring or grounding issues, that'll 100% show up when you're trying to record. Also, is the white noise constantly persistent? It doesn't change if you move around the room or touch anything while holding the guitar or microphone? You may consider experimenting with a DI-Box that has a ground lift button to see if that helps. First you need to start from the source and figure out if you have a wiring/grounding issue before going forward with seeing if your gear is faulty.

This may be a longshot but make sure you do not have any demo plugins that have expired. When a demo plug-in expires, sometimes they will emit white noise or random noise.

+1 on the electrical thought, sounds like a ground issue. Try another electrical outlet and/or power strip or extension cord. A DI box is very handy to have not just for the ground so that could very well do it.

M

Your interface is entirely bus-powered, so it's important to try different USB ports (since they are grouped on different hubs) especially if you're experiencing noise issues.

And stay with USB2 ports, as USB3 are not as truly backwards-compatible as the marketing would suggest.

I have a white noise/static sound in the background whenever I try to record vocals or guitar.

May be a silly question but how sure are you that the noise is actually being recorded (as opposed to you only hearing it upon playback)??? Also: how are your speakers connected???

Reason I'm asking the above is because I, just last week as a matter of fact, sorted out a noise issue that's been bugging me for over a year (and got worse, to the point where I had to do something about it, when I hooked up a third monitor). The noise wasn't being recorded i.e. it could only heard when playing audio. In my case it was solved ABSOLUTELY by replacing the TS cables (that were supplied by a fool), with TRS cables, between my Focusrite and mixer and adding a Behringer MicroHD HD400 hum eliminator.

If it (the noise) is indeed being recorded: sorry. Cannot think of any other suggestions for you other than what has already been posted above.

Regards,

Dale.

ChernobylStudios wrote:What is your electrical situation like? If you have bad wiring or grounding issues, that'll 100% show up when you're trying to record. Also, is the white noise constantly persistent? It doesn't change if you move around the room or touch anything while holding the guitar or microphone? You may consider experimenting with a DI-Box that has a ground lift button to see if that helps. First you need to start from the source and figure out if you have a wiring/grounding issue before going forward with seeing if your gear is faulty.

Yes the noise is constantly persistent and doesn't seems to change. I am not sure where to start with figuring out where this ground issue could be?

Rolling Estonian wrote:+1 on the electrical thought, sounds like a ground issue. Try another electrical outlet and/or power strip or extension cord. A DI box is very handy to have not just for the ground so that could very well do it.

M

If I get a DI box will I still need to use my audio interface in my setup to record?

dpaterson wrote:

I have a white noise/static sound in the background whenever I try to record vocals or guitar.

May be a silly question but how sure are you that the noise is actually being recorded (as opposed to you only hearing it upon playback)??? Also: how are your speakers connected???

Reason I'm asking the above is because I, just last week as a matter of fact, sorted out a noise issue that's been bugging me for over a year (and got worse, to the point where I had to do something about it, when I hooked up a third monitor). The noise wasn't being recorded i.e. it could only heard when playing audio. In my case it was solved ABSOLUTELY by replacing the TS cables (that were supplied by a fool), with TRS cables, between my Focusrite and mixer and adding a Behringer MicroHD HD400 hum eliminator.

If it (the noise) is indeed being recorded: sorry. Cannot think of any other suggestions for you other than what has already been posted above.

Regards,

Dale.

I am sure positive th noise is actually being recorded and not im not only hearing it upon playback. My speakers are connected to my computer, not sure what your really asking there..

I have the same issue, the mics I'm using pick up everything, what I end up doing is using Izotope's Voice De-Noise plugin (https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rep ... ments.html). I measure the noise in the room ahead of time and it completely removes it when I record vocals or acoustic guitars etc... Unless you have a well treated room your bound to pick up some of that stuff...

Can you record a short snippet of the sound and post it here? If you don’t plug anything into the Scarlett do you still get the noise? Couple of things to try:

Plug into a different USB port.
Plug into a different electrical outlet.
Try a different guitar/microphone cable.
Turn off any Bluetooth.

Can you record a short snippet of the sound and post it here?

Good idea.

My speakers are connected to my computer,

By the above I'm guessing you mean they're plugged straight in to your computer as opposed to be being plugged in to the back of your audio interface (which, if this is the case, makes no sense to me anyway).

With regard to room noise (mentioned on the thread): I cannot see how this could be noise in the room itself i.e. if it's that bad on the recording then I'm pretty sure you'd be able to hear it in the room BEFORE even attempting to record.

Regards,

Dale.

MiltonRob wrote:I have the same issue, the mics I'm using pick up everything, what I end up doing is using Izotope's Voice De-Noise plugin (https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rep ... ments.html). I measure the noise in the room ahead of time and it completely removes it when I record vocals or acoustic guitars etc... Unless you have a well treated room your bound to pick up some of that stuff...

Interesting going to check this out, thx

@Marc,

A couple of questions that haven't been clearly answered:

Can you hear the noise when the session is armed and monitoring, no active input? (Switch to another input source. Still there?)

Are any plug-ins inserted/active when you hear this noise? (Disable every one and recheck.)

By "white noise" do you mean hiss? (Not hearing it, one has to guess....)

Make sure it's not the fridge or computer fans etc, condenser mics are very sensitive and can pickup and magnify sounds that you might not be aware of.