Old 03-07-2014, 10:26 AM   #1
jalan
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Default Tips for taming guitar noise?

Hi, all. Not sure what happened, but recently, I've been getting significant noise on my heavy guitar tracks -- kind of a high-pitched whine. Anyone else have the same problem? And what do you do to tame it?

I'm using ReaGate before the ampsim (TSE X50) in my FX chain. That takes care of a lot of it, but it chokes off the sustain of my guitar when I'm holding out a note for a while. I've also tried the subtract feature on ReaFir, which is fantastic, but needless to say, it takes a chunk out of the tone (though not terribly noticeable).

Anyway, any advice on this would be great. Thanks in advance.

P.S. I recently switched soundcards (from a WaMi Rack 24, which used a PCI card, to a Focusrite 6i6, which is USB). I don't really think it's the card -- I swear I've recorded gtrs with this new card without any problems -- but any tips on troubleshooting my soundcard, input levels, etc. are welcome too.
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Old 03-08-2014, 09:06 PM   #2
yep
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Huge topic, and not enough info from you, but here goes:

- First, humbucking pickups are one of the earliest innovations designed to minimize noise. They also change the sound/tone of the guitar, maybe for better, maybe for worse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbucker

- Second, high-pitched whine sounds like feedback. That's a topic unto itself.

- Third, if the high-pitched noise is constant, it may be some computer-related noise with a totally different set of troubleshooting than guitar-related noise.

If you can post a sound sample you might get better advice.

Best of luck.
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Old 03-09-2014, 12:33 AM   #3
zeekat
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If it's a very high pitched sound maybe lowpassing the guitar below it will be enough?

Quote:
Originally Posted by yep View Post
- First, humbucking pickups are one of the earliest innovations designed to minimize noise. They also change the sound/tone of the guitar, maybe for better, maybe for worse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humbucker
Heh, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess OP knows the humbuckers well and uses the shit out of them. Like almost any other person making heavier music in the last, like, 40 years.
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Old 03-09-2014, 06:23 PM   #4
jalan
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Thanks for the replies and sorry for the lack of details on the original post (I was in a hurry) and the slow reply (I was out of town).

Yes, I'm aware of both humbuckers and feedback yep had no idea what my skill level was, so it's fair for him to start with the basics.

Anyway, it's not sounding nearly as bad to me now (who knows if it was computer gremlins or what), but there's still a decent amount of noise, so here are two clips of the same take -- one with ReaGate and one without. At the end, I'm dialing my volume pot down. I didn't want to post an obnoxiously long clip with natural sustain.

Also, here's my setup: My Les Paul LPJ into my Focusrite 6i6 (front input). My FX chain for these clips is ReaGate > TSE X50 (ampsim) > KeFIR (impulse loader) > ReaEQ (hi and lo pass, basically).

If you want more info, let me know. Otherwise, any tips or advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

No Gate: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...39/no_gate.mp3
Gate: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/38038639/gate.mp3
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Old 03-09-2014, 08:21 PM   #5
Andy Hamm
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Are you sure you don't just get that noise when you start Reaper and it enables your interface?

I get that same noise whenever I use a USB interface with my system unless I lift the signal grounds on the audio outs of the interface.

I use my Windows mixer for everything else, so I only hear the noise when I start Reaper as the rest of my audio goes through my on board audio device. The outputs of everything goes to a mixer which controls my monitoring options - but the long and short of it is that I get that noise whenever the ground is not lifted on either of my usb Interfaces (I have an M-Audio Mobile Pre and a Presonus Audiobox USB).

When I use either interface with one of my laptops, I have no problem at all, so it seems to be a grounding issue with the USB ports on my PC. I also noticed that the pitch will change if I go from 44.1Khz to 48KHz.
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Old 03-10-2014, 08:44 AM   #6
jalan
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Not sure I understand what you're saying, Andy. I hear the noise throughout my session, so it's not just when I start Reaper. I guess I don't get how you use anything other than your interface when you're recording.

In terms of lifting the ground on the USB ports, that seems worth looking into. I'll check Google (unless you have a link/directions for me).
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