How loud is the silence

[zeekat]

Anyone noticed how noisy your idle project can be?

I normally didn't, but I have obnoxiously sensitive headphones now and can more distinctly hear the hum right after loading the project. I'd normally assume it'll be like -infinitydb, as nothing's running before you press play (or arm an input), but closer look reveals that meter on a master can be like -63dB on some of my projects while nothing happens at all. Some plugs emit louder silence than the other (Waves GTR and Novation V-Station are particularly hissy, in my case), but many else seem to add something too.

Not something that ruins my day (I'm listening to a crappy cassette rip as we speak), just an observation, somehow didn't really notice VSTs can hum like electrical equipment for a long time.

(or maybe it's just Reaper sounding, as everyone knows, more analog than reality itself)

[karbomusic]

Some of the analog emulation plugins feel the need to add hiss/noise for authenticity. :/ Most of the ones I use, I either turn it off if available in the plugin, or automate it out of silent sections.

Otherwise, it shouldn't be there unless it came in with the source.

[lolilol1975]

Originally Posted by zeekat

Anyone noticed how noisy your idle project can be?

I normally didn't, but I have obnoxiously sensitive headphones now and can more distinctly hear the hum right after loading the project. I'd normally assume it'll be like -infinitydb, as nothing's running before you press play (or arm an input), but closer look reveals that meter on a master can be like -63dB on some of my projects while nothing happens at all. Some plugs emit louder silence than the other (Waves GTR and Novation V-Station are particularly hissy, in my case), but many else seem to add something too.

Not something that ruins my day (I'm listening to a crappy cassette rip as we speak), just an observation, somehow didn't really notice VSTs can hum like electrical equipment for a long time.

(or maybe it's just Reaper sounding, as everyone knows, more analog than reality itself)

Personnally I would not use a Novation plugin in any of my projects. They really aren't worth the trouble, there are lots of free synths that sound better. In fact I have uninstalled them from my computer.

[zeekat]

Originally Posted by lolilol1975

Personnally I would not use a Novation plugin in any of my projects. They really aren't worth the trouble, there are lots of free synths that sound better. In fact I have uninstalled them from my computer.

Those are ancient but were cheap and seem to be stable enough. One day I'll learn what all the knobs do.

Tried to find some "analog" setting but seems like its not there. GTR has a "HD" switch but it still hisses with it. Pretty weird huh.

[Colox]

Some ppl leave that in, or add it discreetly behind there, because they know that computer youngsters interpret that as hardware- or otherwise 'serious' equipment, or at least 'mature professional approach' was used to do the song.

[JamesPeters]

Originally Posted by zeekat

How loud is the silence

Pretty quiet.

[zeekat]

I kinda understand they're adding noise for "authenticity", but are surprised the noise is there when the plugin is basically in standby. Well might be overzealous emulation, some appliances hum even if just plugged into mains without being switched on I guess.

Good thing crackly potentiometers aren't modelled yet. But there's an idea for kickstarter - noisy plugin controls and a premium WD40 VST.

[Time Waster]

Originally Posted by zeekat

Good thing crackly potentiometers aren't modelled yet. But there's an idea for kickstarter - noisy plugin controls and a premium WD40 VST.

Does WD40 work for crackly pots? I've got a few...

[Stella645]

Originally Posted by Time Waster

Does WD40 work for crackly pots? I've got a few...

The popular (though sometimes disputed) opinion is that WD40 will make things worse in the long run.
I would invest in some De-Oxit to be on the safe side.

[JamesPeters]

Originally Posted by Time Waster

Does WD40 work for crackly pots? I've got a few...

Use potentiometer cleaner or control cleaner. These are cleaners which leave behind a lubricant which is necessary for the potentiometer. If instead you just use contact cleaner, you will remove the internal lubricant for the potentiometer which will damage it when you use the potentiometer.

WD40 has some lubricant but it is not the right type.

Alternatively you can use contact cleaner and afterward add some control lubricant. But if you don't have either then you might as well just buy some control cleaner.

[ashcat_lt]

There are no inputs armed for recording anywhere?

[zeekat]

Originally Posted by ashcat_lt

There are no inputs armed for recording anywhere?

Yep, nothing armed, this is spontaneous, self-propelled humming.

[karbomusic]

Mute the master and see if it goes away, then mute each track or folder one-by-one to see when/if it disappears.

[davetbass]

When I sometimes overdo the bitcrusher, there's hissing when it's paused, but then again no one but me will ever hear it when it's paused!

[cassembler]

Originally Posted by zeekat

Good thing crackly potentiometers aren't modelled yet. But there's an idea for kickstarter - noisy plugin controls and a premium WD40 VST.

Give it three months after this thread. We're pioneers!

I'll also vote for the "15 years of smoke, beer, and body fluid" fader plugin.

[DarrenH]

Is there any chance this could be a hardware or power conditioning issue? I can't use my audio interface (an ancient but good m-audio 4-in/4-out box) on my video machine because all I could hear was CPU schmutz going on in the background. Works fine on my lower powered desktop.

Originally Posted by zeekat

Yep, nothing armed, this is spontaneous, self-propelled humming.

[Cableaddict]

Is it 60 cycle, as in a grounding issues, or general buzzing?


The latter can sometimes come from certain plugins. for instance SoundToys' "Radiator" has a "noisy" mode, and PSP's "Lotary" is noisy as a mofo by default, unless you manually turn down it's noise setting.
Same goes for a lot of guitar amp simulators.

With these things, the noise can actually make a track sound better, so just use noise gates / expanders at the end of each track.

[timothys_monster]

Originally Posted by JamesPeters

Pretty quiet.

To be exact for us humans it is 0.00002 Pa

[RDBOIS]

Originally Posted by timothys_monster

To be exact for us humans it is 0.00002 Pa

Don't know that silence is even possible for humans? You know... It's either the voice in the head (yeah - like meditation can shut that off - NOT), the thump of the heartbeat (basically we zone it out, but it's always there), the 'ssssssshhhhhhhhh' in the ears after having mixed a song for the past five hours, etc. That's if your lucky!!!

Nope. No silence to be found.

[G-Sun]

Noticed a few plugins making noise as well.
Not really an audible problem,
just raised my eyebrows when analyzing in pause-state.

[Cableaddict]

The silence is deafening.

[Philbo King]

You could think of it as free dither...

I was a bit surprised last night during tracking a pedal steel. I had to crank up the gain to almost max on my ADA8200 using the line input, but it stayed very quiet. Even after normalizing there was no noise audible or visible on the waveform. Not best practice but it gave acceptable results...

[zeekat]

Originally Posted by DarrenH

Is there any chance this could be a hardware or power conditioning issue? I can't use my audio interface (an ancient but good m-audio 4-in/4-out box) on my video machine because all I could hear was CPU schmutz going on in the background. Works fine on my lower powered desktop.

Nope, not a hardware hum, as I wrote earlier, it starts humming after loading a project with some plugins. Aside of that my computer is pretty quiet.

Originally Posted by G-Sun

Noticed a few plugins making noise as well.
Not really an audible problem,
just raised my eyebrows when analyzing in pause-state.

Yeah, exactly, it's pretty subtle and not really annoying, just a curious thing. I wonder if there's some setting in Reaper that lets plugins do this.

[ashcat_lt]

Originally Posted by zeekat

Nope, not a hardware hum, as I wrote earlier, it starts humming after loading a project with some plugins. Aside of that my computer is pretty quiet.

In some situations, you can hear the colors change on the screen. Perhaps whatever color scheme you've got in Reaper happens to be the one you can hear the best?

[Cableaddict]

Originally Posted by Philbo King

You could think of it as free dither...

LOL.


Bravo !