Interference from Mains....?

[Poxican]

Mayhap one of my enlightened fellows here can help me...

I'm trying to do some home recording on my PC. I have an M-Audio USB interface, into which i plug my amp, into which i plug my Tele. I used to play a shite Encore stratalike and the trouble was the same then.
I get a buzz/hum that seems to come in waves. I've discovered that by unplugging my DVD player from the mains that the noise lessens significantly. I've tried unplugging other things in my room, some of which seems to further decrease the interference, but I live in a large house with 8 other people who probably wouldn't appreciate being asked to disconnect all their electrical equipment while I try to record fuzzy blues rock of the future.

I ran into an electrician recently who claimed I need a 'suppressor' that can allegedly be plugged into the mains and then I can plug my amp into it to filter out the interference coming through the mains. Maplin have never heard of this and I can't really find any other information on the internet.
Since speaking to him I learnt he is a BNP supporter so I'll not be chatting to him again,
SO!
I wondered if anyone here has had this similar problem and if they solved it with some sort of device they could suggest to me.

I'd be eternally grateful

[Sporky_McGuffin]

You can get mains conditioners that help cut down on noise carried along the power lines. Or put clip-on chokes on all the audio cables.

[Poxican]

man, those conditioners aren't cheap eh?
Tell me more about these clip-on chokes, do they actually work?

[Sporky_McGuffin]

They can do - most VGA cables have 'em, fer instance. How effective they'll be for this I don't know.

[sammo303]

Quick question: If you unplug your guitar but leave the cable plugged into the amp input, does the noise disappear or is it exactly the same?

If it disappears, then a mains conditioner isn't going to help.

[paulmapp8306]

Depends what you call expensive.

This ones pretty good and IMO is quite cheap:

http://sonic8.com/index.php?page=sho...mart&Itemid=46

[Mark_R]

Two things that cause interference. Large capacitors and resistors, such as those in dimmer switches and PC power supplies.

Second is the monitor sending out rays that your guitar picks up.

[paulmapp8306]

"Second is the monitor sending out rays that your guitar picks up."

Wot - like Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers?




Seriously - Older CRT TVs and monitors cause noise - they fire electrons from a tube onto the rear of the screen. these Electrons continue out and cause interference. TFTs monitors and LCD TVs arent (or shouldnt) be a problem. There transformers may still cause a hum, but not the same league as CRT TVs.

[Sporky_McGuffin]

Originally Posted by Mark_R

Two things that cause interference. Large capacitors and resistors, such as those in dimmer switches and PC power supplies.

You what?

Dimmer switches cause noise if they're the type that pulses the current. The rheostat type do not.

[ecc83]

Personally I would not waste money on mains "conditioners". In this case they will do no good and can dump hum and crap into earth lines making matters worse in certain cases*.

The mechanism that causes guitar to hum is pretty straightforward. We live enmeshed in a 50Hz field. The strength of that field is governed by the current magnitudes (more kit more hum!) and their/guitars orientation. The guitar pickups are of course the "secondary" of a huge, weakly coupled transformer.

You will not, IMHO get a single coil Strat very quiet. I can only get sons' Mex down to about -70dbfs in Samplitude. Which can be lived with if there are other instruments going on as well.

Answers? Humbuckers, then it don't sound like a Strat. Noise gates, either hardware going in or in software.

Dave. *Google for Rane and Jensen.