ledogboy
Well-known member
Hey Gents-
I have a nagging issue at my studio with ground noise in the headphone distribution system. It is the only ground noise issue I have (the studio is well wired, with an isolation transformer between it and the outside world), and I strongly suspect that the issue is caused by the half assed way in which HP sends were wired. There are eight sends in the console pachbay that go out to five different HP patch panels in the various live/iso rooms. There are four stereo jacks in the HP patch panels, so the eight sends are being sent as pairs with a shared ground and two hots (we use mixer/amps, so all eight mono feeds are often used). All five snakes meet the console wiring such that (for instance) HP send 1 and 2 is wired from the console to channel 1 and 2 of all five snakes. If I bypass this wiring and patch from my aux (or PT) outs directly into the HP amp, there is no hum- even if I use an extension cord and plug the ac into any of the other rooms.
I am thinking that getting rid of the kludged wires and using an old broadcast distribution amplifier might be my ticket to hum free headphones. I have also considered installing an entirely new HP system (ala Furman), but other that the hum, I am perfectly happy with what we have, and I would hate to have to re-wire (the cable is through-wall, and not in conduit). Any thoughts? I see a number of reasonably priced old ADA's on ebay, but I'd hate to throw money away without a reasonable expectation of success. Any input is greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Ryan
I have a nagging issue at my studio with ground noise in the headphone distribution system. It is the only ground noise issue I have (the studio is well wired, with an isolation transformer between it and the outside world), and I strongly suspect that the issue is caused by the half assed way in which HP sends were wired. There are eight sends in the console pachbay that go out to five different HP patch panels in the various live/iso rooms. There are four stereo jacks in the HP patch panels, so the eight sends are being sent as pairs with a shared ground and two hots (we use mixer/amps, so all eight mono feeds are often used). All five snakes meet the console wiring such that (for instance) HP send 1 and 2 is wired from the console to channel 1 and 2 of all five snakes. If I bypass this wiring and patch from my aux (or PT) outs directly into the HP amp, there is no hum- even if I use an extension cord and plug the ac into any of the other rooms.
I am thinking that getting rid of the kludged wires and using an old broadcast distribution amplifier might be my ticket to hum free headphones. I have also considered installing an entirely new HP system (ala Furman), but other that the hum, I am perfectly happy with what we have, and I would hate to have to re-wire (the cable is through-wall, and not in conduit). Any thoughts? I see a number of reasonably priced old ADA's on ebay, but I'd hate to throw money away without a reasonable expectation of success. Any input is greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Ryan