How to reduce ‘noise’ from your signal path?

[Dubs]

My pedalboard is a bit noisy. Today is the first day that I’ve put my pedals together in 1 whole chain (I only use 5 at the moment) and there’s a bit of noise that I’d like to reduce/eliminate. I usually use a Pod XT Live with 2 other pedals in a chain and I’ve not experienced this noise before.

I’ve got a noiseless power supply so it’s not that. I’ve got cheap patch leads so it could be them, but then I’ve used the same type for years and I’ve never had a problem with them. Could the order of the pedals affect the ‘dry’ signal? – could rearranging the pedals and putting them in a specific order reduce the noise?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Silent Fly]

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='386466' date='Jan 20 2009, 05:44 PM']My pedalboard is a bit noisy. Today is the first day that I’ve put my pedals together in 1 whole chain (I only use 5 at the moment) and there’s a bit of noise that I’d like to reduce/eliminate. I usually use a Pod XT Live with 2 other pedals in a chain and I’ve not experienced this noise before.

I’ve got a noiseless power supply so it’s not that. I’ve got cheap patch leads so it could be them, but then I’ve used the same type for years and I’ve never had a problem with them. Could the order of the pedals affect the ‘dry’ signal? – could rearranging the pedals and putting them in a specific order reduce the noise?

Any advice would be appreciated.[/quote]


Could you describe the noise/noises? Is it hum, hiss, clicking...?

Silent Fly

[Dubs]

[quote name='Silent Fly' post='386717' date='Jan 20 2009, 08:53 PM']Could you describe the noise/noises? Is it hum, hiss, clicking...?

Silent Fly[/quote]

It's more of a hiss but there may be some hum in there as well...

[josh3184]

could always use a limiter to take it out as opposed to manually removing it. Not a great solution, but maybe a good short term one?

[katri]

what are the other pedals in the chain?
Also the patch cables could be the problem, I've had some cheap ones for a while and they've started to crap out on me recently.

[Stewart]

[quote]could always use a limiter to take it out as opposed to manually removing it.
...[/quote]

It's a gate you'd need (though many rackmount compressor/limiters contain gates) - but a better bet would be finding the culprit and getting rid of it - the chances are it's primarily one pedal - just remove one at a time.

Order might help or make things worse, but you can only find out by trying different combinations.

[josh3184]

[quote name='Stewart' post='386837' date='Jan 20 2009, 10:23 PM']It's a gate you'd need[/quote]

thats the one!

[The_D]

I had the same problem. I traced it down to my Big Muff but didnt want to lose it so I invested in some quality patch cables from our very own OBBM. The cables were great but didnt eliminate the hiss. I then bought a Boss NS2 (noise suppressor) and that totally solved it. I now have a very quiet signal path and I havent sacrificed any of my effects to get it.

So in summary lol! Get a noise suppressor of some kind and wave goodbye to your noise.

[Dubs]

[quote name='The_D' post='386878' date='Jan 20 2009, 10:43 PM']I had the same problem. I traced it down to my Big Muff but didnt want to lose it so I invested in some quality patch cables from our very own OBBM. The cables were great but didnt eliminate the hiss. I then bought a Boss NS2 (noise suppressor) and that totally solved it. I now have a very quiet signal path and I havent sacrificed any of my effects to get it.

So in summary lol! Get a noise suppressor of some kind and wave goodbye to your noise.[/quote]

What did that Boss NS2 do to your tone?

[Dubs]

[quote name='Stewart' post='386837' date='Jan 20 2009, 10:23 PM']It's a gate you'd need (though many rackmount compressor/limiters contain gates) - but a better bet would be finding the culprit and getting rid of it - the chances are it's primarily one pedal - just remove one at a time.

Order might help or make things worse, but you can only find out by trying different combinations.[/quote]

I think I might have it nailed down to 1 pedal, but it's great and I don't want to loose it

[ped]

The noise gate on the pod should clear it up for the most part, if you really can't live without the culprit. I can't stand any sort of hiss myself, I have a bit of OCD about it!

Cheers
ped

[The_D]

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='386886' date='Jan 20 2009, 10:45 PM']What did that Boss NS2 do to your tone?[/quote]

Nothing. It just removes/suppresses noise in a signal path. Doesnt have any affect on your tone at all. AFAIK it is designed exactly for the purpose in this case.

[Dubs]

[quote name='ped' post='386895' date='Jan 20 2009, 10:50 PM']The noise gate on the pod should clear it up for the most part, if you really can't live without the culprit. I can't stand any sort of hiss myself, I have a bit of OCD about it!

Cheers
ped[/quote]

yeah I'm the same - I've been living noise free for 3 years with the Pod but I'm trying to wean myself off it for a better quality sound and more versatile effects, but so far it's more hassle than it's worth. If I could figure out a way of having my Pod XT Live as well as my separate pedals in the same space that my pedalboard takes up then I’d do it, but I can’t…

[Dubs]

[quote name='The_D' post='386898' date='Jan 20 2009, 10:50 PM']Nothing. It just removes/suppresses noise in a signal path. Doesnt have any affect on your tone at all. AFAIK it is designed exactly for the purpose in this case.[/quote]

So it has no adverse affect on your tone at all, and your tone is completely the same, but it completely removes the hiss/noise? That sounds amazing. I might have to try one out…

PS – I take it you put it right at the end of your signal chain/pedalboard?

[ped]

Get yourself a Pro and rack it, have it at the end of the chain and then the noise gate will work nicely and voila!

I know what you mean, I really dislike having lots of separate things to plug in//link up to each other/power outlets etc and went looking for an all in one solution.

Cheers
ped

[ped]

BTW Ben, you might know this, but noise suppressors work by 'closing the door' so no signal (or hiss) can pass through unless a threshold is passed at which the door opens a bit, depending on the sensitivity. Thus depending on the level of hiss you can balance it just right to close just after the sound becomes lost to hiss without cutting off any sustain, but it depends on how loud the hiss is. Chances are if it is noticeable enough to annoy you at the moment then a noise gate might not work. On extremely low level hiss I don't like gates because I notice it far more than without....

Cheers
ped

[Dubs]

[quote name='ped' post='386928' date='Jan 20 2009, 11:01 PM']BTW Ben, you might know this, but noise suppressors work by 'closing the door' so no signal (or hiss) can pass through unless a threshold is passed at which the door opens a bit, depending on the sensitivity. Thus depending on the level of hiss you can balance it just right to close just after the sound becomes lost to hiss without cutting off any sustain, but it depends on how loud the hiss is. Chances are if it is noticeable enough to annoy you at the moment then a noise gate might not work. On extremely low level hiss I don't like gates because I notice it far more than without....

Cheers
ped[/quote]

Yeah I was just about to post pretty much exactly that – once the threshold of the gate is breached then I’ll still hear the noise. Is the noise suppressor just a gate then and it doesn’t actually remove the hiss by some means of electrical trickery? :wacko:

[ped]

Aye, just a gate. On the other hand, setting a high threshold adds some great feel to synths and the like. I would advise against using one on your clean sound though, you need to tap that noise at source really. So which pedal is it?

ped

[Dubs]

I’m not so sure now – The one I thought it was sounds fine by itself but introduces a faint high pitch hiss when it’s bypassed within the chain. I might be able to do something with a Boss LS2 like have it on a separate loop by itself, but I dunno. I’ll open it up tomorrow and see if I can see anything obvious like a grounding issue…

[The_D]

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='386918' date='Jan 20 2009, 10:57 PM']So it has no adverse affect on your tone at all, and your tone is completely the same, but it completely removes the hiss/noise? That sounds amazing. I might have to try one out…

PS – I take it you put it right at the end of your signal chain/pedalboard?[/quote]


Here [url="http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/NS-2/"]http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/NS-2/[/url]

The NS2 actually has an in, an out, a send and return. You put the noisy pedals into the send/return loop and then link the rest as normal. You play with the thereshold to the point where the hiss stops then you are good to go. Try and borrow one from someone to see if its what you need but it sounds exactly like my problem and this completely solved it for me.

I leave the pedal on all the time so when I switch my pedals on I dont have to also switch the NS2 on too.

[Dubs]

[quote name='The_D' post='387030' date='Jan 20 2009, 11:57 PM']Here [url="http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/NS-2/"]http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/NS-2/[/url]

The NS2 actually has an in, an out, a send and return. You put the noisy pedals into the send/return loop and then link the rest as normal. You play with the thereshold to the point where the hiss stops then you are good to go. Try and borrow one from someone to see if its what you need but it sounds exactly like my problem and this completely solved it for me.

I leave the pedal on all the time so when I switch my pedals on I dont have to also switch the NS2 on too.[/quote]

I like the idea of being able to put 1 or 2 noisy pedals on a separate loop that is effectively gated out of the chain until I activate them. I'll keep an eye out for a cheap one on ebay and if it’s not what I need then I’ll sell it on for minimal loss, but the more I think about it, having an NS2 to effectively gate a separate effects loop seems like a good solution.

[thisnameistaken]

Which pedal is causing the problems?

TBH I ended up just ditching any pedals that misbehaved and replacing them with something more suitable (in my case, swapping out a USA Big Muff and a Line 6 Echo Park) rather than throwing more gear at it. Like Ped said, the issue with using a gate is that you're still going to hear the hiss every time the gate opens - it'll be part of your sound, and probably drive you nuts.

You could maybe try the EHX Hum Debugger but I'm not sure what that actually is(!). Maybe it's just to eliminate ground loop noise I don't know.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='The_D' post='386898' date='Jan 20 2009, 10:50 PM']Nothing. It just removes/suppresses noise in a signal path. Doesnt have any affect on your tone at all. AFAIK it is designed exactly for the purpose in this case.[/quote]

Basically, if the noise is there and noticable while you're playing, then a get won't help. I use a Boss NS-2 as my board is horribly noisy. Some of your tone freaks would throw up if you heard my board with the gate off. You can hear the noise while i'm playing if you listen carefully enough, but it's not enough to ruin my tone and at band practice or gigs it's was always unnoticable. Are you playing with a band? Obviously when you get into the studio it's not really a problem so it's only really for live work you need to sort this out, and I doubt it'd be much of a problem for any "rock" band. If you're playing acoustic pop though....

I think there are some noise-surpressory pedals that work in a different way to a gate.

[Toasted]

I *really* wouldn't recommend a Noise Supressor or Gate or anything like that. You need to be keeping as much of your original tone as possible IMHO. You have decent basses and decent amps, there's no point putting something in the chain that takes that away.

1) What power supply are you using?
2) What is your signal chain?
3) Where are you getting power from?

[Dubs]

[quote name='Toasted' post='387205' date='Jan 21 2009, 09:54 AM']I *really* wouldn't recommend a Noise Supressor or Gate or anything like that. You need to be keeping as much of your original tone as possible IMHO. You have decent basses and decent amps, there's no point putting something in the chain that takes that away.

1) What power supply are you using?
2) What is your signal chain?
3) Where are you getting power from?[/quote]

I don’t think it would be that bad and it shouldn’t really affect my tone at all. What I’m planning on doing is something like this:

[attachment=19018:chain.JPG]

Basically I’d have the noisy pedal on a separate loop via the NS2 and I’d set the threshold so that you could only hear the noisy pedal when it was activated and when it is activated you can’t hear the noise because it’s a quite aggressive fuzz pedal. Does this make sense? What I want to do is basically have the rest of my chain bypassed and only have 1 pedal gated – does the NS2 allow me to do this?