With great sorrow I want to inform all of you that Russell Brown passed away tragically in November 2013. On this website nothing new will be published, because there is nobody as smart and creative as my husband was. There is no day I would not see something great written about Him and His passion for sharing knowledge. Thank you all for all these great comments.
I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. I'm just discovering your husband's work here on CZcams. It's a welcome respite from all the nonsensical and downright dangerous videos about ground loops on CZcams.
This is a very good explanation of something that most people really don't have a good understanding or grasp of. The world needs more teachers and instructors of this caliber. He was an inspiration to us all!
wow i just found this channel, how u got so detailed without rushing infomation or skipping stuff within a 10min video is truely amazing :) great work :)
Been watching ground loop videos for about an hour and this was the first one where the instructor fully illuminated the concept in my mind on what is, to me anyway a tricky subject. It takes a rare talent to teach complex things simply, sorry to hear that Russell is no longer with us.
His knowledge will never be forgotten. I have benefited from his form of teaching today and I’m grateful for his hard work and for your support as his wife. Thank you.
I've been suffering a ground loop hum in my system for the first time in my life. SO annoying. This is the best explanation of what a ground loop is and some remedy. Thanks for doing this vid.
Thanks for making these videos, this is the best explanation on youtube and if anyone asks me for a good non mathematical intro about ground loops this video is the first thing I will recommend that they watch.
Sure, there just has to be a difference in AC voltage between two grounds, those grounds could be the shields on two coax cables that run back to a single chassis or even two different chassis that share a ground.
4 mins into vid and after listening an watching an idea popped in my head and it worked! can't tell you how appreciative i am! what happened was i was getting heavy interference with my cctv cameras on my monitor, i tried everything, switching cameras, cables, channel ports, at first there was no signal, got new cables and thats when i got the interference, jus couldn't figure it out, after watching this i tried disconnecting the power supply to my camera, and using a splitter, used the same power cord for my DVR an it worked! so apparently i had a wrong power adapter cord in with my setup that i pulled out of my storage, idk i had it then if it doesn't belong to it
so sorry for your loss. what a great video. so simply explained that someone like myself with no electrical training can understand clearly. thanks for keeping the site active. best wishes...
Wow I’m sorry to hear for the loss. This is really helpful and straightforward. I only have more questions, and will search for more answers as I understand more.
great tutorial and i have downloaded it to view again.after that i subscribed and just knew he is no more with us :/ .so sad to hear he left us.great man.great teacher.
Also effect industrial control systems using analogue signals like 4-20mA or 0-10v DC. Have had a flow transmitter showing erroneous values due to ground loops.
Thanks for the video, it's really interesting and informative. My audio issues have started me on an odyssey of understanding a whole bunch of electrical things I previously haven't understood or had much interest in knowing, but now I do; I guess i'll do anything for better sound. ; ) I cannot say I fully understand what's been presented here, though I think I understand the general principles, My question is if balanced cables eliminate ground loops(as stated in the video) why did I have such a loop when playing my system? My pre-amp, subwoofer and monitor speakers ALL have balanced XLR inputs/outputs, only my CD player does NOT, I connected it to my preamp using standard red/white RCA analog connectors. Of course, all the components have 3 prong grounded power plugs. To make a long story short, after hearing the buzzing sound emanating from my speakers when everything was powered on, I got frustrated and decided to unplug everything, I mean everything including my whole A/V system(TV, cable box, Blu ray player, etc.). At this point I unplugged the power strip from the wall, pulled out the other plugs with some of the audio stuff plugged in directly until there was NOTHING plugged in. At this point I only wanted to connect FOUR things, namely my CD player, preamp, and two powered monitor speakers. I only had FOUR outlets in the two wall sockets and believing the Subwoofer was making the low humming sound(the speakers a higher pitched hum), I decided to leave it unplugged/off. Anyway, after reconnecting my cables(basically disconnecting/taking my sub out of the chain) going directly out XLR from my preamp to my speakers, plugging my cd player and one speaker into one outlet, and my preamp and the other speaker into the other outlet, when I turned the power back on there was still a very clear, audible humming sound. I am generally aware that most/all electrical audio/video equipment usually has a noise floor or ground, whatever it's called and will naturally produce some noise/static to be seen or heard in the system. But I do not believe this is what I was hearing, I thought the sound was more pronounced/prominent like a ground loop, or maybe even some kind of electrical interference, EMI or RF. But then of course I realized that nothing else was plugged in, so I assumed such interference would be minimal. Can someone explain to me what happened and how to fix the problem? I have new JBL speakers coming later today(I think) and I'm so excited, it would be incredibly frustrating if I couldn't listen to them because of the darn humming sound. Thanks.
I am experiencing a Hissing emitting from the Speakers of my two home stereo systems. One in the LR using a NAD Preamp and NAD Amp connected to KEF 103 speakers. If I turn up the volume, a slight hissing can be heard . The PreAmp is Grounded via a Copper Ground wire to the electrical outlet box which is only a two prong outlet. The same Ground on the Preamp is used to ground the Dual TT. The ground wire on the TT had become detached and the TT was humming. Once reattached , the Humming was eliminated. Great. But still getting hissing that can be heard with higher volumes and no music source playing. The other stereo system located in the basement where I am using a cheaper Pyle Preamp /Receiver ( I believe has a Class D Amplifier), connected to a Cheap Boytone Mini Multi-player. The unit is connected via the Headphone out jack of the Boytone unit to the AUX in jacks (2) of the Pyle Amp. Hissing can be heard at higher volumes as well. I did notice that If I connected the 2 speaker out jacks (RCA) to the AUX In RCA jacks of the Pyle AMP, the hissing and Humming was worse. I used the original RCA connection cables that came withe equipment in both systems. Could Better / Gold Shielded cables produce less Hiss /Humming. Just ordered same from Amazon to see if that helps or eliminates the hissing. The Basement stereo is PLugged into the wall outlet (which does have a 3 prong outlet), and the Pyle Amp and the separate Sub Woofer are pluggged into a Power strip which in turn is plugged inot the same outlet for the Boytone unit. Any Ideas other than the new RCA connectors?
Thanks for the vid. I'm running a tube amp fur my audio system. Even if I plug nothing else into the amp besides the speakers (no additional outlets) I get a buzz sound. Is it possible to have a ground loop when using only one socket? Thanks
Wow... just found this series.. I'm just a curious soul and most EE's just don't have the gift of making what they know already into something a complete fool can understand. Your husband had a gift, one that helps me understand and live with my insatiable curiosity. Perhaps you could have guest speakers to make more of these? It was truly helpful to me.
Awesome video and I can tell you know what you are talking about because you have a nice silence behind your narration no hum! I have a condenser mic plugged into an audiobox sound card which plugs by USB to my laptop. I have a BG hum that does not seem to have anything to do with the room itself. I've tried several external noise canceling devices and they seem to make no difference this is why I am researching ground loops and hum. its not loud but it is always there. I could use some help.
I never had ground but the problem persists.... I have a component cable that when the 2 audio cables were connected caused interference in the picture so thinking that could be audio interference I decided to cut the audio wires and the picture and is now clean. The problem is now that I have no audio and when I tried a separate cable just for the audio the interference comes back again....
I was told on Reddit that the buzz I get from my JS 1200 was a grounding, issue, but it doesn't sound like this. It's just a constant buzz, that gets worse with more gain. Now the interesting this is, it gets slightly louder when I touch the bridge or strings. However, if I touch either of the metal boxes around the pickups, it pretty much goes away. If I touch the inside walls of the electronics cavity, it pretty much goes away completely. What am I dealing with here? It almost seems like if I was able to somehow ground the wall of the cavity it would be totally resolved, but that seems like a weird solution, if it even is one.
i have a serious amount of hum (sounds like a ground loop) between a tube guitar pre-amp and a solid-state power amp. Neither hums on their own, but only when connected. Where I am confused is that the power amp (an Electro-Harmonix Magnum 44) has an external power supply. The output from the power supply is 24 DC, so there is no ground connection on the amp at all. Any ideas why or how to solve? thanks!
hi all i write this in hope someone can help me. i have a m audio fast track usb 2 interface. when i have my condenser mic (behringer c1) plugged in and powered by the onboard phantom power, there is a constant low frequency being picked up. even when i have the gain all the way down the signal is still present. it is not a loud noise but rather one of a constant low subby hum making it impossible for me to turn up the preamp gain . any suggestions would be appreciated , thanks in advance. (the other channel (for guitar) is completely silent) thanks again.
Matthew Nash Does the hum exist when you connect the microphone and listen to the output via the headphone out on the M Audio? I assume that you are using an XLR-XLR cable with no adapters? I'd try a different XLR cable, could just be dodgy. I'd also uninstall the M Audio's drivers, restart, install the most up-to-date driver and restart again. If this doesn't do it, it could mean that your microphone has a damaged grounding pin (pin 1) or there's dirt in there. Try use the C1 on another preamp and see if the sound still happens. If mic is alright, try a different condenser with your interface and see if it happens. If it does, the Phantom Power's dodgy. Hope this helps and post results
I have my laptop hooked up to my stereo using rca cables and a y adapter to the laptop. I am experiencing a humming that comes and goes , and Im quite sure it has something to do with the cables not being grounded ,like a turntable is ,since it has a special ground wire. If anyone can offer any advice for this I would greatly appreciate it.
Steve Kays If it comes and goes when your laptop is plugged in vs running off battery then you need a ground loop isolator like the BOSS B25N for 9$ on Amazon. If it buzzes while the laptop is running on battery power, you may have a different issue (perhaps check the wires?)
Ive got a Dean VMNT angel of deth Dave Mustaine signature and a Zakk Wylde epiphone Les Paul bullseye. My amps are a recently retubed JCM 900 halfstack 1960 cab and a Fender frontman 2x12. All of my amps tried at ANY outlet have a horrible hum/buzz. I have turned off the power to my house, unplugged every electrical device, and even used a generator to power my amps, and I still get a horrible hum/buzz. BUT I have taken my amps to other places, and there is NO NOISE, BUZZ/ HUM. I had an electrician come to my house and check the ground to my box, and he had no idea why I was getting the noise. My guitars and my amps are fine at other places, and I do not have "dirty" power at my house. Is this RF interference??
My computer refused to power on when it was connected to my TV. TV had no third pin, so I solved the problem by running a wire from some TV screw to the computer chassis screw. Ironically youtube suggested this video when I powered on the computer.
i have a sony DRS 820 receiver and a sunfire subwoofer connected via RCA cable, also a 230w onkyo subwoofer. In Brazil, nor the receiver, not the sony 55 tv, nor the bluray (and nor the Onkyo) have the third pin, but the subwoofer sunfire HRS 12 has. There is no ground at the ac outlet. Both subwoofers are connected to a nobreak (that mainly does the function of changin the current from 220v to 110v) Even at this night mare scenario, there should be no problem. Only the sunfire has the third pin and none of the other equipment are connected or have ground. How come I have this hum when i turn off the receiver??? how could it do or send any audio signal when not powered on? Yes i took the RCA cables out and it solves the problem on both subs, but where does this hum comes from? Yes i tested if it was from the antenna, and no, it's not from it. I have no idea, i am afraid of buying a ground loop isolator but wasting my money. please help?
Do you connect multiple subwoofers into a single "Pre Out" of an amplifier - how? It must be that one of connected devices injects parasitic current into the line. When your receiver is on, it actively drives the output with very low impedance and is able to mostly compensate parasitic voltages or currents. As a matter of fact, parasitic current can even come from another device, if all sleeves of all RCA jacks are wired directly together into a common virtual "ground", as is often the case. As opposed to the RCA inner pin, which is driven by an active transistor circuit, the outer conductors stay connected when the device is off. Where does parasitic current come from? Simple, whenever there is current in one conductor, current is also induced in all nearby conductors through parasitic capacitance and inductance. The strongest ones tend to come from switch-mode power devices, such as a switch-mode power-supply (SMPS) or a class-D amplifier. BTW, i have read your comment 4 times, and i still can't find where you say which of the active devices you have hums - is it the Sunfire? or the Onkyo? My suggestion now is this: go around and while your receiver is powered off, disconnect all devices connected to it by RCA, HDMI or any other way, antennas, etc, one by one, until you find, which is the culprit. Then we decide what to do.
Siena. My Sunfire subwoofer HRS 12 has the hum and it wont go on standby. It starts as the receiver is turned off -- if i turn it off it contaminates the ONkyo sub (LOL) then it wont go on stand by hahaha. It's so weird. What i fould most easy is to turn off the sunfire while the receiver is still on! Doing this, when i turn off the receiver, the onkyo goes into standby... no matter. but the sunfire has to be off for this to happen! I think it might be a problem that only the sunfire has the third pin.... and there is no ground. so it is the ground! right??? i am doing a re-do on the system. connecting all of the system into a single nobreak with 1400kva into a grounded outlet... i hope it will solve the matter!
chicolua Yes, the Sandfire was probably designed to siphon its interference off into the Earth; however, this doesn't really matter for now, you'll probably need to find another way to defeat the issue. First, you should go ahead and start disconnecting EVERYTHING connected to the receiver till you find which device injects noise into the system virtual ground. You still haven't answered how you connect two subs to your receiver. If you're using a simple Y cable, that's wrong - there needs to be at least 10 Kohm separation between the inputs of two subs, else things may go bad.
The on line engineer my hobbys are painting pictures and lisining to shortwave and ssb iam thinking about getting my ham license I have 4 shortwave receivers
8:43 Doesn't this device just add an earth to a wall plate that does have 3 pin earthed socket wall plate? I don't think it's a ground lifter is it? Another video I watched shows that this device requires the removal of a screw on the wall plate to then screw this product down on the wall plate to get earth to the device you're plugging in. EDIT: Looks like this "ground lifter" method is still very much unsafe as you are using the device in an unintended fashion - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheater_plug#Safety
Hi, please send me a drawing showing all analog connections in your system and the model numbers of any and all equipment used. Send to any of the email address' on my website. TheOLE.org
With great sorrow I want to inform all of you that Russell Brown passed away tragically in November 2013. On this website nothing new will be published, because there is nobody as smart and creative as my husband was. There is no day I would not see something great written about Him and His passion for sharing knowledge. Thank you all for all these great comments.
I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. I'm just discovering your husband's work here on CZcams. It's a welcome respite from all the nonsensical and downright dangerous videos about ground loops on CZcams.
bless you.
How very sad. Sorry to hear of this loss. This is by far the most well thought out and understandable explanation of ground loops I've seen.
I am sorry to hear of your loss, which is also our loss. I just found this video today, and I appreciated it so much.
: (
This is a very good explanation of something that most people really don't have a good understanding or grasp of. The world needs more teachers and instructors of this caliber. He was an inspiration to us all!
wow i just found this channel, how u got so detailed without rushing infomation or skipping stuff within a 10min video is truely amazing :) great work :)
Been watching ground loop videos for about an hour and this was the first one where the instructor fully illuminated the concept in my mind on what is, to me anyway a tricky subject. It takes a rare talent to teach complex things simply, sorry to hear that Russell is no longer with us.
His knowledge will never be forgotten. I have benefited from his form of teaching today and I’m grateful for his hard work and for your support as his wife. Thank you.
I've been suffering a ground loop hum in my system for the first time in my life. SO annoying. This is the best explanation of what a ground loop is and some remedy. Thanks for doing this vid.
Thanks for making these videos, this is the best explanation on youtube and if anyone asks me for a good non mathematical intro about ground loops this video is the first thing I will recommend that they watch.
This is a great explanation of the ground loop issue and a big help to my issues! So Sorry that Russell Brown is not with us anymore.
Sure, there just has to be a difference in AC voltage between two grounds, those grounds could be the shields on two coax cables that run back to a single chassis or even two different chassis that share a ground.
he has solved a problem I had for years...thanks to this man
4 mins into vid and after listening an watching an idea popped in my head and it worked! can't tell you how appreciative i am! what happened was i was getting heavy interference with my cctv cameras on my monitor, i tried everything, switching cameras, cables, channel ports, at first there was no signal, got new cables and thats when i got the interference, jus couldn't figure it out, after watching this i tried disconnecting the power supply to my camera, and using a splitter, used the same power cord for my DVR an it worked! so apparently i had a wrong power adapter cord in with my setup that i pulled out of my storage, idk i had it then if it doesn't belong to it
great video! All dj's should watch this!
so sorry for your loss. what a great video. so simply explained that someone like myself with no electrical training can understand clearly. thanks for keeping the site active. best wishes...
Wow I’m sorry to hear for the loss. This is really helpful and straightforward. I only have more questions, and will search for more answers as I understand more.
great tutorial and i have downloaded it to view again.after that i subscribed and just knew he is no more with us :/ .so sad to hear he left us.great man.great teacher.
That was a great video, very well put together and informative.
This helped me so much! Thank you!
Also effect industrial control systems using analogue signals like 4-20mA or 0-10v DC. Have had a flow transmitter showing erroneous values due to ground loops.
Great tutorial! Subscribed! But I have some questions that I will ask later after doing some research. Thanx for the great tutorial!
Very good. Just didn´t understand minute 5:57 "connected by an unbalanced cable" the diagram shows a balanced cable
very good video. explained in excellent simple terms! thank you..
Thank you, this was so helpful.
Thanks for the video, it's really interesting and informative. My audio issues have started me on an odyssey of understanding a whole bunch of electrical things I previously haven't understood or had much interest in knowing, but now I do; I guess i'll do anything for better sound. ; )
I cannot say I fully understand what's been presented here, though I think I understand the general principles,
My question is if balanced cables eliminate ground loops(as stated in the video) why did I have such a loop when playing my system?
My pre-amp, subwoofer and monitor speakers ALL have balanced XLR inputs/outputs, only my CD player does NOT, I connected it to my preamp using standard red/white RCA analog connectors. Of course, all the components have 3 prong grounded power plugs.
To make a long story short, after hearing the buzzing sound emanating from my speakers when everything was powered on, I got frustrated and decided to unplug everything, I mean everything including my whole A/V system(TV, cable box, Blu ray player, etc.). At this point I unplugged the power strip from the wall, pulled out the other plugs with some of the audio stuff plugged in directly until there was NOTHING plugged in.
At this point I only wanted to connect FOUR things, namely my CD player, preamp, and two powered monitor speakers. I only had FOUR outlets in the two wall sockets and believing the Subwoofer was making the low humming sound(the speakers a higher pitched hum), I decided to leave it unplugged/off. Anyway, after reconnecting my cables(basically disconnecting/taking my sub out of the chain) going directly out XLR from my preamp to my speakers, plugging my cd player and one speaker into one outlet, and my preamp and the other speaker into the other outlet, when I turned the power back on there was still a very clear, audible humming sound.
I am generally aware that most/all electrical audio/video equipment usually has a noise floor or ground, whatever it's called and will naturally produce some noise/static to be seen or heard in the system. But I do not believe this is what I was hearing, I thought the sound was more pronounced/prominent like a ground loop, or maybe even some kind of electrical interference, EMI or RF. But then of course I realized that nothing else was plugged in, so I assumed such interference would be minimal.
Can someone explain to me what happened and how to fix the problem?
I have new JBL speakers coming later today(I think) and I'm so excited, it would be incredibly frustrating if I couldn't listen to them because of the darn humming sound.
Thanks.
Very sorry to know about colleague engineer Russell Brown, the best tutorials I have seen in our common interest field. Thank you for your great work.
I am experiencing a Hissing emitting from the Speakers of my two home stereo systems. One in the LR using a NAD Preamp and NAD Amp connected to KEF 103 speakers. If I turn up the volume, a slight hissing can be heard . The PreAmp is Grounded via a Copper Ground wire to the electrical outlet box which is only a two prong outlet. The same Ground on the Preamp is used to ground the Dual TT. The ground wire on the TT had become detached and the TT was humming. Once reattached , the Humming was eliminated. Great. But still getting hissing that can be heard with higher volumes and no music source playing.
The other stereo system located in the basement where I am using a cheaper Pyle Preamp /Receiver ( I believe has a Class D Amplifier), connected to a Cheap Boytone Mini Multi-player. The unit is connected via the Headphone out jack of the Boytone unit to the AUX in jacks (2) of the Pyle Amp. Hissing can be heard at higher volumes as well. I did notice that If I connected the 2 speaker out jacks (RCA) to the AUX In RCA jacks of the Pyle AMP, the hissing and Humming was worse.
I used the original RCA connection cables that came withe equipment in both systems. Could Better / Gold Shielded cables produce less Hiss /Humming. Just ordered same from Amazon to see if that helps or eliminates the hissing. The Basement stereo is PLugged into the wall outlet (which does have a 3 prong outlet), and the Pyle Amp and the separate Sub Woofer are pluggged into a Power strip which in turn is plugged inot the same outlet for the Boytone unit. Any Ideas other than the new RCA connectors?
Wow, awesome explanation
Thanks for the vid. I'm running a tube amp fur my audio system. Even if I plug nothing else into the amp besides the speakers (no additional outlets) I get a buzz sound. Is it possible to have a ground loop when using only one socket?
Thanks
Fantastic explanation thank you very much. Rest in peace.
Excelent video congratulación it help me so much
Wow... just found this series.. I'm just a curious soul and most EE's just don't have the gift of making what they know already into something a complete fool can understand. Your husband had a gift, one that helps me understand and live with my insatiable curiosity. Perhaps you could have guest speakers to make more of these? It was truly helpful to me.
Awesome video and I can tell you know what you are talking about because you have a nice silence behind your narration no hum!
I have a condenser mic plugged into an audiobox sound card which plugs by USB to my laptop. I have a BG hum that does not seem to have anything to do with the room itself. I've tried several external noise canceling devices and they seem to make no difference this is why I am researching ground loops and hum. its not loud but it is always there. I could use some help.
very educative. Thank you Regards
Hello! Are the TN-C-S/TN-S/TT systems equal in terms of eliminating noise?
thanks of valueable information video tutorial
The on line engineer I like your utube videos
I never had ground but the problem persists.... I have a component cable that when the 2 audio cables were connected caused interference in the picture so thinking that could be audio interference I decided to cut the audio wires and the picture and is now clean. The problem is now that I have no audio and when I tried a separate cable just for the audio the interference comes back again....
I was told on Reddit that the buzz I get from my JS 1200 was a grounding, issue, but it doesn't sound like this. It's just a constant buzz, that gets worse with more gain. Now the interesting this is, it gets slightly louder when I touch the bridge or strings. However, if I touch either of the metal boxes around the pickups, it pretty much goes away. If I touch the inside walls of the electronics cavity, it pretty much goes away completely. What am I dealing with here? It almost seems like if I was able to somehow ground the wall of the cavity it would be totally resolved, but that seems like a weird solution, if it even is one.
so if i have a 120 volt receiver and a 12 volt amp and connect dem via a RCA do i get a buzzing noise cuz i do ?
Why does the 50/60 Hz electrical power cycle induce a difference in ground potential?
i have a serious amount of hum (sounds like a ground loop) between a tube guitar pre-amp and a solid-state power amp. Neither hums on their own, but only when connected. Where I am confused is that the power amp (an Electro-Harmonix Magnum 44) has an external power supply. The output from the power supply is 24 DC, so there is no ground connection on the amp at all. Any ideas why or how to solve? thanks!
Brilliant
Is that why on old Audio I see the windings wrapped in copper sheeting?
ty
Only now i have found this channel. I was posting a comment and see this sad news.... I'm so sorry 😢.
Does anyone here know what should I do if I have a two pinned plug and I think that I have ground loop problems?
Heart breaking news. I was watching this video and knowing later, He is no more In this world. May his soul rest in peace
where do you buy the paper you draw on and what is it called
The on line engineer me and my cousin are going to a Swap meet in September 11 Sunday morning at 8 am in Milwaukee 2022
hi all i write this in hope someone can help me. i have a m audio fast track usb 2 interface. when i have my condenser mic (behringer c1) plugged in and powered by the onboard phantom power, there is a constant low frequency being picked up. even when i have the gain all the way down the signal is still present. it is not a loud noise but rather one of a constant low subby hum making it impossible for me to turn up the preamp gain . any suggestions would be appreciated , thanks in advance. (the other channel (for guitar) is completely silent) thanks again.
Matthew Nash Does the hum exist when you connect the microphone and listen to the output via the headphone out on the M Audio? I assume that you are using an XLR-XLR cable with no adapters? I'd try a different XLR cable, could just be dodgy. I'd also uninstall the M Audio's drivers, restart, install the most up-to-date driver and restart again. If this doesn't do it, it could mean that your microphone has a damaged grounding pin (pin 1) or there's dirt in there. Try use the C1 on another preamp and see if the sound still happens. If mic is alright, try a different condenser with your interface and see if it happens. If it does, the Phantom Power's dodgy. Hope this helps and post results
Good morning sir, my home theatre provides only one channel and other is not working . What is the solution you can recommend. Thank you.
I have my laptop hooked up to my stereo using rca cables and a y adapter to the laptop. I am experiencing a humming that comes and goes , and Im quite sure it has something to do with the cables not being grounded ,like a turntable is ,since it has a special ground wire. If anyone can offer any advice for this I would greatly appreciate it.
Steve Kays If it comes and goes when your laptop is plugged in vs running off battery then you need a ground loop isolator like the BOSS B25N for 9$ on Amazon. If it buzzes while the laptop is running on battery power, you may have a different issue (perhaps check the wires?)
"Balanced" has only one "L".
+Jr Delves i was wondering what does Ballance mean :P
Is there a possibillity to have a ground loop when all my devices are connected only using 2 prong wires ?
Yes, the devices all have a floating ground.
Ive got a Dean VMNT angel of deth Dave Mustaine signature and a Zakk Wylde epiphone Les Paul bullseye. My amps are a recently retubed JCM 900 halfstack 1960 cab and a Fender frontman 2x12. All of my amps tried at ANY outlet have a horrible hum/buzz. I have turned off the power to my house, unplugged every electrical device, and even used a generator to power my amps, and I still get a horrible hum/buzz. BUT I have taken my amps to other places, and there is NO NOISE, BUZZ/ HUM. I had an electrician come to my house and check the ground to my box, and he had no idea why I was getting the noise. My guitars and my amps are fine at other places, and I do not have "dirty" power at my house. Is this RF interference??
Do you have 2 amps connected to a A/B Switch pedal ?
I like him!!!
He'S. Grounded.
Great explanation....spelling issue: Balanced.
My computer refused to power on when it was connected to my TV. TV had no third pin, so I solved the problem by running a wire from some TV screw to the computer chassis screw. Ironically youtube suggested this video when I powered on the computer.
So sorry for your lost best people wait at the other side
i have a sony DRS 820 receiver and a sunfire subwoofer connected via RCA cable, also a 230w onkyo subwoofer. In Brazil, nor the receiver, not the sony 55 tv, nor the bluray (and nor the Onkyo) have the third pin, but the subwoofer sunfire HRS 12 has. There is no ground at the ac outlet. Both subwoofers are connected to a nobreak (that mainly does the function of changin the current from 220v to 110v) Even at this night mare scenario, there should be no problem. Only the sunfire has the third pin and none of the other equipment are connected or have ground. How come I have this hum when i turn off the receiver??? how could it do or send any audio signal when not powered on? Yes i took the RCA cables out and it solves the problem on both subs, but where does this hum comes from? Yes i tested if it was from the antenna, and no, it's not from it. I have no idea, i am afraid of buying a ground loop isolator but wasting my money. please help?
Do you connect multiple subwoofers into a single "Pre Out" of an amplifier - how? It must be that one of connected devices injects parasitic current into the line. When your receiver is on, it actively drives the output with very low impedance and is able to mostly compensate parasitic voltages or currents.
As a matter of fact, parasitic current can even come from another device, if all sleeves of all RCA jacks are wired directly together into a common virtual "ground", as is often the case. As opposed to the RCA inner pin, which is driven by an active transistor circuit, the outer conductors stay connected when the device is off.
Where does parasitic current come from? Simple, whenever there is current in one conductor, current is also induced in all nearby conductors through parasitic capacitance and inductance. The strongest ones tend to come from switch-mode power devices, such as a switch-mode power-supply (SMPS) or a class-D amplifier.
BTW, i have read your comment 4 times, and i still can't find where you say which of the active devices you have hums - is it the Sunfire? or the Onkyo?
My suggestion now is this: go around and while your receiver is powered off, disconnect all devices connected to it by RCA, HDMI or any other way, antennas, etc, one by one, until you find, which is the culprit. Then we decide what to do.
Siena. My Sunfire subwoofer HRS 12 has the hum and it wont go on standby. It starts as the receiver is turned off -- if i turn it off it contaminates the ONkyo sub (LOL) then it wont go on stand by hahaha. It's so weird. What i fould most easy is to turn off the sunfire while the receiver is still on! Doing this, when i turn off the receiver, the onkyo goes into standby... no matter. but the sunfire has to be off for this to happen! I think it might be a problem that only the sunfire has the third pin.... and there is no ground. so it is the ground! right??? i am doing a re-do on the system. connecting all of the system into a single nobreak with 1400kva into a grounded outlet... i hope it will solve the matter!
chicolua Yes, the Sandfire was probably designed to siphon its interference off into the Earth; however, this doesn't really matter for now, you'll probably need to find another way to defeat the issue. First, you should go ahead and start disconnecting EVERYTHING connected to the receiver till you find which device injects noise into the system virtual ground.
You still haven't answered how you connect two subs to your receiver. If you're using a simple Y cable, that's wrong - there needs to be at least 10 Kohm separation between the inputs of two subs, else things may go bad.
The receiver is a 7.2 model . it has two separate sub out LFE outputs.
The on line engineer my hobbys are painting pictures and lisining to shortwave and ssb iam thinking about getting my ham license I have 4 shortwave receivers
8:43 Doesn't this device just add an earth to a wall plate that does have 3 pin earthed socket wall plate? I don't think it's a ground lifter is it? Another video I watched shows that this device requires the removal of a screw on the wall plate to then screw this product down on the wall plate to get earth to the device you're plugging in.
EDIT: Looks like this "ground lifter" method is still very much unsafe as you are using the device in an unintended fashion - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheater_plug#Safety
Hi, please send me a drawing showing all analog connections in your system and the model numbers of any and all equipment used. Send to any of the email address' on my website. TheOLE.org
Balanced is spelled with only one "L."
Buy a Hum X about$90
The other thing missing in this video is a SPELLING CHECKER!
marshal...sounds like an SOS...
Balanced is spelt with only one"L". You manage to have different spellings on the same slide!🤣
annoying guitar breaks
so very sorry
can someone translate this video into english?
Hate to have to tell you this, but this is as simply and eloquently as this can be explained.
You can't fix stupid!
i didnt understand it well either but thats because i dont understand the idea of grounding itself