Terrible Crackling Noise When I Hook Up Guitar To UA-4FX Through Sonar X1 Studio

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TheDarkFarce
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2011/05/12 00:56:14 (permalink)

Terrible Crackling Noise When I Hook Up Guitar To UA-4FX Through Sonar X1 Studio

Hello out there! I just received my Cakewalk program and have run into my first snag. I copied and pasted drum tracks from the program to run my first test track. After the beats were ready, I armed a second track, hooked up my Bass and Epiphone SG both, and they made the most AWFUL crackling noises with what sounded to me like a digitized effect of some sort bleeding through. Maybe this was due to the intensity of the signal running to my computer. I hooked up a drum machine through the analog Guitar/MIC inputs, just like the guitars, and that ran just fine. So it's a problem with the guitar signal itself, this indicates to me. I messed with all manners of volume adjustment thinking my signal was simply too hot. That wasn't the problem either. Can someone help me?? Thanks!
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    Somerset
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    Re:Terrible Crackling Noise When I Hook Up Guitar To UA-4FX Through Sonar X1 Studio 2011/05/12 02:02:21 (permalink)
    Guitar pickups can pickup a lot of noise, such as from fluorescent lights or digital hash from computers and other electronics etc. If the noise is being picked up this way then you should notice that it changes intensity as you move the guitar around. I can get this kind of noise if I am too close to my computer, but it goes away if I rotate 90 degrees or use a longer lead and get away from the noise source.  If the noise stays the same no matter which way you are facing then it may be a different problem.
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    chuckebaby
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    Re:Terrible Crackling Noise When I Hook Up Guitar To UA-4FX Through Sonar X1 Studio 2011/05/12 02:17:09 (permalink)
    Somerset


    Guitar pickups can pickup a lot of noise, such as from fluorescent lights or digital hash from computers and other electronics etc. If the noise is being picked up this way then you should notice that it changes intensity as you move the guitar around. I can get this kind of noise if I am too close to my computer, but it goes away if I rotate 90 degrees or use a longer lead and get away from the noise source.  If the noise stays the same no matter which way you are facing then it may be a different problem.


    he is absolutlely right..look for the sourse..dimmer switches for light is also another one..but go through a few things..is you antivirus turned off ???..just temporarly disable it.also if your computer is wireless?..go into devise manger and disable that as well..network conections will reek havic..not that i think this is your guitar problem..but this will eliminate later problems.also check the electric plugs for grounding

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    Havengel
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    Re:Terrible Crackling Noise When I Hook Up Guitar To UA-4FX Through Sonar X1 Studio 2011/05/12 12:39:11 (permalink)
    I also get a lot of hum and noise from my guitars using the UA4FX, not much through mics though. I assume it's the pickups creating the noise.

    I mostly use a Line6 UX2, though, and there is no background noise at all there. I only use the UA4FX for guitar when I want the "guitar amp hum" effect the background noise gives or to get a slight tubelike overdrive as the signal in is quite strong.  

    You could use the noise supressor on the UA4FX, but it will also steal some of the sound. Seems the UA4FX is not the optimal guitar sound card.
    #4
    Jim Roseberry
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    Re:Terrible Crackling Noise When I Hook Up Guitar To UA-4FX Through Sonar X1 Studio 2011/05/12 13:28:35 (permalink)
    When summing digital audio (mixing tracks/inputs together), it's easy to clip the D/A converters.
    ie:  If your drum track peaks are close to 0dB, and you add other high-transient instruments (bass or guitar) without reducing gain, you can quickly exceed 0dB (which will clip the D/A converters - causing nasty distortion).
    The answer is to reduce gain.  Reduce the level of everything... and leave some headroom.
    This will get more intuitive over time...

    Best Regards,

    Jim Roseberry
    jim@studiocat.com
    www.studiocat.com
    #5
    mickbrit55
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    Re:Terrible Crackling Noise When I Hook Up Guitar To UA-4FX Through Sonar X1 Studio 2011/05/12 18:07:04 (permalink)
    +1 with everything that has been mentioned here. Some other things that haven't been covered :
     
    Epiphone guitars have a real cheap output socket which wears out really quickly. Get your local tech to swap it for a sturdier one.
     
    Make sure you aren't using cheap guitar cables, especially the ones with the screw on end covers. If the shielding goes south then you will get all kinds of bad noises in the recording. Personally I like the molded mid-range priced Monster cables.
     
    If you have a pile of cables on the floor (most of us do) make sure your guitar lead isn't running across a power cable. This can also introduce unwanted noise.
     
    If you are using a very high gain on your guitar, make sure to put a noise-gate in the chain.
     
    Mick.
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