Staic Electricity vs. Hardware: How to Additionally Protect the Loved Ones?

2:43AM
During the winter, indoor heated spaces can become very dry.  And when you live in the Southwest desert area, like me, things can get really dry in indoor heated spaces.  Like indoor humidity is about 25%, maybe even less depending on the gauge I read.
 
My studio (if you even want to call it that) is located in a spare bedroom, with carpeting.  Though static electricity is usually mild in the studio, I always try to discharge myself on the metal desk parts before I touch a keyboard or rack-synth.  However, I did have a close call with a discharge to my Virus TI2 the other night.  It was quite the zap indeed, but thankfully it was to the metal case!  So that got me thinking: what can be done to help protect the equipment?  Yes, the carpet is a big culprit, but removing it is not an option right now.  Maybe it could eventually be converted to hardwood floors in the future, but that's a ways off.
 
First, a humidifier can be added, either whole house, or a small one just in the room.  Lately, my contacts have been kicking the crap out of me with dryness, so I'm definitely going this route...at least until I get more acclimated to the weather in these parts.  Second, I was thinking about adding a grounding wire that shorts the metal parts of my desk to earth ground on the outlet, or power strip.  This could help dissipate any charge built up on the desk.  Would it be any better than how it is now?  Probably not by much.
 
Most of the big boy toys, like the Andromeda and the V-Synth have beastly/hulking metal cases and a real, three-pronged 120VAC power cords going to them.  And the cases are indeed grounded--I checked with a multi-meter!  So these machines don't worry me as much when it comes to zaps, though I still exercise caution.  The equipment that worries me the most are the synths and devices with no earth ground.  These are the devices that just have a wall-wart power supply and a barrel connector, or a simple, two-pronged female cord.  For example, the Virus TI2, the Q, and the Bass Station II, all have wall-warts and two-prong cords with no separate earth ground.  So what can be done to better protect these devices?
 
For the wall-warted and two-pronged-corded synths with metal cases (the Virus TI2 and Q respectively), I was thinking about adding a grounding wire.  However, will this cause an audio problem, or a ground loop issue?  Both of these synths have balanced TRS audio outs/cables that go to the Alesis Ai3 and/or the Focusrite interface.  Some of the devices also connect via USB and Firewire cables, so those are grounded connections as well.  Therefore, I certainly don't want to create a looped path and risk audio hum, let alone serious damage to any internal components!  The Bass Station II has a plastic case, so I don't think there's much that can be done about that one.
 
I was also thinking about putting a static mat underneath all of the synths, but that can get awkward and expensive.  One other thought was wearing a static strap around the wrist or ankle.
 
Am I overthinking this and going off into the deep end?  Let me know your thoughts.  Thanks!

TheMaartian

kitekrazy1
 
Ditch the carpet.  Yes you are overthinking.  I live in the same climate and had the same concerns. I haven't lost anything to static.  Many devices have protection against static electricity. 

Gonna have to disagree with you on this one, KK1.
 
I HAVE lost something to static (one of the Line Out drivers on a DJ CD player). Which of your devices (of the "many") are protected, and which aren't? Do you even know? And for the ones that claim protection, what's the quality of that protection? Many have ground loops built into them by design (not on purpose, either; just poor engineering).
 
Transient protection on outlet strips is a joke. The best, albeit most expensive, solution includes an audio quality UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). Using an antistatic, cabled chair mat helps (I don't have one, and wish I did; I have an entire "discharge" protocol I follow when I sit down to work). Even with humidification, I get the occasional zap when I'm not careful. My display blanks and then recovers. Really exciting. For a 4-year-old.
 
I need to think through the carpet thing more. Cheap, synthetic fiber carpet is an ESD s**tstorm waiting to happen. But... I have a room set aside for a studio that I left the closet out of and had a tile floor installed (vs. carpeting the rest of the house). Methinks it's still going to need rugs, etc. to soften it, so care will still need to be exercised.