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Home recording studio - noise with guitar amps - who to call?
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DaveNJ:
Hi all, great forum here - I came to the forum from watching a few of the YouTube videos...

I just recently setup a recording studio in my basement - things are just fine with balanced connections from microphones and other gear, but I'm getting a huge amount of noise through my guitars and amps (things work fine in other locations - multiple amps and guitars are all affected). The studio is on it's own subpanel and the outlets for my gear are the only things on that circuit. I seem to be getting pronounced hum at around 180Hz and this ticking or clicking up between 4k-8k. I've eliminated all compact fluorescent bulbs and dimmers from the house and have had local electricians check my panel and the power company has checked my feed. The power company heard the noise on the ground rod outside at one point, but they haven't come up with any sort of solution or recommendation yet.

What I'm trying to find out is who can I call to come in and try to properly identify the root cause and offer suggestions or remediations? I suppose it would need to be someone who can properly measure/analyze my power feed and potentially identify sources of RFI. Short of moving, I'm out of ideas, myself... :)

Thanks in advance - appreciate the guidance!
Cyberdragon:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_(electricity)
DaveNJ:
Yup, saw that - read it all, pulled my hair out...

I just to find the right kind of contractor to come in, diagnose and address the issue now...
Red Squirrel:
Can be a lot of things, such as ground loop.

Is it a 60hz buzzing sound by chance?  Could be a dimmer, pretty much anywhere in the house.  Those make a lot of electrical noise. 

You could maybe try putting everything on an isolation transformer to see if it helps.
fourfathom:
Simplify and eliminate -- this is how you track it down.

Your first step is to switch off *all* the circuit breakers in the house, leaving on just the ones you need to listen to the noise.  It's likely a local source and those are easier to find, so look there first.  If possible, run your recording console from an unplugged UPS and kill the power to your house completely.  If the interference goes away, then start switching things on, one at a time.  If it doesn't, start looking elsewhere

Does this noise only appear when you have the guitar connected?  Is this via a mic'd amplifier, or via a direct (or effects box) connection?

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