Firewire Hiss Noise using Digi 003 Firewire Interface

[BlankFrank]

I feel like it has to be some sort of ground loop thing or similar, have you tried earthing the 003 to the computer chassis just to see if that helps, wouldn't need to be anything fancy, just a guitar lead touched on both.
PS I hate my 003, wish I'd never bought it, especially since PT9 and I don't need it now.

 

[fireandglass]

Here are the things I have tried so far:

1. 3 Different firewire cables, exact same noise on all 3. The 003 has two fireports, i tried each cable on both ports, same noise

2. Bought the Syba 2 port PCI-E firewire card off amazon. Tried this with same 3 firewire cables, same noise on all cables, on both ports on the Syba firewire card and both FW ports on the Digi 003

3. Tried rerouting/organizing cables and seperating everything in side my tower and by my Digi 003. The same noise is still present

======================================================

Gathering what I can from this forum and insanelymac, there are only a few options left:
1. Ferrite beads on my cables
2. Power supply in the hackintosh
3. Motherboard in the hackintosh

I really dont think the problem is with the Digi 003 because when i connect it to my 2010 Macbook Pro, all noise is gone using the exact same everything.

I am really trying to tackle this in a process of elimination and cost effective way, so i really appreciate all the help you guys are giving me, but im starting to get stumped. What do you think my next course of action should be?

 

[powerpcg5]

I'd try for the ferrite beads first....

Other than that... the only other difference will be the computer PSU and motherboard.

Can the Digi003 run in stand alone mode? If so, do you hear noise on the monitor?

Does the noise disappear if you unplug the FW cable?

 

[BlankFrank]

I feel for you, must be driving you nuts! If it were me I'd try a power supply first, you can pick up something pretty cheap these days that would work just to check the problem, you probably wouldn't even need to mount it in the case. One difference between the Macbook and the PC is that the PC is earthed via the mains plug and the Macbook isn't, I don't know if this could be an issue, try another mains lead for the PC. Just had another thought, (LOOK OUT, this could be dangerous!!!) a real long shot, you haven't got a microphone plugged in somewhere that's passing the noise through a channel in Pro Tools set to input monitor. A couple of weeks ago I thought I had a noise situation, turned out I had left an SM58 plugged in under the desk that was picking up the noise from my UPS, guess I should take it easy on the weed! Anyway, hope you get this sorted.

 

[the3030club]

I don't know if you've solved this already, but are you chaining an external hard drive on the same firewire bus as the 003? Pretty sure that could cause some noise.

 

[CtheProducer]

Any luck figuring this out. Having the same issues and nothing is working.... Different sound device but same problem on 5 hacks.....

 

[chris7419]

Hi, I had an issue with noise with my MBox a little while ago and tore my hair out - I found out that if I moved my graphics card to a different slot it went away.

 

[surrealaddiction]

Hello everybody
i have the same problem with a RME Fireface 400...
On my hackintosh causes the hiss noise but not on my bacbook pro...
did some one solved the problem?
Thanks
Ciao
L

 

[totenkopf4]

Hello everybody
i have the same problem with a RME Fireface 400...
On my hackintosh causes the hiss noise but not on my bacbook pro...
did some one solved the problem?
Thanks
Ciao
L

surrealaddiction et all:

Noise could be caused by a floating Ground between the hardware that is connected by the FireWire cable.

If you have a OHM meter see if you can check for contact resistance and any variations of OHM's in the grounds of both the Sound card - computer motherboard and the attached devise.

It could be as simple as a bad FireWire 400 cable. Unshielded cable w one end having and open Ground wire.

You maybe able to resolve this w a ground jumper wire interconnecting the grounds points between the chassis of the two items.

Also note that long FireWire cables can be problematic avoid and excess cable length.

 

[danilepharoh]

if the noise is not being recorded, don't bother yourself trying to find its source.
I had a similar problem with Behringer Active Studio Monitors 2030a connected to > my Behringer QX1202 Mixer Connected to > my hack via USB
The solution was very easy and dirt cheap. Get a Ground loop, Hum and noise destroyer similar to this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Pyle-PH...59442?pt=US_DJ_Turntables&hash=item540aa0be12

install it in between your studio monitors and your mixer or audio interface
Hackintosh > audio interface > Hum destroyer > monitors
or

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-P...Video_Interconnect_Cables&hash=item3f3ac34274

if you mix on headphones.

it will eliminate the noise.
you can find cheaper alternatives on ebay but these 2 are the best as i learned from several of reviews.
Good luck.