This was the video I watched which helped me understand the Focusrite Control SW. There are probably loads of others but thought I’d post this in case it is useful.
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jumped in this thread very late, sorry if it’s been mentioned. i really like my effects pedal chain going into my sansamp di/preamp. what i would like to do to keep that sound and make things simple is just to go out of my di xlr with all the effects running through it into my scarlett 2i2 into garageband. any reason why i can’t do that?
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This is exactly what I do. I actually need to use the DI out from my pedalboard to go in to my DAI, because without the ground lift I have a ground loop.
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tanx!
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Hi @DaveT,
Thanks for the feedback, and it’s nice to hear that you enjoy my covers👍
I am using a presonus 24c DAI.
I will certainly try to clean up the humming on the recordings.
The only track I could hear any humming on was a KD Lang song I did.(I trashed it and re recorded it) I haven’t posted it onto bassbuzz, it’s on the website along with a concrete blonde track I recorded at the same time.
Maybe if you check them out and see if you can hear the same hum and let me know.
Cheers Brian
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Hi Brian,
That looks like a pretty cool DAI!
The buzz is also on the Concrete Blond track, but only for a half second before you start playing and then it’s lost in the music. It’s easier to hear on the KD Lang song.
You should be able to hear it in your headphones for troubleshooting. A quick way to locate hum/buzz problems is to turn a level knob all the way down and see if the noise goes away. If the noise goes down, the problem is upstream of the knob. If the noise doesn’t change the problem is downstream of the knob. Trying this with different knobs (physical or in software) helps to isolate what segment of the system has the problem.
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In this case I’d start by turning down the input gain on the DAI for the bass. I’d also turn down the other input if it’s not being used and see if there’s any issue there. @TNKA36
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Thanks Dave,
I am going out in the shed today to record some more tracks.
I will have a play around with the gear, the volume knob is broken on the 76 P bass and I know when I touch the knob it is a little noisy.
I would change it out for a new one but I’m not sure if it would de value the bass as it’s all original?
If you want to have a go at any of the tracks I’ve recorded I’d be happy to send you the sheet music.
Cheers Brian
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hi @DaveT,
I have tried a few things and i think it was the input gain on the DAI.
I did change the lead from guitar to DAI as well.
I have recorded three tracks using 3 different basses this afternoon, so i will see what they sound like when i mix them.
cheers Brian
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If you’re plugging the bass into the DAI directly you might want to see if the DAI has a “high impedance” toggle on the input and try that. It might be maked as “High-Z”. Otherwise I think the gain is likely the culprit, yeah
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I learnt a lesson today about hum and connections, and buying decent accessories. My new J bass had started to hum badly, I started to suspect an earth wire had come lose in the body maybe. Really annoying.
After spending about an hour messing around with swapping between wall mains sockets, removing pedal board from the chain, gains on inputs and seeing if I had a grounding issue etc, I finally realised the one thing I hadnt yet swapped out was the cheap right angle instrument cable adaptor I had bought to plug my straight instrument cable into the facia of the bass so the cable pointed down…
Took that out and bingo, minimal hum!
It’s always the last thing you check…
Never buying cheap adaptors or cables!
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Hi Brian,
If the buzz goes up and down by turning the input gain on the DAi, the noise is getting in upstream of that knob. The suspects then become the input jack on the DAI, the cable any adapters as @Mark_UK points out, the jack on the bass and bass internals.
Since you have spare things to swap around, you can do some experiments to track it down. Just be sure to change ONE thing at a time. i.e. If you try changing the bass, don’t also change the cable.
If you hear the same buzz on all the basses, maybe the cable is suspect. If the cable gets changed out next and the buzz is still there, maybe it’s the input jack on the DAI or maybe it’s the grounding on the power outlet you are plugged into.
I had a buzz that was driving me nuts trying to find it. I took my amp with me to jam with my daughter at her music lesson and it was clean there. I found the one power outlet in my house with a grounding issue!
If it only happens on the bass with the funky knob, I may use that as cause to be suspicious of the bass wiring or parts.
If you’ve solved it by turning down the input on the DAI some and turning up the bass, that’s certainly a practical solution. Whatever gain combination gives you the best signal-to-noise is always good.
Since your noise is most certainly a grounding issue, I’d probably still turn up the input for troubleshooting purposes and try to find if I could. Otherwise, there’s no problem running the gain of the bass hot and the input gain of the DAI low. That knob has up to +35 dB of gain in it on your Presonus 24c, enough to make most anything sound noisy if turned up.
When I first asked which DAI you were using I did look up @howard’s point about the high impedance instrument input, but should have posted about it. The spec sheet on the 24c says the 1/4" jack has a 750k Ohm impedance, which should be fine for plugging in directly. I couldn’t find anywhere in the manual where it showed a line/instrument toggle button in the software to change the input type.
Maybe it’s already worked out for you. I stuck to the basement cleanup chores and practicing the 12 bar blues this weekend and haven’t been on the forum much.
Best,
Dave
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Hi Dave,
I think you were right with the gain on the DAI being to high.
I have uploaded 2 of the 3 songs onto the webpage and they sound fine👍
It is tricky trying to find the root cause, I recalled the first videos I’d done and there wasn’t any issues with humming on them and I knew I’d turned up the gain on the DAI on the later ones.
I changed the lead out as well as I thought that was different on the first recording I did, so I’m back to original setup now.
Thanks for your assistance in eliminating the issues👍
Cheers Brian
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Happy to hear you got it sorted! I will take you up on your offer and have a go at Courthouse. Thank you for sharing!
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Hi Dave,
Flick me your email address and I will email it to you.
Cheers Brian
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Finally found a satisfactory audio interface that has it all for me:
-USB-C connection (working with android phone)
-Two combo channels and balanced/unbalanced outputs
-Really good power output on the headphone jack
-Super low noise
-Super low latency
Motu M2
With line out of my amp I can keep gain at 0 and still get really high level on the headphones.
I know I have been really really too picky with what I needed but this thing finally gave me the mobility I was looking for!
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I don’t think you were too picky. Trying to work with stuff that doesn’t work for you is terribly frustrating. I’m glad you found something that does what you need it to. 
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It was exactly that! Thank you!
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Very nice!
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Second this… I bought a Scarlett Solo and it’s such a pain in the arse to record myself with it that I rarely do. Wish I had done more research.
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