Anyone here ever used a hum eliminator in their critical signal chains? I'm using a RODE NTK mic going into an unbalanced preamp and I'm getting buzz like crazy. I put a ground lifter on the NTK's power supply and 50% went away. There is still an annoying amount left... And moving equipment doesn't really adjust it much.
Has anyone here ever tried using something like one of EBTech's hum eliminators? And does it affect signal quality noticably?
Comments
Ok,is this mic is balanced, with phantom power. You have to use
Ok,is this mic is balanced, with phantom power. You have to use an impedance matching transformer to go to the unbalanced input, what is happening I think, is that you are getting a -18 to -20db loss, without the xformer, this will cause you to add way more gain. Also, the ubalanced side must be as short as possible. Less then a foot. Not a problem with line levels, but big RC problem with high gain high z inputs.
--Rick
You might be better off with just a cheap (but balanced) pre-amp
You might be better off with just a cheap (but balanced) pre-amp than adding more links to the chain - I haven't used the Ebtech myself, but from what I've read it's just a transformer DI box with a bigger label. All transformers will alter the sound thru them, some in a good way, but most not. A low cost balanced pre may not improve your signal as much as a higher end one, but should eliminate the need for yet another way to degrade your mic. I'll leave specific recommendations to those who have listened to more pre's in better acoustics than I have - my main point is that (usually) less is more until you get to nothing, then more is more - If that last made sense, send me some of what you're smokin'... Steve