Eliminating noise with Balanced Power

[Mercuri]

Has anyone here had any experience with using balanced power transformers to get clean power to their entire setup? I'm looking at units from Furman and Equi=tech but I'm new to the area. I have 60Hz hum running through my lines like mad and I don't want to filter it out because of the entailed signal degradation. The power in my area is awful, so I figured getting something like the IT-1220 from Furman would kill all of the noise. These folks claim 16dB noise reduction in some cases... T'would be sweet... Can anyone give me some recommendations for a decent unit?

 

[Faeflora]

I have an equitech, and it's huge 15 pound coil filters out voltage spikes and AC hum from my house. I like.

 

[Mercuri]

I've heard Skywalker Sound is on all-balanced power now. Any other experiences with stuff like this?

 

[Gold]

It sounds like either you have something wrong with your AC power or your audio connections. A very noticeable hum means something is wrong. What kind of setup do you have? It would be a good idea to isolate where the problem is. You may be able to fix this without buying anything.

 

[Mercuri]

Hey, Paul...

My setup is pretty simple... I've got a few Yamaha synthesizers, Rode NTK, Flamingo mic-pre, running into a digital mixer. It used to be analog until I upgraded, now 80% of the hum is gone. I'm also getting a lot of high frequency white noise, but methinks I should attribute that to poor A/D converters. (Upgrading soon...)
I've talked to other studio owners in the area and they attribute it to the power. The electrical system in my area is the pits. I get far too much noise from my guitar amps as well.
I've also used ground lifts on select pieces of equipment and dissapated much of the interference, but not enough.
If there's another option that would give me the same result as an Equitech 1.5R, kewl... I'd love to know!!

 

[Ted Nightshade]

"I have an equitech, and it's huge 15 pound coil filters out voltage spikes and AC hum from my house. I like."

I have the smallest Equi=Tech, and I swear that big donut has got to weigh 50 pounds. The whole thing weighs 65.
Nonetheless, I won't leave home without it!

Those synths are notorious for having grounding problems, and the Equi=Tech alone will not fix it. I went to a DI with a transformer to eliminate that hum. A Manley tube DI in my case, but any good transformer DI should work.
Right now I have an old tube amp humming away at 60hz despite the Equi=Tech. Until I put a grounded plug on it. Everything must be grounded for the Equi=Tech to do it's magic on everything.
Ted

 

[Sir Bob]

I too have wondered if buying a balanced power device would help but surprisingly the fastest, cheapest and simplest way to stop hum is to use a ground lift.

I won't name names but a friend of mine works at a top-name LA recording studio and they use ground lifts on just about everything.

 

[Gold]

I think it would be a good idea to learn a little about proper A/C systems. Not so that you know how to do it but so that you can talk to an electrician. I would also see if you can find an electrician who has wired hospitals or maybe a semiconductor plant seeing as you are in NH. Low noise and proper grounding are a requirement for these applications. You might be able to hire him for an hour to have a look. There is no substitue for getting it right in the first place. It might even cost less than a balanced power box and certainly worth finding out.

 

[Gold]

I think it would be a good idea to learn a little about proper A/C systems. Not so that you know how to do it but so that you can talk to an electrician. I would also see if you can find an electrician who has wired hospitals or maybe a semiconductor plant seeing as you are in NH. Low noise and proper grounding are a requirement for these applications. You might be able to hire him for an hour to have a look. There is no substitue for getting it right in the first place. It might even cost less than a balanced power box and certainly worth finding out.