Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jhaelin]

hey,

i recently bought a Toneport UX1 audio interface to record guitar and vocals on my mac-ibook.
but i seem to always get dirty sound quality on my recordings.
it has something to do with grounding (i think) because if i handle the cables for the guitar or mic at the input port, the "fuzzy" sound gets reduced.

i'm pretty new to the audio recording thing so any and all help with the fundamentals of getting clear quality recordings would be greatly appreciated!

thanks!

p.s. if it is a grounding issue how do i ground my gear to prevent the fuzz?

[gsxr750r]

There are usually grounding issues in older apartments, IMHO.

Some things to try:

1. A new cable going from the guitar to the macbook
2. Try turning off appliances and anything plugged in around your apartment. I have a small humidifier that makes my transformer buzz (they share the same outlet). I turn it off when I want to listen to music.
3. Make sure your handphone isn't close to your equipment. Even when not being used, they emit a signal which can interfere with stuff.
4. I'm not familiar with how your guitar works, but if you have an amp or something powered plugged into it (other than the macbook) you might be getting the dirty power from that. You might have to run your macbook on battery, as well as the guitar (if possible). I'll bet you a goguma that will solve your problem. I have a base-unit for my notebook that used to cause my TV-out to be fuzzy when I was plugged into it. If I ran my notebook off of battery power, and plugged into the TV, I wouldn't get the fuzz.

You can end up spending a pretty penny on a line conditioner power supply thingie which could solve it, too. I have no experience with those things, and have only read that they are expensive.