I have hiss-like, sizzle-like, and oscillating noises coming from my new Aeros Gold Edition running 5.2.1. The hiss is so loud that it distracts from the music. The signal chain is simply guitar, cable, Aeros, cable, amp. Nothing else. I have tried diiferent guitars, amps, cables and power supplies, all top end products. I have tried different power outlets, some dedicated circuits. I have tried turning off or unplugging electrical / electronic things around the house. I have tried organizing cables to reduce interference - separated, crossing at right angles, ferrite chokes, etc. The retailer sent me a second unit. Same noises. Iāve contacted Singular Sound Support. As I wait for their reply, I thought Iād see if the community has any experience with this. Again, the usual suspect, the PSU, has not proved to be my issue here. Really like the Aeros, just want it play nice in my rig. Thanks for your thoughts!
Quite unusualānot impossible, for two units in a row to have the same symptoms. Support may ask that you provide a video that also displays your pedal sound level and audio input/output.
Some common questions they may also ask:
Does it hiss if using the Singular Sound PSU?
Is there a cell phone nearby?
Have you tried moving it into another room, perhaps one without any fluorescent lights?
Would you consider trying the beta firmware to see if it still makes noise?
You might be further asked to test by isolating the looper by disconnecting everything but headphones and assuming thereās no noise, plugging in one cable at a time, then your guitar and etc.
Hope you resolve it soon. Please let us know what it turns out to be.
Iāve considered the sound levels a bit as you suggested. I can muffle or tilt the frequency of the hiss with different recording and playback levels, but they never remove it.
I get hiss with all PSUās including the:
Factory Supplied 500 ma
TrueTone 1 Spot 1,700 ma
Boss PSA120R 500 ma
Boss PSB-1U 2,000 ma
I tested with no cell phones or āelectrical emittingā devices around. That was one of my first thoughts too, that maybe it was some RF interference.
I tried different rooms, outlets, no lights on. No change.
As long as SS and the Retailer are fine with me trying the Beta I see no reason why not.
I canāt get the looper to drive any headphones I have from any of the outputs. Nor any stereo amp I have either. I need at least 6db more of boost, so I have to run it through my Yamaha mixer to drive those.
Well, I heard back from support today. I had already tried everything they offered as a possible solution. I have to say Iām surprised. Unfortunately, I have to send the looper back to Sweetwater - Iām out of time to solve this. No Aeros for me. I like the paradigm a lot, itās a great idea, but itās just unusable in my very simple rig if I canāt remove the noises. Shame.
I was hoping to hear that you had resolved the issue. I tested my Aeros to see if anything had changed but it did not have any hiss or other noise. Sorry about the issues you experienced.
Check if your input level on the Aeros settings in not to high (you can reduce this)
Check if the output level is not to high
You can twist between this two to get less hiss
reduce input and toggle with the output
Hey @NYHC thanks for your reply. I appreciated your suggestion. The different inputs and outputs and their levels on the looper were one of the first adjustments I tried - itās a good suggestion. I worked with the looper levels, the guitar, and the amp levels. I can muffle the hiss a bit, or tilt the frequency a bit, but I can not remove the hiss by adjusting the levels. Something else seems to be generating it.
Some rambling thoughtsā¦
Not sure it would be useful, but maybe if you can record (interface if you have one) the hiss/noise (WAV file) SS might be able to do a frequency analysis and determine if some of the frequencies correspond to any clocking frequencies going on in the Aeros. Kind of a long shot if they could do this. If you happen to have Audacity, it has frequency analyzer that you could look a WAV or mp3 file also.
Good thought trying the ferrites. Those usually do clean up RFI related hiss. Are most of the amps youāre trying have high (Z) impedance inputs? Not a chance the cables Areos to amp might have been TRS rather than TS?
Does boosting the guitar signal with a pedal give better signal which reduces the apparent hiss level (signal to noise ratio SNR). Possibly a levels problem (low output single coil PUās?)
On the chance you have a portable AM band radio, tune it to the low end on the frequency where there is no station and move it around the Areos and connected equipment. Sometimes this can narrow down a source of RFI noise.
Hey @MarkF48 thanks for your reply! Iām smiling because you went deep on this one. : ). A few quick responses. I donāt have Audacity for the frequency analyzer. The Aeros goes through a good quality TS instrument cable to either a guitar amp or through a mixer to the stereo line outputs to a stereo amp and speakers. No TRS cables or TS speaker cables in the chain by mistake. Boosting the signal from the guitar and working with the levels doesnāt remove the hiss - changes the sound tilt, but not removed.
The portable AM radio scanner was interesting. Everything in the room is dead or acceptably close to dead quiet when a PSU for the Aeros is not plugged in. Every good quality PSU wart I have makes strong noise on the AM radio (and all are slightly different noises) when plugged into an outlet, whether plugged into the Aeros or not and whether the Aeros is turned on or not, and when plugged into the Aeros the PSU noise transmits into it pretty strongly, and then more faintly throughout the entire system. The Boss PSUās were the worst, the TrueTone One Spot better, and the SS factory-supplied PSU was the least offensive but still close to the others in noise. These are some good PSU warts too.
I donāt know what this all means, but I will try the one thing I havenāt yet tried yet (literally, I think I tried almost everything) and Iāll order a really good $$ power supply that has better filtering and isolation. Iāll avoid any units based on a stand-alone wart, as all the good warts I used introduced noise back into the electrical system.
To be fair, Daniel @DanielSingularSound asked me to try a high-end supply. I donāt use pedals much so I donāt own one and also couldnāt see how one measly, albeit good-quality wart used only with the Aeros could be the issue. Weāll see, Daniel. Maybe youāll be vindicated. I post back in a few days.
Although you have covered all bases here I found the noise I experienced from the Aeros was eliminated by having a separate PSU for the Aeros and also Phantom Power from the mixer was an issue. My mixer (EV 30M) has permanent Phantom power. The work-around for this was to use a DI.
I bought a 1Spot CS-12 power supply. Nice unit, but it didnāt solve the noise issue. Just btw, it also emits electrical interference that the AM radio test picks up. So, donāt know what any of that means. I assume the CS-12 is a linear supply, and the wall warts maybe are switching supplies.
The Aeros is a very good idea that for some reason just doesnāt want to play quietly in my house. That limits its use for me - serious performing or recording with this much noise isnāt practical. It can only be a creative platform for exploring ideas in my house. Itās also great for practicing and improving my playing. Just ignore the hiss.
Now, hopefully, the next software release will address the gremlins Iām experiencing. Mostly Iām having random tracks not saving. Once I lost a whole loop.
Thanks to those in the Aeros community who responded with suggestions. Much appreciated.
Iāve noticed also that the Aeros outputs donāt like unbalanced (TS) cables (guitar leads) to amps. (Manufactured as TS).
Maybe Singular sound could change to TRS when they add extra requested outputs (for multi-tracks) in their new model!!!
It may make a difference to amps but definitely to mixers (XLR/trs).
