I’ve touched on this before Im getting alot of noise from my BB when going through PA Im running it straight into PA not through any guitar fx.I’ve tried plugging into separate power board,different SD card, different leads etc . Would it perhaps have anything to do with the fact I have lowered the velocities of the drum kit instruments? I’m at a loss the background static hum is too much ,sometimes it does sometimes it doesnt do it but most times it does …could it be an earthing problem in the house wiring or some such.Looking for help and suggestions
In my experience, hum comes from one of 3 sources:
- Ground loop - usually caused by daisy chaining power to your pedals. Use isolated power to resolve this.
- Interference - usually caused by proximity to LCD monitors or Florescent lighting. Move/point your guitar away from the source.
- Insufficient current - usually caused by using inferior power supplies. The Beat Buddy and other complex digital pedals draw quite a bit of current. Use the power supply you got with the pedal or one that can exceed the current draw needed (I think 500mA if my memory serves me). Most regular pedals will only draw 100-200mA.
I don’t daisy chain it ,it goes straight into power board I thought maybe be it was sharing powerboard with other adaptors but I tried it through its own and it did same thing.I do have it near my computer about 3 foot away but that doesnt explain why the hum comes and goes and it would be a major floor if it played up because its near LCD monitor which I’d imagine if thats what a computer screen is ,no flouro lighting . Interesting about pointing guitar away from unit ,that would be a major downfall of unit and doesnt make sense as people use it at their feet when playing guitar surely it couldnt be because my guitar is pointing at it.
I will try pointing laptop in other direction or just moving it away completely.I do already use the BB adaptor that came with it ,I just want to see if I can get another but cant find one online anywhere.
thanks for your help
Try writing Support to see if they can sell you a power adaptor: support@singularsound.com
If you have single coil pickups, they can cause hum from your amp but unlikely to cause hum from your pedal.
You’ve probably tried this but you could test with a clean configuration—just the pedal straight to your amplifier or PA to identify the variable in your signal chain that causes the noise. The pedal power adaptor should be plugged in by itself into a wall outlet. Try using a default kit and somebody else’s song to rule out the lowered velocities of your custom songs. If there’s noise, check all patch cables. If no noise, add a variable e.g., try with one of your tailored velocity songs. No noise? Add your mixer and keep adding a variable until you find the cause. Keep your computer and cell phone away from your signal chain until you’re ready to test them as a variable.
A few years ago on this forum, a user posted a picture of his floorboard and Fingerstylepicker commented that the spaghetti nest of cables and power cables could cause hum and noise.
I think Phil Flood suggested using a power conditioner. I am not advocating that you throw money at this issue until you’ve eliminated all possible causes. Once you’ve done that, I’d suggest that you can make a case with Support for a faulty pedal.
i do usually have the pedal going straight into mixer i dont run it through my guitar fx chain.I use an acoustic maton with mic and piezo blend pick up.I do however have a few leads going over each other I never thought that would be an issue though …very interesting …so leads crossing over each other can cause problems?I Very good advice using the variable to eliminate certain factors. It’s a worry having to plug the adapter straight into wall socket…not very handy for gigs surely they should be ok to use on power board if there is just the BB adapter going into it you’d think.
thank you very much for your help.Will get into checking all this tomorrow
Only reason you’re plugging it into a wall outlet is to identify and/or eliminate any other receptacle as a possible factor. If that happens to be the case, you’ll have to find a solution for your gig setup.
I plug my BB power adaptor into the convenience outlet of my Voodoo Pedal Power +2 and don’t have any issues (yet ;)) with hum or noise. A possible key point here is that my BB power adaptor is separated from all my other power adaptors which are co-located on a power strip. I have a spaghetti nest of cabling and it has never been an issue—YMMV.
I plug my BB as a standalone into my powered monitors and the only time I plug it into my pedal (signal chain) is if I’m using MIDI for my looper, delay or other modulation.
I think Phil Flood also gave some tips on volume, gain, mixer settings—sorry, I can’t find a link. I ran into noise one time but it turned out that one of my BB output patch cables started to go bad.
The advice we’re giving you is just general information on how to isolate and deal with humming and noise. It’s nothing specific about the beat buddy. The beat buddy doesn’t ‘cause’ interference under normal operation. Your guitar amplifies tiny electrical signals, it’s generally a good idea to keep it away from interference like lights and computer equipment - again, nothing to do with the beat buddy.
If its so susceptible to these issues then it is a problem,flouro lights,computer screens crossover leads,sharing power bricks,playing at gigs now there could be people with mobile phones 10 ft away flouro lights everywhere ,they can land man on the moon surely something is available to counter these issues with BB
I don’t think you quite understand what I was trying to explain. My point was that it’s likely not the Beat Buddy causing your issues (unless it’s faulty). Hum and interference is something all musicians have to deal with when running through amplification. A few good practices of knowing how to identify the source and deal with it will help you a lot. Have a read here: https://www.strymon.net/noise-ground-loops-signal-chain/
yes it was the BB i think where the adaptor goes in.
I mean, it’s not impossible, but I haven’t heard of this issue before. Much more common to be interference from other elements (I struggled with it for a while with my recording setup!) Have you contacted support@singularsound.com? We may be able to replace or service it if the pedal is really the culprit.
Did you mean it is possible?Yes I record with it too and it is a bit of a hassle ,shouldnt have to worry about a computer being near it or with 10 feet of it that just seems really impractical but if thats the case i understand.
I’ve heard from Phil on here that he has heard of that very problem of the adaptor input.I’ve ordered another adaptor from BB just to cover all bases but honestly as soon as I jiggle the part where the adaptor goes in it fixes the problem but it always comes back I’ve purchased a can of compressed air to clean out any dust.The problem about sending it to you guys is I live in Australia.Maybe if you could organise something with your Australian distributor or just send me a new one lol.Im a big fan of your pedal and its really added alot to our live performance.I have tried all the outside interference stuff and the only thing that stops noise is jiggling the adaptor at input.Anyhow thanks for your advice and help.
Hmm - I’d recommend reaching out to Jay via emailing support@singularsound.com He’ll know the best course of action in this situation. He’s also occasionally on the forum, but email is the best way of reaching him.
thank you
Hello everybody!
I also have a humming, crackling noise coming from my BeatBuddy… I use the original powersupply, I don’t have a daisychain, I don’t have a Computer nearby and it has two (stereo!) own channelstrips in my mixer.
And this noise is getting very loud by changing a beat via midi-signal. (SetList-Maker -> loading a song (textfile) -> a midi-preset will be sent -> it’s clearly audible how BeatBuddy rummages about the matching drumkit and beat -> BeatBuddy has loaded the right file -> it still takes a time -> the crashing, rumbling and whistling will return to the humming and crackling.
That doesn’t matter while playing, but between two songs, while I’m changing textfiles, drinking beer or flirting with the (female) audience, it’s annoying.
Oh - new discovery: I’ve justed tried something and now I have located, it is the right output-socket! If only the left/mono socket is used, all is quiet. When the right socket is in use (both or only r), than the show will go on!
But it is no loose contact; if I wobble the plug there is no noise audible. It must be something IN the BeatBuddy…
Can anybody help, does anybody have an idea?
And please excuse my bad english; I’m german and old and I write here with BB to my right and a dictionary to my left… 