I am looking for a Pre Amp that will sound clean with my microphones.
I am using a Behringer Xenyx 1042 and it buzzes like a chain saw
Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers
Dewey
What is your budget and what mic’s do you have ?
There are lot’s of causes of buzzing wiring, power supplies, electrical equipment, bees and wasps to name a few. Have you eliminated all all other sources and are definitely sure it’s your pre amp? It would be a real pain to go out buy a new pre amp and find out it wasn’t the original pre amp that was causing the problem.
Does it buzz with nothing plugged in?
Have you thought about ground loops?
Even though I’d not recommend Behringer it shouldn’t buzz!
I am using an MXL V67 for Vocals and Behringer B5 x 2 in XY pattern for acoustic guitars etc.
These are going through the Xenyx and into a Lexicon Alpha soundcard into Cubase Studio 5
cheers
Dewey
Hi, Dewey!
You should check your audio chain serially, starting at the “back end” Lexicon Alpha sound card, by turning everything in front of it off to see if it’s creating the buzz you’re getting. If it’s not, then proceed to turn on the Xenyx, preferably with some sort of load on the inputs, like a dummy load connector. However, if you don’t have such in hand, if your microphones are phantom powered, and the Xenyx permits shutting off the phantom powering, do so with the shortest cables you’ve got, connected to the microphones (stops the mics from feeding audio into the pre-amp, so you can see if the pre-amp is generating the buzz, although the longer the cabling to the microphones, the more likely they may introduce noise and potential buzz into the preamp). If there’s still no buzz then the problem is either in the microphones (unlikely) or you are picking up radio frequency (RF) noise from a nearby radio transmitter or the light dimmers in your studio (which can also come through the power lines, too!).
The trick is to isolate where the buzz is coming from. It’s unlikely the preamp is the source. However, it’s sensitive inputs or power supply may be “detecting” something that’s creating the buzz.
If this sounds like too much “techiespeak”, see if you can borrow another preamp from a local dealer (not a Xenyx) and try it out in your studio to see if it helps the problem or the problem is still present. If it’s still present, it’s not your preamp! You’re getting interference from another source that’s creeping into your audio chain.
Once you’ve tried the above, and either solved the problem or need further info. Come on back here and tell us what you’ve tried, and what you’ve found.
Hope this helps! Keep us posted on progress.
Thanks
Beuing Saturday gives me a bit of time to start tracking or back tracking to see where it’s coming from.
I have pretty good quality cables and I do have a cable that is 1m long that will do for checking.
I’ll post the results
Dewey
Oh! And, one more thing, Dewey!
Make sure the system has only 1 grounding point to the mains power ground.
If the power plugs on your gear all use a grounding pin, make sure they are all plugged into the same outlet strip, which is then powered from a common “wall socket” mains power connection. If you plug different parts of the signal chain into differing power outlets, you can easily wind up with “ground loops” that will create buzzes.
Hope this helps, and let us know how you make out!