Ground loop issues...

I'm pretty sure I have a ground loop in my system. When I use a cheap ground lift adapter that cost 25 cents on my power cord, it gets rid of maybe 85-90% of the noise I hear. Not sure if I can buying something better to eliminate the noise completely.
I also would like to keep my connections grounded for safety reasons.

At BHphoto, under the humming eliminator section, there are 54 products they sell.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ipp=100&ci=15139&N=3992462126&setIPP=100&srtclk=itemspp

Most of the stuff sells for $50 & I know nothing about them & if they will be more beneficial than a simple ground lift plug
I seen a few people recommend the Ebtech Hum X, but it is only rated at 6A max current draw/720 Watts. I don't want a adapter to limit current on my amplifier.

Any advice on this?

Mind you, I found a lot more expensive audio grounding options on the net

Telos Audio Design's Grounding Noise Reducer for $5,000
https://www.thecableco.com/Product/Grounding-Noise-Reducer

Acoustic Revive's RGC-24 Grounding Conditioner for $1,050
https://www.thecableco.com/Product/RGC-24-Grounding-Conditioner

Audio Magic's Ground Disrupter - Blue Dot Premier for $850
https://www.thecableco.com/Product/Ground-Disrupter---Blue-Dot

Synergistic Research's Grounding Block for $600
https://www.thecableco.com/Product/Grounding-Block

There's also the Blue Audio Circle "Quiet" Power Cord that is said to help with noise
http://www.bluecircle.com/page129.html

All these seem to resolve ground loop issues that cause noise in my system, anyone know if one would work better than the others.

 

You've got a headphone amp that pulls more than 720W?

 

Probably not, but from my experience with isolation transformers, having any limit on the current can mess up the sound.

 

All power cicuits are current limited. That's what fuses and circuit breakers are for.

 

Ground loops are very fickle things to track down. Balanced connections often fix this, but it's not guaranteed. What gear are you running? A DI box (transformer isolation box) could also work.

Power conditioners should only be considered after you've tried the above.

 

Right now I'm using the Woo Audio WA2, but do have another amp in repair (that I should be getting back soon) that is balanced through the transformer. When I ran the chain fully balanced, it didn't help with it with the noise at all, unless I added the ground lift adapter.

I also tried RCA/XLR caps & upgrading the power cord (which actually amplified the noise).

 

I still say try a DI first. You can head down to your local guitar centre and rent a stereo passive DI for $2.

 

Guitar Center rents equipment?

 

I think an isolation transformer could help. I use a Topaz Ultra Isolator in my home office that I bought for $60 or $80 (I forget now) at an electronics surplus outlet nearby. I didn't have a ground loop, but I do have electrical noise from a crapton of equipment being in the office... Anyhow something like this, I think, is worth a shot.

 

I actually did buy a isolation transformer. It didn't work in either the isolated sockets or the power amp sockets. The noise passed through all of that.

 

What was it that you bought?

 

Any place that rents PA gear should have DI's available.

 

Is the WA2 noisy with the RCA inputs (and outputs if you're also using it as a pre) disconnected?

I'd try getting the entire chain of equipment on the same plug. If it is, try disconnecting anything else on that circuit. Check the equipment bond connections on the other equipment as well... They should be solid to the case and solid to the ground pin on the cord.

Try swapping power cord cables on your other gear, it's possible the ground may be lifted or have a poor connection elsewhere, so the Woo is taking the current and causing noise.


I wouldn't abdicate lifting the ground to solve the issue myself... Having stray current there is not ideal, but having a ground fault go through your audio connections could be worse.

 

I would eschew such a measure myself. Maybe installing a GFCI at the same time could give some peace of mind, though.

Anyhow in regards to the iso transformers... they're not all the same. Some have the primary and secondary coils interweaved and have significant capacitive coupling. Others have Faraday cages and very minimal capacitive coupling. I think my unit is spec'd at 0.0005uF, and weighs about 30 pounds. I don't have a way to test the theory, but I should think it'd break a ground loop.

 

Power conditioners are mostly a waste of money. It's just so Furman and co can sell idiots something inbetween the strips that are Surge/EMI/RFI suppressed and the voltage regulators that start at about 500 and run into the thousands.

 

Furman does have some good products but that's not to say there isn't a whole lot of snake oil out there in this segment...

 

This worked, only my amp & DAC connected to a wall outlet without ground lift adapters got rid of the noise. Unfortunately, I only have two power outlets in my room & unless I want to unplug my TV or my computer to listen to just music, I need to find another solution.

 

A power bar or multi adapter would be the cheapest way to get more sockets.

It would also be nice to find the actual cause of the loop, which I suspect is a poor connection to ground somewhere. Could be a painted surface on a chassis, a loose screw, etc. It could also be a component inadvertently touching ground, although I think this is less likely.

Ground current sucks ass, especially in audio because of the noise. I would tend to want to just find the issue and fix it, rather than buying a band-aid type product.

 

It's definitely not my amp. As I tested 2 different tube amps & one solid state amp & they all exhibited the same noise.
All of them with different XLR & RCA cables, different power cords & with & without the DAC connected.

I'm not knowledgeable enough in opening up the wall outlets & tinkering inside or replacing them. Not unless I want to chance a fire starting lol.

 

Pick up the set, take it with you to grandmothers house (or someone else's but not your neighbours) wire it up and see , hear actually, if it does the same there.
Then you know if your local mains is to blame.