[zGoRL8RoLCl]

Hi

I would like to know how to get rid of some kind of pop noise that I hear whenever I try to connect a USB device with external power adapter (like external WD hard disks) to my USB hub. As soon as the USB port touches a port, I hear pop and crackles in my monitors and it continues until the port is fully inserted in place.

My setup is like this:

Adam A5X studio monitors >> balanced XLR >> Presonnus AudioBox interface >> Anker USB Hub (external powered) >> PC

(every power adapter is connected to a Brennenstuhl extension socket with supposed protection against HF, EMI/RFI interference.)

Thanks for any help

 

[71 dB]

How about turning your monitors off when you connect USB devices?

 

[zGoRL8RoLCl]

How about turning your monitors off when you connect USB devices?

yes there are lots of ways to avoid it, but I would like to fix it/remove it because I suspect it might be related to other rare pops and crackles that randomly appear when I am listening.

 

[bigshot]

Have you tried plugging your speakers directly into a USB port on your computer rather than through the hub? Your problem isn't the wall power. The line conditioner is probably doing nothing. Your problem is the split USB through the hub.

 

[zGoRL8RoLCl]

did some research and it seems attaching ferrite bead to cables might be something worth trying... hoping this fixes it.

 

[bigshot]

not bloody likely. make sure you can get a refund when it doesn't work.

 

[castleofargh]

agreed ferrite bead has a very specific and limited role, which is attenuating some very high frequencies. it's not the first thing I would think about when the issue is clearly coming from a physical action.
you could probably try different hubs with different standards(usb2 instead of 3), or one that is not powered. and change your audio interface for one that might be less or not sensitive to plugging another device into the hub. or you could maybe add a USB card to your PC and use only the audio interface on that one(which actually might not be such a bad idea in general). but my first thought and sure fix would be to have the 2 monitors on a common electric switch and to turn them OFF before you plug external devices(at least if that noise is loud and really an issue for you).

 

[bigshot]

I would just put other stuff on the hub and plug the DAC directly into the computer. You've got more than on USB port I'm sure.

 

[zGoRL8RoLCl]

I would just put other stuff on the hub and plug the DAC directly into the computer. You've got more than on USB port I'm sure.

problem is I do my music production on a Surface Pro, and it has only 1 USB port.

I tried the following and the results were consistently the same: pops and crackles can be heard while the metal part of USB cable touches the metal part of the USB port.

- different brands of USB 3 and 2 hubs, powered and bus powered
- removing the PC from adapter, running on battery
- running studio monitor on a different wall socket than pc and hub
- and more...

One interesting thing is that I have a fan/air purifier in the room and when I switch it on and off I can hear a similar, but louder, pop and crackle in my studio monitors, even if they are on different wall sockets.
So I am pretty sure there is something going on in my apartment's electrical wiring.

Is there anything I can do to "filter" the electricity that comes into my pc, hub, and studio monitors for this kind of pop and crackle?


Is something like this maybe what I need? I'm willing to pay the expensive price if it cleans up my guitar amp too.
http://www.furmanpower.com/product/discrete-symmetrical-power-filter-15-amp-IT-REF 15I

 

[bigshot]

If you get it with battery only, it isn't the wall power. I don't think you can filter it. You probably need to try other USB hubs, but I would bet there's a good chance they all will do it.