Hope you can help me. I am going to explain the situation in some detail so that people know the scenario etc.
I am getting noise issues from my QC. I am not an electronics wizz so any help appreciated.
Essentially this is my chain:-
Guitar → QC → QC Connected to my macbook via USB cable. Which is connected to my M-Audio BX5 studio monitors.
When I play there is noise in the signal. Ie I can hear the hiss when I am playing. Admittedly it is non-existent when I play cleans but I play mainly high gain music and it is really prominent.
Of course I have tried to use a noise gate and of course when I am not playing that gets rid of the noise. but as soon as I start to play and the gate opens it lets the hum back in too. (Fully aware that is the whole point of the gate but just wanted to set the scene a bit)
I have tried different guitars. different sockets in my house but still no luck … still getting the noise. It is there when I play through headphones too.
I have tried not pointing towards my computer or facing my monitors.
I have tried DI Boxes and bought all the gadgets that are supposed to combat this.
Last week after a youtube session I noticed there was a lot of hype around the CIOKS DC7. I knew it wasnt cheap but I thought if that can deliver “Clean” power to the QC then surely this would solve my issue.
After setting up the CIOKS using the correct parralel connectors set to the correct voltage … I turned on my Quad Cortex expecting all nasty noise to be gone but no luck … its still there.
I guess my question, is this normal and people just accept this if they play high gain? (Ps I my output is set to 0.0db and of course set to Instrument)
I feel like I have tried absolutely everything but not getting anywhere. I thought the CIOKS was the answer as everyone raves about them but still getting the same problem.
welcome to playing with high gain. Best bet is to use the adaptive gate s/c (placed after the amp model) with the key set to where you guitar is plugged into.
I have a DC7, but really only use it because I can power the QC with other pedals. I won’t change the level of hiss a high gain amp adds, and neither will other power supplies unfortunately. That’s just how high gain amps are
Do you have a buffered FX pedal you can try between the guitar and the QC input? I noticed that at least on my unit, the QC has a prominent hiss at 3000 Hz that disappears if a buffered pedal is placed before the input. I wonder if that is what you’re hearing.
Other thing to try is connecting one of the XLR outputs to a grounded device (which doesn’t have to be turned on). So maybe try connecting the QC directly to your monitors.
Is it related to your home electrics? The electrics are awful in my house, and so certain wall sockets produce a huge amount of noise if I plug the QC in to the wall. It’s quieter in other parts of the house, but the QC power supply is notoriously noisy.
If I power the QC via a battery it fixes the problem, unless my speakers / FRFR cab / monitors are plugged in the the same circuit in the same part of the house.
The only way I can fully escape all the noise is to use battery powered speakers
True. FWIW in my house the stock power supply is quieter than the DC7. I still have it for convenience and for powering other stuff nicely but the stock PS (even though annoying and flimsy) is the quietest in my home.
I also bought a furman power conditioner that I plug the stock PS into. That helped a tiny bit. But for me it varies so much day to day and different times of day. Frustrating, I think the power in my area and my house is noisy.
I think this is why I mainly play humbuckers and noiseless single coils. But even then I’ve found a lot of variability even with noiseless pickups.
End of story is just embrace the noise I think. It’s gonna be there in some form no matter what when the gain is up.
@Theflc1@Kfletcher It seems like you are getting some noise beyond the expected familiar “hiss” of a high-gain amplifier. I wonder if the USB or other cables are causing some sort of ground loop.
I assume you were previously plugging your guitar into the Hi-Z input on your audio interface and using amp sim plugins on your computer. Does that arrangement create the extra unwanted hum/noise?
What if you disconnect everything from your Quad Cortex except for your guitar, power, and headphones? In that case, there should be no ground loops with the QC.
When I lived in an old rental house 2+ years ago, I would get noticeable amounts of noise (beyond the usual high-gain hiss) when I used my QC with my monitors. I just resolved not to use it for recording–I already had another audio interface and a bunch of NDSP plug-ins which satisfied what I needed in that regard.
Then I moved to my current condo and the noise went away between the QC and my monitors. I didn’t change anything about my gear setup.
The electrical wiring and/or environment in your space makes just as much a difference as a power supply and pickups do. Unfortunately, some of you who are having issues may just be in a noisy spot.
@carl Oh yeah that is a good point actually. I will try disconnecting everything. Yes just tried the Hi-Z input from my audio interface and yeah still getting the hum/noise there.
Thanks @DiffractionCircuit Yeah I have a feeling this is probably more down to the electrics in my house. I guess I was kind of naively hoping the DC7 would help with this as everyone is raving about them. But in my situation it seems to have created more noise instead of less. Probably just in a noisy spot.
Hi, i have the same problem…
2 days ago I noticed that my sound was crackling when I was playing. When I stopped, it was completely silent. As soon as I hit a note, there’s a hissing noise. I’ve plugged my out into both my P.A. and my poweramp+cab and both give the same results. I’ve tried different guitars, different cables and once again, hise noise. My Quad Cortex is currently powered by a Cioks Dc7 and the Cioks Crux.
My input gain doesn’t go any higher than -17db and my out level doesn’t go any higher than -12db. I use the stock amp in quad. The ground lift is off (i tried it at on and off and no change). It’s bad.
I have noticed this too for a few months now. Any gain and I get a hissing sound on top of the note. The more gain the more it is there. Using an OD before the QC does not produce this hiss just the gain pedals. If I am jamming to a backing track it don’t hear it as much but it is enough that it does come through sometimes and when just playing the guitar it quite prominently there. It is NOT there when not playing. Have checked all gains, using the 3.7db cut on the input then a gain block to add it back in at the start of the grid, outputs 0 ending with around -12db output level.
I noticed that the QC (at least the hardware unit I had) has a whine or whistle right at 3000hz (and to a lesser extent at all intervals of 1500hz) that goes away if there’s a buffered pedal in front of the QC.
I made a video of the noise going on and off with a CAE Line Driver (true bypass off, buffer when on).
If your QC is quiet with an OD pedal but noisy with QC drives, try using a buffer in front.
Ultimately I switched to a Nano Cortex which does not have these noise issues IME.
The fizzy hissing is from the OD pedals. There’s not any way around that. Buffer isn’t going to change the hiss. Actually in my experience it could add to it because there’s more high end in the signal from the buffer
