Reddit mentions of Ebtech Hum X Ground Line Voltage Filter,Black

http://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8

If it seems more apparent when other devices on powered on, you may be experiencing a ground loop. To test this, unplug all other devices except the amp and preamp. If the sound is gone, start plugging things in, one device at a time, and power them on. If it starts to hum, unplug the last device you plugged in to see if the humming is gone. Is that device a 2 prong or 3 prong plug? If it's a 2 prong, that may be your problem. You can get a cheater plug from a hardware store to see if the humming goes away with all devices plugged in and running. If that cures the problem, you may want to purchase a Hum X. The Hum X will filter out the ground loop noise and will be safer for your amp than a cheater plug.

I have a Parasound HCA-750A. It suffers from ground loop hum and this fixed my problem.

Still not grounded correctly. Try to ground each of them separately to see if the hum changes/disappears. Could be numerous things: TT, preamp, receiver, or even your house wiring (hopefully not this). I would google "ground stereo equipment" or something similar and try to follow the different steps in order to isolate the problem. There are also products made to eliminate ground loop hum such as Hum Eliminator and Hum X Voltage Hum Filter. I actually used the second one at an old house I rented which had shit wiring and it eliminated the hum I always got when connecting my TT to my computer for sampling and then played out through the receiver. I have it in my current house to the outlet my stereo equipment is plugged in though it's probably more for show now than actually functionality.

That sounds stressful! I've created (free) accounts with FedEx and UPS so that I can have incoming packages held at a nearby store instead of left at my doorstep. It's actually quite handy, especially for expensive gear that I know will be sitting there all day while I'm at work. I also get emails from FedEx or UPS as soon as a label gets created with my address, regardless of whether the vender has sent me a tracking #t, which is helpful because, as you noted, Massdrop sometimes sends you the shipping email well after the package has actually shipped.


Regardless, congrats on the studio monitors! The JBLs are killer for the price -- kind of the 6xx of the near-field world in terms of value.


As for the buzzing, I've had all sorts or horrible buzzes in my various apartment buildings. Here are some things to try just in case the surge protector with noise filtering doesn't help (my very expensive Furman didn't anything for my own issues). You're smarter than I am and probably know all of this and more, but just in case it helps you (or others):

1. Confirm that it is a ground loop. Use a cheater plug on the valhalla when it's buzzing. If the buzz goes away, then it's a ground loop hum. You shouldn't use cheater plugs permanently for safety reasons, but they are helpful in diagnosing the problem.
   
   
   
2. Identify the source of the loop. Unplug everything in your system, turn on the valhalla (or JBLs, whichever is buzzing at the time), and then plug everything in one by one until you can hear the buzz again. Often the source is from a cable connection for tv/internet, if that's wired to components in your system. Disconnect the coax from the wall and see if the hum disappears. If that's it, try this on the coax directly out of the wall and before your modem/tv
   
   
   
3. As a safe alternative to the cheater plug, Hum X works wonders for ground loops. Throw it on your Valhalla or the component that's giving you trouble, and it will safely isolate it and you can be done with the problem.
   
   
   
4. Balanced cables are often helpful for buzzing/interference between components, especially on studio monitors, but it tends to be much more expensive to find a DAC with balanced outs. Even a cheap audio interface from Focusrite or Sternberg might help if you just want to feed a balanced connection to your JBLs, even though you have nicer DACs for you headphones. Or just spend $900 like me on a Dangerous Music Source as a monitor controller ;)
   
   
   
5. It doesn't sound like you're experiencing this, but for anybody else who has a hum on an amplifier's transformer that none of the above will solve, it could be DC offset from something in your building, like a dimmer, refrigerator, plasma tv... This guy from Emotiva saved my home theater where my expensive Furman line filter failed. I don't know anybody else who makes this exact product. I have a powerful Parasound amp for my 2-channel setup that was getting interference from something in my building, and I was about to sell it before plugging it into this. Viola, crystal clear.
   
   
   Sorry for the essay, just trying to help!

It's not ideal. I did it few times at gigs when I was running 2 amps and I just couldn't get the ground loop problem solved any other way. [This] (https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8/ref=sxts_k2p_hero1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=2668835622&pd_rd_wg=ieuqc&pf_rd_r=9HYDAPE4TY1JJJJB31M9&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B0002E4YI8&pd_rd_w=QsMwP&pf_rd_i=hum+eliminator&pd_rd_r=JSCNBDPXB5NB2RH38181&ie=UTF8&qid=1479088848&sr=1) is a better solution, but it's not as cheap as ground lifting. But with the Ebtech you know you won't get shocked.


Have you tried unplugging things around your house while your Blues Jr. is humming? The house I'm in now gave me a similar problem when ever I plugged my pedal board power supply in. No hum with the guitar plugged directly into the amp. But as soon as I plugged in my pedalboard (even with all the pedals turned off) the hum would come back. My buddy told me it wasn't my pedalboard, it was something else in the house. So, I started unplugging things all over the house. At the other end of my house, probably 50 feet from my practice room, I unplugged my computer speakers and the noise vanished. Those powered computer speakers were screwing up my house wiring somehow.



Good luck tracking it down.

I've been having a similar problem. Some research lead me to 'ground loops'. It can be a static-y hum often times. Try a Ground Loop Isolator of some kind. I have xlr and this sorta worked for me. A cheap way to test an otherwise expensive issue. If you're not using xlr, you can try more common methods for cars. There's also cutting it off at the source by using an ac jack isolator. Or if you can't afford that, try using noise reduction plug ins from other DAWs. I use isotope to remove my noise now. It's pricey, sure, but it's 10000% worth its price. A beautiful piece of software that's perfect for my processing when I'm not using Reaper or Audacity.

This is designed to solve that problem: http://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8

An Ebtech Hum X fixed this for me. A UPS alone did not fix it for me. The Hum X sits in line on my UPS power cable. Computer is plugged into UPS obviously. The UPS doesn't draw high peak power from the wall, so it never exceeds the Hum X's power rating. They are a little pricey at $80, but it's the only thing that worked for me when every mouse movement seemed to be causing humming and buzzing.

Given your situation, I would recommend studio monitors. For under $1000 I'd recommend a pair of Yamaha HS5's with the matched HS8S sub. I have the older version of the HS5's (HS50M) and they are fantastic for audio production, and work very well for music listening too. The HS5's have a pretty flat frequency response, so this is very helpful in production. I've had mine for 12 years and they are still working great.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HS5
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HS8S

As a side note, you won't wear out a speaker by doing production vs music listening, it's all the same to the speaker. I don't have any specific DAC recommendations, but I would lean towards a good USB DAC that has ground loop isolation in it. That is the only thing I needed to get for mine as I was getting bus noise from the computer. However, if you end up with that problem, get a ground loop isolator like this: https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499097291&sr=8-1&keywords=hum-x

You can try this on the Denon.

https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8

Does not degrade audio.
If it doesn’t work, simply return it.

Noise when no music is playing could be a sign of RF or grounding issues.

The "best" way to fix it? Probably an isolation transformer. You could pick up a "Hum exterminator" and see if that fixes the problem (not cheap) https://www.amazon.ca/Ebtech-Hum-X-Exterminator/dp/B0002E4YI8 Or for a temporary solution, use a ground lift plug (cheap, but never use this method as a permanent solution).

Of course the very best way to fix the problem would be rewire the building.

This is all speculation, you could just have a badly made audio chip (pretty common to) and an external interface could solve the problem as well. I would pick up a ground-lift/cheater plug (you can make one pretty easily) to test the issue (only good as a temporary fix). https://www.parts-express.com/eaton-419gy-ac-3-prong-ground-lift-grounding-plug-adapter-with-lug--110-211

*note these are not legal in many areas, consider them test equipment only and not a solution.

HUM X

this annoyed me so much. the way that i got around it with my laptop was to plug it into one of these

DO NOT USE GROUND LIFTS AS YOU COULD POTENTIALLY DIE


use one of these instead.
http://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464034854&sr=8-1&keywords=ebtech+hum

I have one more option for you. The Ebtech Hum-X may be able to solve the issue for you without compromising your audio quality. I have used them in the past with decent results. You would plug your PC into the Hum-X and then into your power strip. In my experience, they can help solve your issues. However, if your PC uses more than 720 watts, they will not work for you, as that is the max safe rating of the Hum-X. Which is why I suggested removing USB power first. The Hum-X is situational.

Link:

https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8

Might be a grounding issue. Try using a different outlet for the speakers and the computer.

I ended up needing to get a 'Hum X' to resolve a similar issue. http://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8

Thank you for your reply. I had someone recommend hum x. Are you familiar with this? Is $80 complete overkill?

This is one of those setups I want to scream K.I.S.S.(keep it simple stupid)! Buuuut I don't think you're stupid. ;)

Before we begin, here are my not-at-all-technical definitions to help clarify the rest of my post:
> Hum = Sounds like a quiet/distant printer, fluctuates between steady and irregular.

> Static = Sounds like a fuzzy noise or radio static, stays steady and regular.

• First of all, don't use in-line ground loop isolators, and especially don't use as many as you are. In fact, avoid using them at all costs, because they will degrade audio fidelity. Instead, you should fix the hum issue at the ground level, which is the source of the issue. In order to accomplish this, plug your mixer in through one of these: Ebtech Hum X, and in most cases, this will remove nearly all the hum without altering any analog signals going to/from your mixer.
  
  
• Second, the more analog audio going into your line in, the more opportunities to introduce hum and static. Instead of connecting the mixer to your streaming PC via another analog input, such as a 3.5mm input on a soundcard(internal or otherwise), use the USB out on the mixer. This cuts out a huge source of hum, because any analog in/out near your PC will be near a lot of EMI, which introduces hum. If you're really paranoid about hum, you can connect the USB mixer to your PC via a USB cable with ferrite cores, such as this one. While ferrite cores do alter the electric current, much like an in-line ground loop isolator, the digital signal will not be distorted.
  
  
• Now you need a baseline. Set all levels on your mixer to 0, including mic channel, mixamp channel, gaming PC channel, and Mon/Main outs. Next, on your PC, go to recording devices, open Properties on the recording device you're using, go to Levels, and set it to ~90%. After that, check to make sure you're using 2channel 44kHz or 48kHz. Either are fine. Then, go to OBS, set all multipliers to 1x, and your Mic/Aux level to 100%. This is baseline, aka the best it gets for noise.
  
  
• Lastly, and be careful here, turn your mic gain all the way up. This will sound distorted and bad, so turn mic gain down until the loudest voice you expect to use on stream, at the distance you expect to be away from the mic, no longer clips. Once this is done, you'll have to adjust the mixamp and gaming PC levels at the source(knob on mixamp, volume slider in windows) up/down until you can clearly hear your lowest speaking voice. You may have to do this case-by-case, or game-by-game, because not all games are mixed to the same.
  
  
  This is as good as it gets for noise, or very nearly. If you still need more volume, turn up the recording device in Windows from ~90% to 100%. From here on out, any more volume you add anywhere in the chain will boost hum/static right along with the rest of the audio.
  
  Hope that stream of conscious makes sense and helps.
  

I've got the same monitors, they are great. As others have suggested, you should seriously considering using a proper DAC to get the best quality sound. I'm running mine off of Scarlett interface.

I had an issue with monitors picking up noise generated by my computer's PSU, which runs on the same AC circuit. A pair of these solved that problem for me.

I have the same setup, except that my interface is a Scarlett 2i2 instead of the Behringer. I had some white noise and an occasional pop. I did three things recently which helped tremendously:

1. I've now got my headphones plugged into the interface rather than the computer sound port
   
   2)I spent $79+tax on an Ebtech Hum X Voltage Hum Filter https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002E4YI8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which the computer is now plugged into. (The Scarlett runs on usb power from the computer--I don't know if the Behringer does or has its own power brick. If so then I'd plug that into the hum filter.)
   
   
2. I got the best results from changing the xlr cords to high quality oxygen-free ones. You have to get two, obviously, so it's another ~80 bucks, but that's what finally got rid of the occasional pops.
   
   Good luck!

I had the same problem. I got one of these Ebtech Hum X Voltage Hum Filter. I wanted to get an isolator that helped with the buzzing, but didn't introduce another item in the analog audio chain. Because the problem was with the power path, I felt addressing it from the power side would be a better solution than potentially affecting the analog audio side.

Just one.

If you are getting hissing issues with these (I did most likely will due to the power electronics found in my laptop charger adapter), you may want to also look into getting something like this.

i had a groundloop hum in my powered monitors... what worked for me was buying one of those hum-x things http://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8 and plugging it into my computer... problem solved

You know what? You were right. After ruling out every other possible component causing the problem, I finally found a three-prong to two-prong ground lift adapter and started plugging my devices into it just to see if a ground loop was actually the culprit here.

Turns out it was a ground loop, but it sure as hell didn't sound like a normal ground loop. I find it interesting that a ground loop can manifest in this way. In almost every other piece of audio equipment a ground loop sounds completely different. The sound this thing was making sounded like radio frequency interference or electro-magnetic interference from a cell phone or something, rather than the tell-tale hum of a normal loudspeaker ground loop.

I was pretty convinced that it wasn't the speakers, since I'd been using this exact audio setup for my last computer without any problems whatsoever. The only new thing I'd added to this setup was a pc. So I figured that the computer would have been the thing causing the ground loop. Technically it was the computer causing the signal, but when I took the ground away from the computer the speakers were still picking it up. When I took the ground away from the speakers, the signal disappeared. This part kinda baffles me. If one device is sending the signal, disconnecting its ground should make it impossible for the other device to receive it, right? Yet it was somehow still getting through.

Either way, it's an easy fix now that I know what's happening here. I just have to slap a ground loop isolator on the AC plug for my speakers and I'll never hear it again. Hopefully anybody else out there who is trying to google-fu their way through this same problem will be able to find this post useful.

I had one of these a few years ago to get rid of hum on my tubed guitar amp. It worked great. Might help eliminate your ground loop hum.

Check this one out -

https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Ground-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1521008648&sr=8-3&keywords=Ebtech+Hum+X+Hum&dpID=513iD2nS3hL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Does it go away when you unplug your laptop? If it does def a ground loop. I use an Ebtech HumX. Pricey but great. or a direct box with the ground lift switched. https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Ground-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=Cj0KCQjwoebsBRCHARIsAC3JP0KckBAAQ1FraX_Vp6YQoFEZW3flFfd_AZl2fe6GBQXnpLMVD5etOqUaAoc0EALw_wcB&hvadid=241649272528&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9002578&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3528929851408619068&hvtargid=aud-646675773986%3Akwd-335827032&hydadcr=26609_9892114&keywords=humx&qid=1570363809&sr=8-1

plug your interface or laptop or whatever in to this: https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8
you can find them less on ebay. totally solved my ground loop problems. I plugged my computer power cable in to that, then my firewire interface is powered off the computer. This solved it after literally years of troubleshooting.

1. My first thought was an aux master, but now it sounds kind of like a board problem. Maybe check another channel with the mic?
   
   
2. Dirty power! I think a power conditioner could help, but most of the time it's so deep in the building's wiring that you will have a tough time really fixing it up. They also make cheap-o fixes, like this one here and this other one here, but to be honest, I have no idea if either of those two will work.
   
   
3. I mean, yeah. That shouldn't be a problem at all, unless they have some weird onboard DSP, but they're studio monitors, so I doubt that. I'm sure you're fine to do that. edit: looked it up - those are certainly fine to just turn off with a power strip.

The sound is coming from your computer. Computers have these sorts of problems all the time. You could spend $100 on a Focusrite 2i2, and it would definitely fix the issue. If you don't want to spend $100, couple of things you could try:

• 1. Swap the new surge protector for the old one. Low hanging fruit, easy to try and you don't waste any $$
     
• 2. Unplug the connection between speakers and computer. If speakers still hum when computer is working, try step 3. If not, try one of these: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_127SNI1/PAC-SNI-1.html?tp=61807&awkw=75640380625&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=47623509025&awdv=c&awug=9028710
     
• 3. Try plugging your speakers into a different circuit breaker from the keyboard & computer. Use an extension cable and plug them into an outlet far away from the one you're currently on. This is a troubleshooting step, rather than a permanent fix. If this does seem to fix the issue, you can buy a 120VAC ground loop isolator for the speaker power and try that. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8
     
     

you can buy a ground loop isolator that uses power instead of audio cables. amazon offers easy free refunds so if it doesnt work you can just send it back. heres a low profile one

I had just setup my RP8's and was getting terrible static and mouse noise. One of these on each speaker worked perfectly. http://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8

So if this works and the static is gone should I get this as a permanent solution? https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Ground-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8

What about something like a HumX? (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002E4YI8/)

Thanks for the feedback. I'm just trying to get some ideas before I go spend money trying to fix it.