[Almost Enough]

When using an instrument jack into a direct box without a ground lift, I get a HUGE buzz. When I use a direct box with a ground lift, I get no buzz.

I want to use the direct box without the ground lift for consolidation reasons. It's a rack unit with eight direct boxes built in. Again, none of which have a ground lift switch.

Is there a way for me to make the buzzing go away, but still use the same direct box? There's no ground switch or anything on the instruments that buzz (of course). Would a better quality cable work? Or might I be pushed into opening the stupid thing up and adding my own ground lift switches to each DI? (While I would LOVE to do that to the thing anyways...I don't foresee myself having the time in the near future to knock such a tedious task out.)

[redbaron]

the problem is a dirty circuit, you need the ground lift. You might be able to get a power conditioner that would take care of that for you.

[Almost Enough]

You think a power conditioner would help?

I thought that the power might be an issue. I'm using a surge protector at the moment. I have three power amps plugged into it and the electric kit is plugged into that. Also, the electric drum kit is a two prong plug in, everything else is three. I don't know if that'll make much of a difference.

Maybe I'll look into getting a power conditioner....

Time to hit the pawn shops!!!

[Almost Enough]

FurmanSound.com - Pro A/V Product - M-8x

Would a protector like this one work? Is it actually going to fix the ground lift problem, or will it just tone down the buzz a little bit? I just don't like spending money on things that may or may not fix the problem.

[ibanez_dude]

If a ground lift fixes your problem, it is definitely related to power, albeit possibly indirectly. The issue is mostly likely some kind of group loop. Basically, it means that you have 2 electrical devices in the signal chain somewhere connected to each that don't have the same ground reference. Suppose for example that one device has GROUND = 0V, but another device has GROUND = 0.01V. There is a voltage difference between ground terminals, so current will flow through the ground wire, thus causing audible buzz at 60Hz (plus harmonics). This is generally caused by bad wiring somewhere, either in the building or the equipment.

[Maestro_dmc]

You could always open up the XLR connector that plugs into the DI and just snip out the ground wire (shield), that should lift the ground, and the DI will still work as long as it's not phantom powered.