Speaker Hum

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DVX100Shooter

Veteran
I just bought some Pro Studio Monitors 2 weeks ago and I am hearing a hum coming out of the right speaker. What might this be from? The speaker has both balanced and unbalanced audio jacks and I am using the balanced jacks. I will also add that the right side is the furthest away from the G5 tower so I had to use an extension adapter and then run another RCA to the splitter that goes to the G5. Could the problem be the extension? Should I just try to find a longer male 1/4 inch to male RCA cable? My left speaker is closest to the tower and I am able to run one cable straight to the splitter. There are no problems with the left. There are some controls and switches on the back of the speakers so maybe adjusting them will get rid of the hum. I mainly hear the hum when I don't have anything playing but its more like a buzzy static sound almost like my cable is not connected to the speaker well and it is.
 
Re: Speaker Hum

Can you explain your setup a little better? you said your using the balanced connection on the speakers but then you talked about using RCA unbalanced connections on the G5 in some sort of splitter config.


Are you using a mixer or running straight out of the computer
Is your sound card able to run a balanced signal? If it only has RCA connectors it is unbalanced only.
What type of cables? 1/4" tip ring sleeve or XlR to the monitors?

It maybe as simple as a ground loop problem. You could also try a unbalanced setup, seeing that you are not running long lengths of cable. Also make sure your not running your speaker cables parallel and close to any power cables. this can induce hum.

In fact you could swap speakers from left to right and see if the hum is still a problem on that side, ruling out the speaker itself.

None of the settings on the back will reduce the hum. They cut or boost freqencies depending on room size and such. I would leave them flat (no boost no cut).
 
Re: Speaker Hum

I am using these monitors for video editing and also for monitoring my audio when I put together music. So they are located on both ends of my small room angled inward in a triange design with my head being the top of the triange.

As for the INPUT, I am using a Unbalanced mono 1/4" jack plug to RCA for both speakers. The right speaker cable is not long enough to reach the G5 tower so I had to use a Female to Female RCA extension adapter then plug a Male to Male RCA cable from the adapter to the splitter.

The splitter has 2 Female RCA jacks to 1/4inch plug. The audio input jack on the G5 is a mini jack so I then had to plug 1/4inch plug of the splitter into a Female 1/4inch adapter to Male Mini plug that went to the G5!

Because the speakers are right here at my edit suite the right speaker cables are running along the floor with the other power cables. I will try to move them away but I am sort of limited.

I do have a XLR balanced connection on the back of the speaker. I am not using a mixer so I don't have anywhere to plug an XLR cable into. Should I be using an external mixer? I wanted to add an external mixer a while back to my system but couldn't figure out how I could use it with Final Cut Pro or Soundtrack except for possibly the output.
 
Re: Speaker Hum

Did you try swaping left and right speakers to see if the hum moves to the opposite side?
Those adaptors should not be the cause of the hum although in some situations they certainly don't help.

Try the swap and see if the hum is still on the same side. if it is then I would suspect you have a wiring problem.

One other thing! make sure that your power cables for your speakers are on the same circuit and not pluged into random outlets. This can create a ground loop (sixty cycle hum).
use a power strip if you have to.
 
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