[LAU] sortof OT -- ART tube pac preamp and compressor noisy?

[Brent Busby]

On Mon, 12 Aug 2013, Rusty Perez wrote:

> This is related to recording, and my recordings are made on linux, so, 
> it is tangential to all of these lists. :-)
>
> I own an ART tube pac, which is a preamp compressor combo unit.
> It is the first generation of this unit I believe. I've just started
> using this unit.
>
> Anyway, I'm hearing a low level hum, sortof like a grounding hum.
>
> Does anyone else use the ART line of pres? Has anyone had trouble with them?
>
> The unit uses 2 tubes and I'm sure they aren't high quality tubes.
> Could a lower quality tube cause a low level ground hum?
>
> The unit has a grounded plug, and I can't seem to get rid of the hum
> by unplugging other components, but when I mute the unit through my
> sound card, the hum is decreased.  The hum is audible in silences on
> my tracks, so I know it's not just my playback system.
>
> Now, before you go on about how the ART pre is cheap and crappy. I 
> know it's a budget pre, that's why I can afford it. I'm only looking 
> for constructive ideas, or similar experience.

I have both the ART Dual MP preamp and the Pro VLA II compressor, and 
while neither are anything perfect, they're both quiet as can be.  If 
you have ART equipment with ground hum, it's probably a malfunction.

On the other hand, I've had no less than *3* Bellari/Rolls RP583 
compressors, all exchanged with the company one after the other, in an 
attempt to get one that doesn't have noise on channel 1 only.  After a 
long troubleshooting process, they admitted that was the channel that's 
closer to the power supply, and nothing can be done.  Pfft...no more 
Bellari for me.

-- 
+ Brent A. Busby	 + "We've all heard that a million monkeys
+ Sr. UNIX Systems Admin +  banging on a million typewriters will
+ University of Chicago	 +  eventually reproduce the entire works of
+ James Franck Institute +  Shakespeare.  Now, thanks to the Internet,
+ Materials Research Ctr +  we know this is not true." -Robert Wilensky