[LAU] Shielded electrical wiring for studio (or not)

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Mon, 1 Jun 2015 20:12:17 -0700, Glen MacArthur wrote:
>I can't say that electrical noise has been a big problem but it
>certainly is detectable when using single coil equipped guitars

I'm a single coil guitarist. Mains only have impact to the single coil,
if you e.g. are close to a railway line. Electric smog that has got
impact to the single coils usually comes from computers, monitors and
transformers. There should be ground on the guitar strings, so if your
back is in direction where the monitor, computer, transformer is
electric smog isn't an issue anymore.

>and miking cranked tube amps with a few stompboxes engaged. On the
>other hand this will more than likely be the last studio I build so I
>want to do it once and do it right. ;)

Broken cables? Bad designed analog stomp boxes? Digital stomp boxes?
Usually stomp boxes shouldn't cause issue, excepted of digital stomp
boxes, they cause computer noise and a chain of digital stomp boxes
likely cause too much latency.

>A second related question: Is LED lighting better than CFL for noise?
>I am aware that dimmers are always a bad idea so I will be avoiding
>them and I'd prefer to use LED unless they are worse for causing
>noise..

That's much more a matter of taste regarding to the quality of the
light, than regarding noise. I prefer tungsten filament over LED and CFL
regarding the quality of the light.

As pointed out in my previous mail. You perhaps want to care about what
is provided by the mains. Switched-mode power supplies pollute the
mains, that can't be solved by shielding, it's "inside the mains" not a
matter of electric smog.