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Studio wiring advice

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:00 pm
by Pure L_Archive
I've been working on a room-within-a-room practice room/studio for way too long now.Anyway, I'm at the wiring stage and am wondering if there's any truth to the following theory.Could one possibly lessen one's EMF interference/random radio noise in guitar amps by running all of the power (12-2 romex, in this case) higher overhead? Say, at 6+ feet up the wall as opposed to the seemingly nominal distance of 'waist-high' (where wire is normally run)?Since amplifiers are generally placed a bit higher than 'waist-high' (like on top of a 4x12 cabinet) would power-wiring located so close to that height be more likely to interfere? Granted it's usually the guitar that picks shit up and not the amp. But guitars are worn waist high. Just thinking out loud here...........I also wonder then, with the smaller distance from the outlet to the waist-high wire, if it's easier for there to be interference problems. If the standard is "outlets are placed 15 inches off the floor", waist-high wire would be closer to that outlet than say, a head-high placed wire. Again that guitar is at waist height.Perhaps most of this is just 60hz crap from ground loops?Maybe I should tech room this one?

Studio wiring advice

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 6:00 pm
by lack taj_Archive
Don't forget the ballast in fluorescent fixtures. If you can get your amp power separated from your lighting and other things Greg mentioned, you'll be better off.

Studio wiring advice

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 6:00 pm
by greg_Archive
I moved this to the tech room. I'll chime in when I get a minute tonight. Basically, if your live and neutral sends are together in the same run (should be), they will cancel out. The EMF will mainly come from power transformers from any live equipment in the room or nearby.

Studio wiring advice

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 6:00 pm
by n-eight_Archive
yeah, you're not going to have any problems running the romex at amp level.here's a test... run your amp through a long extension cord, and connect your guitar through a long guitar cable. now twist them together and see how much interference you get. try various configurations and distances between the cables.In my personal experience, I've found that keeping power and signal cables about a foot apart is all that is necessary. Beyond that, I usually can't hear a difference.

Studio wiring advice

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:00 pm
by lack taj_Archive
Isolated ground receptacles will do nothing at all utilizing a non metallic raceway. Since he is using Romex, IGR's would be a waste.

Studio wiring advice

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:00 pm
by lebkuchen_Archive
Pure L wrote:I know that the flat screen monitor I currently use in my house makes a shit ton of noise when it's on and I'm trying to do some recording. What kind of noise does it produce? Can you hear it in your speakers or is it a mechanical buzz created by the monitor itself?

Studio wiring advice

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:00 pm
by n-eight_Archive
Pure L wrote:It's in the speakers.Goes away when I turn it off.sounds more like magnetic interference than electrical.generally, you want every piece of audio equipment that you're going to connect together on the same circuit. this includes your computer and monitors, interface, any outboard gear, separate PSUs for tube mics, etc. If you're ever planning on doing any reamping, then you'd want to be able to plug your amps into that circuit as well. if you can't do that, at least on the same phase leg (your house has two phases), and preferably on the opposite phase of any large inductive devices you may have connected, like your fridge motor or AC unit. I would also run each outlet with it's own isolated ground, rather than the traditional way of daisy-chaining outlets in parallel. This is where those orange hospital outlets come in handy, as they let you know that you have an isolated ground there. you can do this with separate runs of romex from each outlet back to the breaker box, or using individual wire inside conduit and running a separate ground wire from each outlet back to the breaker box while still paralleling the hot/neutral between outlets. you're basically trying to create a star ground. this will minimize ground loops and give the cleanest possible ground path for your gear.

Studio wiring advice

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:00 pm
by Pure L_Archive
Thanks for the replies, gents.I have a total of 6 circuits.2 of these will be eaten up by the 2 1500 watt heaters I'm REQUIRED to install. Yes, REQUIRED. (This was never a part of the plan but I digress.......)That means that I have 4 left.Since this will be a digital affair (<- would not see) would it be best if the computer (monitor included), outboard soundcard (Metric Halo 2882) and mixer (old soundcraft 200) were all on their own "clean" circuit? Or would having the computer/monitor in there muck things up? Should I put the monitor on a separate circuit?I know that the flat screen monitor I currently use in my house makes a shit ton of noise when it's on and I'm trying to do some recording. Feel free to drop some science. Since I had to enlist a legit electrician I'd like to get this as close to perfect the first time.

Studio wiring advice

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:00 pm
by Pure L_Archive
It's in the speakers.Goes away when I turn it off.Obviously, some of this might be unavoidable to a certain degree but I'd like to hear from anyone with any knowledge about this stuff.Where's the fucking bishop? That dude's mad with da science!!

Studio wiring advice

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:00 pm
by Pure L_Archive
Speak of the devil!