ZED10FX High Pitched Noise or Hiss with USB connection

[Mike CParticipant]

I thought you were also needing to play back from the computer and using the USB
connection for that as well.

That’s why I suggested trying the headphone jack as the computer output
into the mixer.

In the audio input set up menu on at least Win10 machines in an advance setting
menu there is an option box to check labeled enhanced audio or close to that.
In a case of a live stream set up that was having some audio issues turning that
option off took care of the problem in that case.
Their problem was a little different than yours but it may be worth trying that.

[volounteerParticipant]

doesnt the Z10 have a driver for windoze?
far better to use that then win so called ‘enhanced’ audio

I did not see the alleged screenshot in the OP
but shouldnt he set everything to the Z10 rate for usb not try to change it in windoze

[MikeParticipant]

In the audio input set up menu on at least Win10 machines in an advance setting menu there is an option box to check labeled enhanced audio or close to that.
I had already gone in and disabled any kind of sound enhancement, bass, surround and all that stuff; I don’t think it actually exists for the recording devices as it does for playback devices, but it any case it’s disabled.

doesnt the Z10 have a driver for windoze?
I’m not familiar with any drivers for the ZED, seems to just be plug n play in Windows 10?

but shouldnt he set everything to the Z10 rate for usb not try to change it in windoze
What should it be set to?

[volounteerParticipant]

Okay
found a copy of the manual
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/lit_files/61343.pdf

the usb data rate is not specified. I would presume they used 48kcps like the other AH mixers.
But he could try his available options to see if any of those could be causing the problem with a mismatch.

it does say z10 will use core windoze drivers.
but that was before a couple of major win10 changes happened.
did not say it could use enhanced driver.
That makes me suspect windoze problems more than the AH Z10

note the manual says all the PC settings should be at max
adjust levels in the z10
not sure how that would interact with zoom and the other stuff he is doing

[MikeParticipant]

Well, the thing is, if you look at those posts on the gearslutz forum, they seem to be complaining about the same issue, and those posts were many years ago, I’m not sure when Windows 10 came out, but then again, the laptop I tried it on is Windows 7, not 10 and it’s got the hiss noise too..

[KeithJ A&HModerator]

That sounds like digital noise on the USB cable ground making it’s way into the analogue signal than anything to do with drivers/software.

The main places to check would be:
Different grounding between the connected equipment – you mention the laptop was running on battery, but is it disconnected from the mains? is there anything else connected to the USB bus? How are the cameras powered? What are all the connections to the ZED? Is all connected equipment (including the speakers) earthed correctly?
The cable – are you using the supplied cable? Does it have a ferrite bead?
The ZED itself – Do you have any gains turned up? Are you using DI inputs (which use a different circuit and have 26dB boost switches on the rear)?

If there is an issue with the ZED though, then getting the unit to your distributor (AM&S) after you have looked at everything else will mean they can check it over fully and ensure it is working correctly/to spec.

[volounteerParticipant]

@mike

Like Keith just said, and I thought that I had pointed too earlier, interactions between all the things you have connected with grounding and direct connections could well be the issue.
Although I do not see how digital noise could be involved.
I do see how analog noise might get into the USB data stream.
Whilst it might turn out to be the Z10, I would still focus on the other items and their interactions first.

[MikeParticipant]

Hi Keith, thank you, really appreciate getting a reply directly from A&H about this issue. I’ll try to answer your questions to the best of my level of knowledge as I’m not a guru:

Different grounding between the connected equipment – you mention the laptop was running on battery, but is it disconnected from the mains?
For the troubleshooting, I disconnected everything from the laptop, including the power, and I brought it close to the mixer and plugged in a few USB cables to test, including the one I use on the desktop machine.

Is there anything else connected to the USB bus?
What do you mean when you say “USB bus” If you mean are there any other devices in the chain, then no, the USB goes directly from the mixer to the computer, or laptop in the case of the troubleshooting.

How are the cameras powered?
The camera, when in use is connected to its power supply, not battery, but again, the noise is present when there is no camera.

What are all the connections to the ZED?
See attached photo. Mic in M1, Guitar in M3, MIDI player in ST1, Laptop in ST2, USB to computer, AUX out to peavey power head to speakers, Main XLR outs to video camera, Phones to headphones

Is all connected equipment (including the speakers) earthed correctly?
I don’t understand about this question

The cable – are you using the supplied cable?
No, I do not have the supplied cable. I’m using a longer USB cable that is able to reach from the rack to the desktop machine. But the noise also happens with shorter USB cables (when I tested with the laptop)

Does it have a ferrite bead?
Had no idea what that was until I googled it just now. The long USB cable does not have one, don’t recall if any of the short ones did, but I’ll go back and look. If I find one with a ferrite bead, I’ll try testing with the laptop and report back.

The ZED itself – Do you have any gains turned up?
See the attached photo.

Are you using DI inputs (which use a different circuit and have 26dB boost switches on the rear)?
Not sure what you mean here. On the guitar input, depending on the output level of the guitar being used, sometimes I use the boost switch on that channel, and sometimes I don’t.

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[Mike CParticipant]

What is the other end of the cables connected to that are plugged into ST2?

You said ST2 is laptop in, is that cable plugged into the headphone jack on the
laptop?

Plugging into ST2 disconnects the USB from sending audio to the ST2 channel.

[MikeParticipant]

Yes, that’s correct, the headphone out from the laptop.

Why would I want the USB to send audio to the ST2 channel? Not following what you’re saying here. I want audio from ST2 (and the other channels) to be sent from the USB to the computer (which they are).

[Mike CParticipant]

Instead of the using the headphone output to send audio to mixer you can use the
USB connection to send audio from the computer to the mixer on the ST2 input at the same time you are sending audio from the mixer to the computer on the USB.

You just need to change the audio output routing setting in the computer.

The noise clip you posted is what I heard many times when directly connecting a computer headphone jack to a sound system input.
Sometimes using a DI box / transformer isolation between the headphone output and the mixer input will work to get rid of the noise.

I asked about the headphone jack connection earlier.
I didn’t know or I missed it in an earlier post that you were using the headphone
connection.

[MikeParticipant]

wow you completely lost me there.. The audio comes from the laptop (which is a separate computer from where Zoom is running) I only use the laptop to play backing tracks to the mixer, and the mixer sends that audio via the USB to the other computer that has Zoom.

Are you saying to connect a USB cable from the laptop to the mixer? How does audio go from the USB into the mixer? and then if the mixer’s USB port is occupied by that connection, how does it get sent to the other computer?

But more importantly, it’s not the laptop’s connection to the mixer that is causing the noise because again, the noise is present even when the laptop isn’t plugged into ST2, so it seems like a moot point from my perspective.

[volounteerParticipant]

Then why mention the laptop at all.
Just give us ONE complete clear accurate use case that has the problem and do not conflate a bunch of use cases.
I interpreted your posts to mean you had the laptop and video camera and Z10 and other stuff all working at the same time.

[MikeParticipant]

Well yes that is true, I do use them all at the same time when shooting.
However, and I did say this, the noise is present when nothing is connected to the mixer except the USB, hence the reason I know the noise is related to the USB.

No USB, no noise.
Add USB, activate USB as audio input in windows, get noise – it’s as simple as that.

[Mike CParticipant]

Ok you did say in the first post that you are using two computers, the one playing back tracks is connected via headphone out to ST2 on the mixer and the computer feeding the ZOOM stream is connected using the USB.
I some how got to thinking you were using just one computer for everything.

So with the USB connected but not actually selected on the ZOOM computer as the audio input source you get no noise, as soon as you select the USB to be input audio source
the noise starts.

That just about tells me it’s not a physical ground connection issue.

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