Need help with a poorly grounded house

    I am currently away from home for 14 days. Here, the grounding apparently isn't near as good as at my home - considerably higher amount of noise and e.g. when I touch the two screws that hold the leather strap / handle on my toaster, this affects the tone. Now, is there anyone who can give me a hint at what I can do about that? I have never had to use a power conditioner or anything in that direction - could these devices help to solve the problem?
    Clean sounds are (of course) not a problem but it doesn't make sense to record higher gain sounds here - the noise level is so high that it even spoils the sound when I play (not just in between two notes). The various noise gate options don't help - the level of the noise gates would need to be so high that the noise gates would spoil the playing / sound of the guitars.
    Cheers

    Normally, I'd suggest getting the wiring redone, but since you're just there for a short time, it might make sense to invest in a power conditioner for future situations. This is especially helpful when playing on a stage where the electricity is dodgy. Some users also gig with a power back UPS so that there's less chance of the Kemper shutting down in case of a sudden fluctuation or one second power cut.

    Quote from nightlight

    Normally, I'd suggest getting the wiring redone, but since you're just there for a short time, it might make sense to invest in a power conditioner for future situations. This is especially helpful when playing on a stage where the electricity is dodgy. Some users also gig with a power back UPS so that there's less chance of the Kemper shutting down in case of a sudden fluctuation or one second power cut.


    Thanks for your reply ... I don't really understand the physics of a conditioner, however. Are these devices capable of isolating the poorly grounded circuit from the Kemper? And can you recommend a power conditioner?

    Quote from joerch


    Thanks for your reply ... I don't really understand the physics of a conditioner, however. Are these devices capable of isolating the poorly grounded circuit from the Kemper? And can you recommend a power conditioner?

    The problem you're having with the electrical supply in your house suggests that it is adding noise to your Kemper signal due to incorrect power supply.

    This is from wikipedia:
    A power conditioner (also known as a line conditioner or power line conditioner) is a device intended to improve the quality of the power that is delivered to electrical load equipment. While there is no official definition of a power conditioner, the term most often refers to a device that acts in one or more ways to deliver a voltage of the proper level and characteristics to enable load equipment to function properly. In some uses, power conditioner refers to a voltage regulator with at least one other function to improve power quality (e.g. power factor correction, noise suppression, transient impulse protection, etc.)

    Conditioners specifically work to smooth the sinusoidal A.C. wave form and maintain a constant voltage over varying loads.
    [end quote]

    In my understanding, what a power conditioner does is clean up the voltage you're receiving from a poor electrical supply and filters it to ensure that a constant supply that is "clean" -- i.e.e it does not have all the spikes and other noise in the signal that can affect audio equipment.

    Typically, devices like the Furman suggested above have an EMI and RFI filter to clean up the electrical signal and remove the kind of interferences that add disturbance to audio. I just picked up a relatively cheap MX brand spike strip yesterday that has an EMI and RFI filter, it was pretty basic, but it's essentially the same principle.

    If on the other hand voltage supply is insufficient or irregular, you'd need something like a UPS, so that you're fed a constant current/voltage (sorry, my terminology gets messed up all the time). In fact, my suggestion would be to use a combination of a UPS and a power conditioner to ensure your Kemper is getting a clean electricity supply at all times.

    Quote from Denis_Cs

    Furman M-10x E or furman_ac210?

    It's just clever marketing. Look into the details of the product. It basically is a surge protector with EMI/RFI filter built in. Furman calls it a power conditioner, but you're likely to find similar surge protection extension boards or other products for cheaper with similar RFI and EFI filters. Do shop around. I'll post a picture of the one I bought when I get back.

    That is a nice rackmount though. ^^

    I just had this problem 3 weeks ago when I setup my Kathmandu studio.
    Had the entire wiring re-done for isolated ground ... and installed a decent UPS/Inverter. Now all problems are gone. But probably not an option for your short term stay.

    Can't tell you if an un-grounded power conditioner would effectively help though.

    Cheers
    Martin