When I plug the Mark 2 into my stereo system at home (pro audio gear) I get a lot of high frequency noise. This happens with either the docking station outputs or the ones on the empeg. I remember this in the Mark 1, but I thought it would be long gone by the time the Mark 2 came out...comments?

I remember this in the Mark 1, but I thought it would be long gone by the time the Mark 2 came out.

I get no noise whatsoever when I plug in my (er... actually it used to be YOUR) mark 1 unit at home.

Unless of course I have the Empeg's volume almost down to nothing and have the stereo cranked to nosebleed levels. At that point, the Empeg's noise floor can be heard, but then again so would the noise floor of any piece of audio equipment. Your Empeg should be at 0db when playing at home... is it?

Since we're talking about the same exact unit, and I'm having no trouble but you're reporting the same trouble with both this unit as well as your new Mk2, perhaps it's time to check the home stereo equipment and look at it (or your cabling) as a possible source of the problem? Not to accuse your equipment and point fingers or anything... but how sure are you that it's the Empeg?

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Tony Fabris

Yup, listening at 0db both in the car and at home...actually in the car I also hear some of the noise but it's not as bad. It's the sort of noise that seems to be coming from the electronics, the hard drive, etc. It isn't a hiss like you would normally hear with consumer audio equipment.

As for equipment, I've tried different equipment including consumer stereo and also the pro audio stuff in my home studio. I don't quite have "golden ears" but I'm more sensitive than your average listener. But as for that Mark I, I remember there was so much noise it was unusable at home. I am dumfounded that you are not noticing anything.

As I read these posts I'm wondering if you connect the empeg via the phono-input of your home stereo. Usually the phono input has a lower level than cd / tape / aux etc. Maybe this causes the problem. It's just an idea. Try a different input.


TeeMcBee

But as for that Mark I, I remember there was so much noise it was unusable at home. I am dumfounded that you are not noticing anything.

Likewise.

For me, this thing's output is clean as a whistle when I use it at home. Its noise floor when in the car isn't squeaky-clean, but it's within acceptable limits for me. But at home, I honestly can't hear any noise unless, like I said, I crank the amplification up to nosebleed levels. It's as clean as any of my other equipment. You're right in that the noise floor has a different character than other stereo equipment- you can hear the hard drives and CPU cranking away. But I can only hear that when I crank the volume so loud that my speakers would blow if a loud musical passage were played.

And I've listened to it on lots of different amplification equipment. More than one computer, more than one set of computer speakers (sometimes run through the sound card, sometimes plugged directly into self-powered speakers), and my home stereo amplifier as well as those of friends.

And, like I said, we're literally talking about the exact same unit, number 144.

The other gentleman suggested that you might be using the Phono inputs on your home stereo, which is a no-no for any line-level equipment. Those inputs are for turntables only with a special separate ground wire. The Empeg should be going into a "Tape" or a "CD" input. Check into that first. Then double-check your cabling, and see if you've got any other equipment to test on those same inputs.

Also, check the unit on a friend's home stereo system, using his cabling, and see if it's the same problem. Do your best to narrow down the problem.

I'm really interested in hearing what comes from this.

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Tony Fabris

We've not noticed this at all; in fact, with the mk2 I can have my home system on maximum (80w RMS per channel) and the empeg paused and not hear *anything* out of the speakers unless I get within about 6 inches and put my ear by the tweeter.

The mk2 has a low noise floor - lower than my Sony CD player, for starters. I can't work out how you seem to be getting so much noise! If Tony doesn't notice the noise on your old unit, maybe there's something else up in your system - audio in leads maybe?

Hugo

Headphones won't exactly show it at its best, as they are far too low impedance and will probably alter the characteristics of the output filter; I would suspect you'll also be overdriving the output buffers, which can definitely result in nasty artifacts due to the opamp going screwy.

Yes, the mk1 has some low-level background noise, but it's pretty quiet. It's so quiet as to be very hard to find on the mk2.

Hugo

Ok, all silliness aside, you guys don't know anything about me, but I am a musician and a electrical engineer and unless my Mom has rewired my mixing board, there's no Phono amplifiers involved! :)

The amount of noise isn't terrible, but it's more than I get from my PC and it's noticeable during quiet passages when you're cranking it up and between songs.

Aha, it's going into a mixer, eh?

I'm a musician, too, so I know where you're coming from. I've never tried #144 into any mixers, only home stereos and PC sound card inputs.

We could be talking about an impedance issue. Most mixers I've seen want instrument-level inputs rather than line-level inputs. I've seen perfectly good consumer-audio products like portable CD players wreak havoc with mixer inputs. Do you think this might have anything to do with it?

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Tony Fabris

I used to use my mk1 almost exclusively through my Yamaha 03D and Spirit RacPac mixers without any sound problems at all. I'm usually pretty anal about these things and sure I would have noticed anything untoward, but sadly I can't test it now.