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Hiss Problem with Saffire Pro 14 and OS 10.9
Hey guys
been a long time with no positing but still been around the traps.
Hope everyone is well 
I recently got a late 2010 imac with mavericks as the OS. I have just installed Saffire's latest driver available on their site as well.
Previously with the same setup I ran an 07 MacBook with an older OS and this had no problems but now I have a hiss low but constant coming through. It doesn't come out through the headphones jack on the pro 14 only on my monitors which are HS 80's. I had a nano volume attenuator in the middle but I removed it an still not fixed it.
Could it be the driver as Saffire don't have a driver update for 10.9 yet? or a possible cable problem? I am using balanced jacks and didn't have this problem before!
Any help much appreciated as always 
Hey man, been a while but welcome back.
It highly unlikely that it's the drivers. It's more likely you've got a ground problem, a dry solder joint, a power cable too near the audio lines, dirty power or an internal issue with either the monitor or the outputs of the saffire that the driver wokring fine but introducing a hiss.
Do a bit of point by point trouble shooting.
Swap out the cables one at a time. Try different outputs from the saffire. Check your gain staging. Move all the power cables away from the audio cables. Plug the saffire in to a different outlet from the HS80's.
One thing that can sometimes happen where it's software based. is that when use a new driver for a new OS, the Firmware for interface needs to updated.
Thanks Rann and good to see your still about mate! I will be around now finally got my studio back up after 6 months without it. Plus im looking at making some trance more so then hardcore now.
Thanks for that will check it out and see how I go. The only thing I didn't check was that I connected my mic up and silly me its possible that its on and picking up feedback from that so will check that as soon as I am home as well 
from reading some forums it seems the HS80's have an apparent hiss most of the time. What gets me is that when I ran the exact soundcard cables but used my 07 MacBook I didn't have this problem.
frustrating 
if i disconnect them from the audio connection and only have them powered up they still hiss
so its a power thing then?
Not neccissarily.
Just about every active monitor hisses to some degree, but there have a been quite a few people who sent their HS80's back due to it.
Has anything else changed or where the monitors given a beating while is storage or transit?
However, before we go down the return to yama path, there's a few things to try.
1, What are the switch setting on the back?
What do you have the sensitivity knob turned to? It should be at +4db if you're using balanced connections. Do you have the treble switch at 0? Any other switches?
2, Are you sure this sound wasn't present before? Don't forget a noisy place can mask the hiss of speakers then when you get to a quiet room you think something has changed etc.
3, go to a different part of the house (where there are no applicances plugged in to the same loop like a basement or bedroom that has it's own breaker, Make sure nothing else is plugged in like lamps or radios, and see if they hiss when plugged in there.
4, Check you gain staging; Make sure that knob on the back is at 4db, then make sure your daw is not higher than unity gain and same with the saffire mixer (if it has one).
5, are you powering by just firewire or using the PSU? Try switching.
My HS80Ms have a little bit of self-noise, but it's not enough to be a concern. They definitely hiss less than my old ones did. And, as RANN mentioned, most monitors have some self-noise.
What's concerning, though, is that you didn't notice it before. I assume that they're plugged into the same outlet as before, speaker settings are the same, etc.?
Cryo how are you sir, hope things are well.
the settings are the same and it must be the monitors because if I only have the power connected they have the hiss. I will have to live with it and your right its not that bad as soon as you give them some sound it dissipates anyways.
thanks again
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DJ RANN Not neccissarily. Just about every active monitor hisses to some degree, but there have a been quite a few people who sent their HS80's back due to it. Has anything else changed or where the monitors given a beating while is storage or transit? However, before we go down the return to yama path, there's a few things to try. 1, What are the switch setting on the back? What do you have the sensitivity knob turned to? It should be at +4db if you're using balanced connections. Do you have the treble switch at 0? Any other switches? 2, Are you sure this sound wasn't present before? Don't forget a noisy place can mask the hiss of speakers then when you get to a quiet room you think something has changed etc. 3, go to a different part of the house (where there are no applicances plugged in to the same loop like a basement or bedroom that has it's own breaker, Make sure nothing else is plugged in like lamps or radios, and see if they hiss when plugged in there. 4, Check you gain staging; Make sure that knob on the back is at 4db, then make sure your daw is not higher than unity gain and same with the saffire mixer (if it has one). 5, are you powering by just firewire or using the PSU? Try switching. |
Shielded cables will do the trick!
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Energy_3 Cryo how are you sir, hope things are well. the settings are the same and it must be the monitors because if I only have the power connected they have the hiss. I will have to live with it and your right its not that bad as soon as you give them some sound it dissipates anyways. thanks again |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by cryophonik No problem, E3! Things are well. I wondered where you've been. Good to see you back - stick around, dude! |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by UrbanNinja Shielded cables will do the trick! |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Energy_3 Yes good idea spoke with Yamaha tech support and they mentioned the same thing so will look into getting some. Its not that bad but its my pride and joy my studio and im a little OCD |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DJ RANN Wat? You mean you're not using balanced cables between the Saffire and your yama's? Fucking christ, could have saved us quite a bit of time by mentioning that in the first place lol. |
. With shielded I gather that means a protective coating or somesort of cover over the cable itself.:
nononononononono.
Technically speaking, the shield is a name for the ground conductor in a balanced cabled. However, some cables can just have three conductors, whereas others actually use a braided shield (Van Damme, Mogami, Belden etc) as the the ground. Ideally a braided ground is better or best of the best, is a star quad cable (two twisted pairs (four conductors which are two opposing pairs joined, and a braided shield).
Unless you were using unbalanced cables (?) which are very prone to noise depending on the exact situation, I don't really see how this is going to fix the problem of the hiss.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DJ RANN nononononononono. Technically speaking, the shield is a name for the ground conductor in a balanced cabled. However, some cables can just have three conductors, whereas others actually use a braided shield (Van Damme, Mogami, Belden etc) as the the ground. Ideally a braided ground is better or best of the best, is a star quad cable (two twisted pairs (four conductors which are two opposing pairs joined, and a braided shield). Unless you were using unbalanced cables (?) which are very prone to noise depending on the exact situation, I don't really see how this is going to fix the problem of the hiss. |
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