Home studio surge supression, UPS, line conditioning

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Steve Jorgensen wrote:

> If I have medium-ambitious home studio with a couple of mixers, a Mac with a
> MOTU 896 as DAW, a 1200 Watt amp, studio monitors, etc., what sort of
> equipment would you recommend connected in what way to provide an acceptable
> level of protection, line conditioning, for everything, and uninterruptible
> power for the DAW components and a for few other items that don't handle power
> loss gracefuly?

Oneac line conditioners (eBay) for the non-UPS stuff.

I like the Oneac ON-series UPS's but they may be out of your budget.





> Note that my lines are kind of spikey, and keeping computer CPU noise out of
> the system has been an issue, though I don't know if it's bleeding back
> through power connections or being picked up in audio cable runs (I'm thinking
> it's more through the power connections though).
>
> Any advice will be appreciated.

Buy an Oneac conditioner on eBay and try it out. They're selling for around 5-10 cents on the dollar and they don't wear out.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 11:32:34 -0700, Kurt Albershardt <kurt@nv.net> wrote:

>Steve Jorgensen wrote:
>
>> If I have medium-ambitious home studio with a couple of mixers, a Mac with a
>> MOTU 896 as DAW, a 1200 Watt amp, studio monitors, etc., what sort of
>> equipment would you recommend connected in what way to provide an acceptable
>> level of protection, line conditioning, for everything, and uninterruptible
>> power for the DAW components and a for few other items that don't handle power
>> loss gracefuly?
>
>Oneac line conditioners (eBay) for the non-UPS stuff.
>
>I like the Oneac ON-series UPS's but they may be out of your budget.
>
>
>
>
>
>> Note that my lines are kind of spikey, and keeping computer CPU noise out of
>> the system has been an issue, though I don't know if it's bleeding back
>> through power connections or being picked up in audio cable runs (I'm thinking
>> it's more through the power connections though).
>>
>> Any advice will be appreciated.
>
>Buy an Oneac conditioner on eBay and try it out. They're selling for around 5-10 cents on the dollar and they don't wear out.

What about how to hook them up. Should one put a UPS after a line conditioner
in series?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Steve Jorgensen wrote:
>
>> Buy an Oneac conditioner on eBay and try it out. They're selling for around 5-10 cents on the dollar and they don't wear out.
>
>
> What about how to hook them up. Should one put a UPS after a line
> conditioner in series?

The line conditioner will do more good after the UPS, particularly when the UPS is running on battery.

An Oneac UPS has a line conditioner with multiple windings so it is in effect on both sides of the UPS.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

For some reason, noise is confused with surges. Is your
computer outputting over 330 volt spikes on the 120 volt AC
line? Read the surge protector box. Protector remains inert
- does nothing - ignores the noise. Why? Noise is single
digit volts. Protector does nothing until it sees hundreds of
volts.

First, take that computer to another room. Run it with an
AM radio adjacent. Does computer interfere with AM radio
reception? Then computer is defective by design. A problem
most often found when power supplies are purchased only on the
spec called dollars. Classic bean counter design. If
computer noise is affecting your audio system, then a solution
starts inside the computer where the solution is inexpensive,
easy, and most effective - AND required by FCC regulations.

Are audio components subject to AC line noise problems?
Lets find out. Power them from the UPS while that UPS is in
battery backup mode. That UPS in battery backup mode
typically will output much more noise and spikes than any
computer. Note a revealing fact. Plug-in UPSes in battery
backup mode tend to be some of the largest source of 'dirty'
electricity because plug-in UPSes don't really condition AC
power as so many would wish.

So what does the plug-in UPS do? Typically it connects its
output directly to AC mains when not in battery backup mode.
Where is the line conditioning? So much about electric noise,
filters, conditioning, surges, and spikes is too often
promoted by myth rather than by fact. Facts. Where are the
long list of numerical specs for that UPS and for that surge
protector? Are numerical specs hard are to find? Making specs
difficult to obtain helps to promote the myths.

You have a first step. Test that computer with an AM
radio. You have a second step. Power audio components from
the dirtiest (noisiest) electrical source - a plug-in UPS in
battery backup mode.

Steve Jorgensen wrote:
> If I have medium-ambitious home studio with a couple of mixers, a Mac with a
> MOTU 896 as DAW, a 1200 Watt amp, studio monitors, etc., what sort of
> equipment would you recommend connected in what way to provide an acceptable
> level of protection, line conditioning, for everything, and uninterruptible
> power for the DAW components and a for few other items that don't handle power
> loss gracefuly?
>
> Note that my lines are kind of spikey, and keeping computer CPU noise out of
> the system has been an issue, though I don't know if it's bleeding back
> through power connections or being picked up in audio cable runs (I'm thinking
> it's more through the power connections though).
>
> Any advice will be appreciated.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 20:02:19 -0400, w_tom <w_tom1@hotmail.com> wrote:

> For some reason, noise is confused with surges. Is your
>computer outputting over 330 volt spikes on the 120 volt AC
>line? Read the surge protector box. Protector remains inert
>- does nothing - ignores the noise. Why? Noise is single
>digit volts. Protector does nothing until it sees hundreds of
>volts.

No, I wasn't confusing surge supression with line conditioning. I just need
help on what equimpment and what configuration I will need to adequately
address all the important issues, protecting my equipment from surges, keeping
noise out of my mixes, and protecting my data from the consequences of
outages.

> First, take that computer to another room. Run it with an
>AM radio adjacent. Does computer interfere with AM radio
>reception? Then computer is defective by design. A problem
>most often found when power supplies are purchased only on the
>spec called dollars. Classic bean counter design. If
>computer noise is affecting your audio system, then a solution
>starts inside the computer where the solution is inexpensive,
>easy, and most effective - AND required by FCC regulations.

Well, it's a Mac G5, so I don't know if there's any easy mitigation if it's
putting out too much EMF. It would be good to know, though, so I'll try that
experiment. I do know there is noise in the speakers (mostly just in the
speakers, after the amp, much less in the mix with headphones), and I've been
assuming it's via the power connections, not RF though the air, because the
Mac is not next to the Amp.

> Are audio components subject to AC line noise problems?
>Lets find out. Power them from the UPS while that UPS is in
>battery backup mode. That UPS in battery backup mode
>typically will output much more noise and spikes than any
>computer. Note a revealing fact. Plug-in UPSes in battery
>backup mode tend to be some of the largest source of 'dirty'
>electricity because plug-in UPSes don't really condition AC
>power as so many would wish.

Good to know - thanks for the tip!

> So what does the plug-in UPS do? Typically it connects its
>output directly to AC mains when not in battery backup mode.
>Where is the line conditioning? So much about electric noise,
>filters, conditioning, surges, and spikes is too often
>promoted by myth rather than by fact. Facts. Where are the
>long list of numerical specs for that UPS and for that surge
>protector? Are numerical specs hard are to find? Making specs
>difficult to obtain helps to promote the myths.
>
> You have a first step. Test that computer with an AM
>radio. You have a second step. Power audio components from
>the dirtiest (noisiest) electrical source - a plug-in UPS in
>battery backup mode.

OK, some things for my to do list.