I for sure have maxed both gain input and output for the dwarf while experimenting this go round, and I’m at the point where I have to set my headphone amp to gain stage 3 at max to hear the sounds. However, the noise still shows in my recordings, which is why I’m super vexed.
I took a moment to record the noise I have after checking the hum destroyer for improvements.
Here is the audio clip at max level with no normalization. This will crackle and pop because my dwarf was max gain on I/O I begin to have crackle and pops if I gain over 60% on the input, and in fact, as I rotate the encoder, from 60% to roughly 67% I get steady stream of crackles and pops from the unit as I turn the encoder, and then random pops that occur while nothing is running.
This is just a clip of what should be silence.
Now here it is normalized, please turn down your volume and adjust as the normalization really amped the clip.
When you hear the dip in noise, it’s when I muted the dwarf input in my mixer.
The base noise I don’t think I’ll ever shake. My audio interface is set to my normal recording levels, just enough for solid green indicators on my signal input with minor flickering.
The dwarf is at -6dB at the mixer with a +6dB gain on volume, everything else is -20dB on gain with -97dB on volume. So theoretically those should be silent and shouldn’t cause an issue.
I also unplugged every synth, one at a time and used the hum destroyer on each synth in the set up as well as the dwarf. Nothing changed at all. So maybe this is just the base noise I am dealing with?
Maybe you can identify this sound?
I will load up an empty pedal board tomorrow and retest, but most of my testing has been done with a non connected board.
I think a part of my issue is that I’ve become hyper focused on achieving an unrealistic goal that can really only be accomplished with track mastering.
I know for a fact I need the DI and stagebug, without them the dwarf is too noisy to work with in a recording set up, and those 2 items and the new power supply is a huge part of my success.
I attempted to remove the stagebug and DI after messing with my mixer for a bit, and that’s when I heard the warble sound with an extreme level of noise. New PSU solved the warble, and the isolator and DI handled the majority of the noise.
I’ve thrown every solution I can think of at the problem, I’m hesitant to return my isolation transformer as it gives me peace of mind knowing it will protect my gear as well as mitigate any grounding issue, but in the same breath I have 4 power conditioners that seem to be just as functional.
In case those links don’t work (they don’t play on my end in my browser) here is a link to the files Dropbox - Mod Noise - Simplify your life