Hello everyone !
I’ve just tested my mod dwarf for the first time today. And I’m happy to say : it works !
I’ve tested like this :
bass > moddwarf (usb to laptop) > UR22MK2 > monitoring speakers.
For now, I have HUGE messy noise. I was prepared to it since I’ve read here that was a possible issue caused by the power supply. The thing is I understand very little about power supplies (and electricity in general) so, here for the very unoriginal question :
Can you please recommand a list (provided this doesn’t exist already ?) of power supplies known to work (or better : that you are using yourself) ?
Thanks @malfunction54 ! For now I’ve not tested much (noise was insufferable) but I can already tell that this mod dwarf is indeed a world of possibilities ^^. The web gui is impressive. Really well made, immediately intuitive and since I’m full linux here, I’m very pleased to see it worked like a charm.
Thank you for the recommandations, but if that could be a little (very) more specific (like, with urls ?), that would greatly help ^^´
If the noise is caused by a ground loop, using a groundless power supply is one of the solutions though you lose the safeness of the ground. There are other solutions, like devices that remove ground loop noise.
But I’m not sure all the noise is caused by the power supply. While I could get rid of ground loops, which can be noisy as hell, I haven’t managed to get a completely silent Dwarf. I still have a bit of hiss and fry, which is OK for live but maybe not for recording.
I went the route of replacing the IEC cable with one that didn’t have a ground pin. Not recommended as the ground is there for a reason, but it was useful as a diagnostic to see if that contributed to the problem. It seemed to work, so I knew that it was definitely a source of noise. Ultimately, I went with an isolated power supply with a high current adapter specifically for devices like the Dwarf. I got the CIOKS DC7 and the CIOKS Crux expander. I’ve had zero noise problems so far in the 3 environments where I use my Dwarf.
The solution you choose is going to depend on the source of the noise to a degree. I don’t know enough about all the places noise gets introduced, but trying different things to narrow down where the noise is coming from can potentially save you a lot of money Have you tried running the Dwarf with the USB cable unplugged? I know that this is one thing that can introduce significant noise.
I have the noise as soon as I plug the dwarf output to the audio interface, without anything else plugged (no usb, no input). Magically, I also have the noise in this configuration with the dwarf power off (I used this cable to test that out).
I had also much terrible noise an tested several pu’s. This one works perfect:
“Signcomplex LED Schaltnetzteil 12V 2A Netzteil, AC 100-240V auf DC 12V Adapter Schalttransformatoren 24 Watt max, CE/TÜV/GS-Zertifizierung”
Bought it on Amazon.
Awesome, thank you all for your help ! I should be one very unlucky guy if I can’t battle this crazy noise to nothingness with your answers help. For now, I will follow these 2 directions :
the DI box (because I will possibly need one in the near future either way)
a power supply like Signcomplex or Enertronix (easy to find in amz)
Now, I just can’t wait to try the mod dwarf noise free. I will report success or unexpected failure here.
Interesting. Doesn’t that means that your specific noise problem was elsewhere ?
If not, that could make chasing this issue (and the appropriate PS) quite challenging.
I don’t think so. My other units from Mooer, Hotone… have no noise issues at the same Amps. With the ps from thomann it was still there and with the one from amazon it was gone…
I have used thomann PSU some random adapter from local electronics shop, and Truetone 1Spot PRO CS7, all of them seemed to have worked pretty well. Some needs to be “center swapped” as thomann psu comes with center negative I believe, and Truetone 1Spot PRO also comes center negative by default. All seem to have worked pretty great to reduce the digital noise.
The power supply linked by @LievenDV has no ground pin. If you have the same one, it means the noise isn’t caused by a ground loop. Recording the noise would help people troubleshoot your issue.
UPDATE :
The first power supply I’ve bought worked right away. At first try, and the noise is gone. Not a peep, a sound scratch or anything in-between. Dwarf is dead silent until I want it to make noises (which seems the main purpose).
That was only possible because of your help @all and I want to thank you again
(MOD community ? : level excellence, checked )
Since I’ve bought 2 or 3 things that could help with the noise war, I will wait till I’ve received and tested them all and report the results here, since this could be useful to others newcomers as well.
Have you tried running the Dwarf with the USB cable unplugged? I know that this is one thing that can introduce significant noise.
)