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AC noise when recording with the RH10

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When I record with my RH10 using the AC adaptor I seem to get this loud EM hum that predominates on the recordings. As a result, I have to record using battery power (which works fine).

Is there anything that can be done to get rid of the hum, or should I resign myself to using batteries whenever making recordings?

peace

WaywardTraveller

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I take it you're recording with a microphone.

This problem results from the fact that the recorder itself has a floating ground. The power supply has no ground, and to make things worse, only unbalanced connections are used. Any mic that is powered by the unit will end up being biased with noise from the AC adapter.

The same should not usually occur when recording with dynamic [unpowered] mics, self-powered [i.e. requiring a battery of their own] mics, or through the line-input.

It is possible to leech the noise off by actually grounding either the unit or the mic canisters; touching any screws on the unit's case or, if you have a unit whose case is metal or part-metal, simply touching that part of the case may fix the problem. This is not usually a very practical solution.

The only true solution is not to use the AC adapter for power when recording with a unit-powered microphone - so yes, you basically should resign yourself to using batteries.

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I take it you're recording with a microphone.

This problem results from the fact that the recorder itself has a floating ground. The power supply has no ground, and to make things worse, only unbalanced connections are used. Any mic that is powered by the unit will end up being biased with noise from the AC adapter.

The same should not usually occur when recording with dynamic [unpowered] mics, self-powered [i.e. requiring a battery of their own] mics, or through the line-input.

It is possible to leech the noise off by actually grounding either the unit or the mic canisters; touching any screws on the unit's case or, if you have a unit whose case is metal or part-metal, simply touching that part of the case may fix the problem. This is not usually a very practical solution.

The only true solution is not to use the AC adapter for power when recording with a unit-powered microphone - so yes, you basically should resign yourself to using batteries.

Yeah, I was using in-ear binaurals and a T-mic (the DS70P). And now that you mention it, I DID notice that a lot (but not all) of the noise went away when I touched my RH10 to move it while recording...your explanation makes perfect sense. Thanks for the helpful info. :D

peace

WaywardTraveller

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