Hello,

I have a MOX6 that is connected to a PC laptop running Cubase on Windows 7. I can hear a high pitched hum/whine from the keyboard. It isn’t that loud, but it is very annoying.

If I disconnect the USB lead that connects the keyboard and the laptop the sound stops. Has anyone else encountered this problem? I’d really like to fix it.

Giles

This is a common problem with USB in general...not just with the MOX.  If you search the forums here you will see many threads asking the same question. It is a grounding problem.

The USB cable connects the grounds of the computer and MOX together. If the two grounds are in fact not the same, you get a voltage flowing between the two and this gets into the audio stream. While most audio gear is built with attention paid to power supply grounding, computers often are not.

Grounding issues are a complete pain in the butt to track down and fix. There is no single solution that works for everybody.

First things to check:

1. Are the MOX and laptop plugged into the same outlet?

2. If you run the laptop off the battery does the noise stop?

Here is a link to an article that describes one possible fix.

Thank you for the reply. I’ll have a look at the article link you posted, and I’ll try running the laptop from it’s battery - good idea!

G

I had that problem too, breaking the shield on the USB cable reduced it a LOT. There is still a faint hum but not more than what I can live with.
My situation is also about as bad as it can get since I have an external USB soundcard which the MOXF goes in to.
I may one day make sure I have a spare USB cable and try to also cut the ground lead which I’ve read others do, but I don’t trust it to work so wouldn’t try without a spare in the house! ;-)

But cutting the shield made it good enough for now. :-)

Hello,

I have managed to remove this whining noise. I stripped back the outer shielding on the cable, and also cut the black cable. Now there is no noise whatsoever. I’m very pleased. I still have full functionality to the Mox via Cubase. What a simple fix too. I was looking at some expensive cables, and some of the widgets that claim to remove this noise, all I needed was two minutes with a scalpel.

Many thanks for the assistance.

G

Hi there

Glad it worked 100% for you!
I may pick up that spare USB lead today and cut also the ground in mine to check it out. :-)

I have the same problem.

Also tried to cut the black wire inside the USB cable, but it only helped outside of my DAW (Cubase 7.5). As soon as I start Cubase the high pitch noise comes back.

Very annoying:(