midi signal light causes clicking sound

[jazzarazzer]

Hi all.
Im putting electric guitar through sonuus g2m through proteus fx synth module to guitar combo. This works fine and great sounds for a guitarist.
Also i am taking the guitar through the sonuus directly second channel on the combo.
PROBLEM: The midi light indicator on the sonnus makes my guitar signal click in time with the flashing light..
What can i do about this.
Thanks for all help here

[james]

When the G2M was designed, we were careful to ensure no signal from the MIDI LED could get into the guitar THRU signal and result in clicks on the audio.

Could the signal be coming from the MIDI cable? Is the MIDI cable placed near the guitar cable? Try disconnecting the MIDI cable from the G2M and see if this prevents the clicks happening. You may just need to ensure the MIDI cable is not running right beside the guitar cable.

[jazzarazzer]

Thanks for the reply James.
Yes I thought of this and ran the guitar through with no midi cable out. Still the same clicking. COuld my sonnus be faulty perhaps?
Cheers

[james]

What guitar/amplifier combination are you using? Does this happen with other guitars?

[jazzarazzer]

Well James, i got the time to try out my 15 guitars, humbuckers, singlecoils, piezo, through my 6 amps, and the clicking was happening, then it stopped. Ive gone back to my original configuration, hum/sing/hum through custom acoustic/electric amp, and no more clicking !
Why has it stopped? Why was it happening? Ive no idea. Hopefully it'll stay gone. If not ill get back to you again.
Meantime, do you have any theory on the matter, in case it starts again?
Thanks

[james]

That's interesting.

My only thought at the moment, is if there is some intermittent connection on the PCB that's causing problems. For example, there are capacitors and suchlike to isolate the MIDI signals from the rest of the circuit. If this was not connecting correctly it is feasible that low-level clicks might get into the guitar signal. So, if it starts happening again the G2M probably needs to be replaced.

Please keep us updated if it happens again.

[jazzarazzer]

Will do, many thanks for your help

[madoldgit]

I too have this problem.

I use garageband and this problem occurs when I want to mix guitar and midi input. It occurs whether the midi cable (m-audio midi uno) is connected to the G2M or not and whether I use the through connection or split the signal so that the guitar signal bypasses the G2M on its way to the computer.

It does not matter whether I have the guitar connected as a "guitar" or as a "real instrument".

The problem is exacerbated by compression and the more extreme amplifier settings but is still audible without compression and with clean settings.

Any ideas?

[james]

I have tried to reproduce this problem here but I am unable to.

Either the unit is faulty and somehow the MIDI LED signal is coupling into the THRU signal, or there is something particular to your setup that is causing this. Can you give more details of your setup?

[madoldgit]

Hello James

My setup is:
Stratocaster (single coils)
Standard guitar cable 3 metres long
G2M
M-Audio Uno midi port to a USB port
Prosound USB guitar cable with an analogue to digital converter at the USB end
Macbook running garageband
Sennheiser headphones

I tested everything during the week. I was very careful about the cable positions and there was no clicking.
So I heaped all the cables together and yes, you guessed it, clicking!
Then I disconnected the midi device at both ends and..clicking!!
Then I straightened all the cables out and...clicking!!!
Then I unplugged everything. Reconnected everything and...no clicking!!!!

So your original suggestion about interference seems to be correct. The weird thing is that it seems to persist until everything is disconnected and reconnected.

The clicking also occurred previously when I split the signal before connecting to the G2M and bypassed the through connection. It also happened whether I used the prosound cable the the USB input or used an analogue connection to the audio input. Clicking has occurred without a midi connection. The source of the inference would seem to be within the G2M itself.

I have also used an alesis mixer as an interface before the G2M. This sends the "straight" guitar signal to the macbook via USB. I use an effects send output to feed the G2M. There was no clicking.

I haven't had the chance to repeat my experiments but I wanted to mention them to you.

Regards Madoldgit