Re: new EDP question

["Hans Lindauer" <armatronix@charter.net>]

> > I just got a new Gibson EDP too, and the problem I have is that even
> > with silence into the EDP (input disconnected), I get a hiss on the
> > looped audio signal.  Anybody else have this problem?
>
> I noticed this basic thing a week ago, while doing some dual EDP playing
> with another user.  It was most obvious when the dry/wet balance was all
> the way to the right (i.e. set to "loop audio only".)

It's only about half as loud with the mix 50/50 - go figure.

> Here's the thing: My unit is a 1995 Oberheim model, and my friend's unit
> is a Gibson edition which he got about two years ago.  I only noticed it
> because he happened to trigger an empty loop with his balance set to
> loop only... and I've been using my EDP for six and a half years,
> without ever having noticed it before.
 >
> So my hunch is, it's a standard thing that's subtle enough to avoid
> detection most of the time.  If you like, I can bring my EDP up to
> Loopstock, and you can compare the hiss factor therein...

Now that I'm off work and back in the lab...

There appear to be three components to the noise; one is a standard
dirty-audio-type hiss, the second is a high-pitched whine, and the third is
a sweep, kind of like a high-frequency test signal.   The pitch of the 
whine
changes each time I sample a loop, but is always high - like, for example, 
a
computer fan noise - almost supersonic.  It sounds a lot like an idling jet
engine from inside the plane (but not as loud).  In some loops, beat
frequencies are present.

Interestingly enough, when I feed the EDP's output back into the input, put
on a short (.10s) loop, and hold overdub for 30 second or so, none of the
components appear to get any louder.

FWIW, before it died, my other, Oberheim-branded EDP (of unknown vintage)
was pretty quiet - I never noticed any noise after Shane fixed the hum.

> Lemme ask you this: do you notice any pronounced hiss when you fire up
> an initial cycle with an audio signal running into the EDP?  Moreso than
> you recall previously?

If I put in a signal at high enough level, it completely masks the noise.
When it bothers me, is when I try to start a loop from silence instead of
with the drum machines already running, and suddenly we're on the runway
waiting to taxi.  For somebody used to playing through a Twin Reverb, it's
nothing; but it's loud enough to be annoying in this digital age, 
especially
when the rest of my early-80's vintage analog e-Bay bargain rig is almost
dead-quiet.

I dunno, maybe the whining noise is just me.

-Hans

>
> --Andre
>