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Ground a 3.5mm audio mixer? Shield?

TVwazhere
By TVwazhere
in Hobby Electronics
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(All my electrical engineering knowledge is from osmosis, I have no formal electrical engineering training what-so-ever, so bear with me)

 

So I have this 4 channel audio mixer which is all metal, and I'm getting static that I cant seem to diagnose. I just set it up and I'm already getting static-ey noises that come and go with seemingly no reason (I'll hold still and it will come on, go away and come back again), it'ss fairly quiet but I'm listening to podcasts so I cant drown it out with metal normally. The input cables are brand new, and I've never had an issue with the output cable so I'm fairly certain theres not a short in the wire there. This Mixer uses a 12V DC barrel plug that does not have a ground pin (that third barrel on some plugs) so technically theres nothing grounding this system AFAIK. Only inputs 1 and 2 are used, 1 is connected to a phone and 2 is connected to my PC. I've unplugged and adjusted both inputs 1 and 2 and neither of them stopped the static noise...

 

What are my options? Is it possible to ground this in some way?

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Posted

if it is plugged in with an ac to dc converter then it is "connected" to ground in a roundabout way, as in the US, AC Neutral is referenced to ground at the service panel, so it is more likely that a component on the board inside is causing hiss

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2 hours ago, RGProductions said:

chances are something inside the mixer is causing it

1 hour ago, zxsq said:

if it is plugged in with an ac to dc converter then it is "connected" to ground in a roundabout way, as in the US, AC Neutral is referenced to ground at the service panel, so it is more likely that a component on the board inside is causing hiss

Crap...

 

Would disassembling it potentially help? It's only $25 so I'm not too worried about not being able to put it back together if it doesnt work (It does seem to have machine screws on the side)

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If you disassembled it, and took pics of the solder joints, we could see if it looked like there was a problem. Worst case, you put it back together and it still hums, or you try to fix it and wreck it, but learn in the process.

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12 hours ago, zxsq said:

If you disassembled it, and took pics of the solder joints, we could see if it looked like there was a problem. Worst case, you put it back together and it still hums, or you try to fix it and wreck it, but learn in the process.

I'll have to get to it at some point, wish I had more time but I have a full time job. Damn adult responsibilities. When I do pull this apart I'll take photos

 

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

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Posted

Seems to be powered trough a adapter so you can test and possibly rule out the noise coming from the power supply by temporarily feeding it from batteries. Just find a plug and rig up a little test setup.

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