Nowadays almost any modern music gear comes with usb connections. Very convenient but it tends to introduce some nasty unwanted noise. I noticed Arturia is including usb ground loop lifters with their products. Any other solutions you know about ?

It’s not really the same as the classic ground loop low hum. The usb ones sound like some nasty high frequency digital distortion. It’s not very loud but when you have it in your signal its quite clear. In some cases you can hear it change when moving your mouse for example. Probably depends a lot on the audio interface and the way everything is wired.

I’ve changed my setup so everything (ultimately) runs off a single power outlet. If I have USB powered devices on different circuits I get the noise. On a single circuit it’s blissfully quiet.

Hey guys.
I had groundloop issues with a brand new pc-build and it was driving me crazy.
After a lot of testing and almost sending my pc back to where i have bought it, i did some final research. I really wanted to start working and not wait for them to check all the components, find nothing and send it back to me.

So what i have found was that one of the best ways to get rid of ground loops in usb connections is to cut the power within the usb connection that is provided by the computers PSU. There are USB isolators, especially the galvanic ones, which do exactly that.

Here is a picture that shows what they do

There are many manufacturers of USB isolators, here some examples:
https://www.reichelt.de/xa/en/usb-isolator-galvanic-isolation-host-device-usb-care01-p116460.html?r=1

https://ifi-audio.com/products/nano-igalvanic3-0/

as mentioned, it’s not a low hum but high-frequency noise from the computer traveling through the USB connection(s)

Here is my review of Isolator USB to USB Optocoupler Isolation Module Coupled Protection Board ADUM3160 Isolation Voltage 2500V board
https://www.epanorama.net/blog/2020/05/18/usb-isolator/

Comments:

Why in the hell don’t equipment manufacturers just put whatever electronics are in this thing into their gear in the first place?!

That is a very good point. I imagine it would cost pennies to implement the circuitry to stop USB ground hum.

yep had this problem before and its down to a ground loop issue…i fixed mine by just buying a cheap small ground loop insulator no noise after that.

n this video Don shows you why you need USB isolation to protect your instrumentation. He gives a quick demo using a computer monitor to demonstrate how an isolator can benefit you.

This USB isolator I bought from Ebay successfully decoupled the ground loop noise issue I was having in my DIY Bluetooth speaker. Sorry for the shaky video, I only had one hand to hold the camera and this video is just for proof it works. It does it by decoupling the power supply. You can hear the noise in the first 6 seconds of the video and then its completely gone when I install the USB isolator. This USB isolator is very low power at only 1 watt so only the Bluetooth module with low power consumption can run on it.

1# Gatgets, Der USB Isolator bis 1500V
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5RGOkXNKxs

In this episode we talk about USB Interferences and how to stop the annoying noises in your speakers. After hours of investigating the problem and trying different approaches to solve it, we ended up with USB Isolators sold by Hjelmslund in Denkmark.

In this video I use the HifimeDIY USB Isolator to solve a USB ground loop problem in my home recording setup. If you have a high pitched whining noise in your USB audio system, take a look at this video.