MORE NOISE PLEASE

Actually, quite the other way around. From Planet Analog comes this wonderful collection of tools and tips for getting the noise out of your audio or video chain. The article is written by Bill Whitlock who took over Jensen Transformers from Deane Jensen. Deane started in 1974 and this company is the place to go for high-quality audio and video transformers. These people know what they are talking about... A brief excerpt:

General Troubleshooting Advice
Under fortuitous conditions, systems may be acceptably quiet in spite of poor techniques. But physics will ultimately rule and noises may appear for no apparent reason! Once we understand how earthing systems and interfaces actually work and how noises couple into signals, finding and fixing problems becomes simple and logical.

Perhaps the most important aspect of troubleshooting is how (or if) you think about the problem. Without a methodical approach, chasing noise problems can be both frustrating and time-consuming. For example, don�t fall into the trap of thinking something can�t be the problem just because you�ve always done it that way. Remember, things that "can�t go wrong" do! Further, problems that go away by themselves also tend to reappear by themselves.

Don't start by changing things. Because many problems reveal themselves if we just gather enough clues, get as much information as possible before changing anything.

Ask questions Did it ever work right? Under what conditions does the noise appear? Do any other symptoms appear at the same time?

Be alert to clues from the equipment itself. Operation of the equipment�s controls, along with some simple logic, can provide very valuable clues. For example, if the noise is unaffected by the setting of a volume control or selector, logic dictates that it must be entering the signal path after that control. If the noise can be eliminated by turning the volume down or selecting another input, it must be entering the signal path before that control.

This is just part of the general section -- there follow several pages of specific tests to make with very simple equipment (special patch cords that you can make yourself). Printing this out for future reference -- an excellent resource... (The title of this entry refers to Seattle Poet Jesse Bernstein.)