Ground Loop

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Anyone know an easy way to induce a ground loop?

― gake email adress (Pablo A), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 02:30 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, but I don't like giving info that can KILL YOU!

― Lukewarm Watery G. Tornado Is Sicker Than You (The GZeus), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 04:31 (eighteen years ago)

do you really know how?

seriously i need to do this tomorrow

― gake email adress (Pablo A), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 05:12 (eighteen years ago)

aren't there plugins that do this?

― jimbo (electricsound), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 05:32 (eighteen years ago)

well, most computer programs for audio editing allow you to generate tones, so jsut make a 60HZ square wave and EQ until you like it.
The rest of the experience can be had by shoving a 9V battery up your ass and jumping backwards into your drummer's kit.

― Lukewarm Watery G. Tornado Is Sicker Than You (The GZeus), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 07:02 (eighteen years ago)

Oh Sorry, I meant triangle wave.

― Lukewarm Watery G. Tornado Is Sicker Than You (The GZeus), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 07:20 (eighteen years ago)

thanks for nothing

― gake email adress (Pablo A), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 18:22 (eighteen years ago)

Why are you trying to do this? A serious question.

― John Justen waitin to get his W2s back so he can file his tax and ball out (john, Wednesday, 31 January 2007 18:42 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, and into what (overall PA, guitar, vocal mic?)

― John Justen waitin to get his W2s back so he can file his tax and ball out (john, Wednesday, 31 January 2007 18:43 (eighteen years ago)

it's for test purposes, i need to see how different devices handle ground loops.

so i'd have an audio interface connected to a computer, and record the ground hum, and compare the results across different companies products.

― gake email adress (Pablo A), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 19:00 (eighteen years ago)

What you need to do is find two outlets wherever you're testing the equipment that are both earth-grounded but not directly ground connected, which will be difficult if you're in some sort of test facility.

As a first step, you might just want to wander around with a couple of extension cords until you find these outlets, and then just do all your testing using those.

I'll do some more research in a bit.

― John Justen waitin to get his W2s back so he can file his tax and ball out (john, Wednesday, 31 January 2007 19:24 (eighteen years ago)

time to look for extension cords. thanks!!

― gake email adress (Pablo A), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 19:27 (eighteen years ago)

Dude, if I'd know WHY you were doing this, I might have helped sooner. John's more knowledgeable.

Also, placing a mic on cement in the same location(preferably room) as you've your other equipment works. If you want more noise, make sure there are flourescent(spell?) lights.

I assumed you were doing this for some kind of sonic purpose IE you wanted a certain sound you thought you'd only get via a ground loop. in which case you'd just injure yourself.

― Lukewarm Watery G. Tornado Is Sicker Than You (The GZeus), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 19:30 (eighteen years ago)

this building used to be a r&d center for a semiconductor company...so finding outlets that are isolated from each other may be difficult.

― gake email adress (Pablo A), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 19:40 (eighteen years ago)

wont ground loops potentially (hah hah) occur even if the ground connections are some distance apart, even if they're ultimately attached to the same ground point? That is, wouldn't even running an extension cord to the same electrical outlet possibly create a difference in potential?

this is the logic behind star grounding in amp circuits, if im not mistaken...

― AaronK (AaronK), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 22:29 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, an impedance mismatch would do the trick as well, so it's possible.

This running around an unfamiliar building trying to find a ground loop is like about ten years of my life, only in reverse.

― John Justen waitin to get his W2s back so he can file his tax and ball out (john, Wednesday, 31 January 2007 23:17 (eighteen years ago)

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