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[David Shriver]

Hello everyone,

I had an issue with a show yesterday and I'm hoping someone might have a solution for me.  There was a keyboard player that connected his keyboard via USB to his iPad.  He then plugged in an 1/8" headphone cable that broke out to two unbalanced 1/4" cables.  I plugged the 1/4" cables in to my Radial PRODI2 and the buzz was horrible.  I switched it out to a PROAV2 and used my own 1/8" to 1/8" cable.  This didn't help much, but I was able to lift the ground at both ends of the DI and this minimized the buzz.  It was still very noticeable though.  I put a noise gate on the channels and we just dealt with it, but I was never happy about all the buzzing.

Unplugging the iPad from the keyboard eliminated the buzz.  Plugging the keyboard into the DI, bypassing the iPad, also eliminated the buzz.  However, he was doing some midi magic on the iPad and needed it for the show.  Because he was connecting the iPad to the keyboard via the iPad's dock connector it only left the headphone jack for an output. 

If something similar comes up again I'd like to have a workaround.  Any suggestions?

[Greg_Cameron]

Hello everyone,

I had an issue with a show yesterday and I'm hoping someone might have a solution for me.  There was a keyboard player that connected his keyboard via USB to his iPad.  He then plugged in an 1/8" headphone cable that broke out to two unbalanced 1/4" cables.  I plugged the 1/4" cables in to my Radial PRODI2 and the buzz was horrible.  I switched it out to a PROAV2 and used my own 1/8" to 1/8" cable.  This didn't help much, but I was able to lift the ground at both ends of the DI and this minimized the buzz.  It was still very noticeable though.  I put a noise gate on the channels and we just dealt with it, but I was never happy about all the buzzing.

Unplugging the iPad from the keyboard eliminated the buzz.  Plugging the keyboard into the DI, bypassing the iPad, also eliminated the buzz.  However, he was doing some midi magic on the iPad and needed it for the show.  Because he was connecting the iPad to the keyboard via the iPad's dock connector it only left the headphone jack for an output. 

If something similar comes up again I'd like to have a workaround.  Any suggestions?

Was the noise a real AC buzz or rather a whine? Or digital "hash"? It sounds like the issue might be an interaction between the keyboard's USB connection and the iPad. I wonder if it might be possible to get a USB cable that will allow one to break the ground connection via that path...

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Was the noise a real AC buzz or rather a whine? Or digital "hash"? It sounds like the issue might be an interaction between the keyboard's USB connection and the iPad. I wonder if it might be possible to get a USB cable that will allow one to break the ground connection via that path...

Just replace the iPad with a an iPad mini or a max-iPad.........

[Rick Earl]

If something similar comes up again I'd like to have a workaround.  Any suggestions?

I keep something like this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=882319&Q=&is=REG&A=details

Handy, as it bypasses the headphone circuit.  I have had similar issues with a USB keyboard connection that ended up being a faulty power supply for the keyboard.

[Chris Chambers]

Was there some form of charger in place for the iPad? My iPad charger doesn't have a grounding pin and sometimes I can hear noise in the headphones when it's plugged in depending on what the buildings electricity is like.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Was there some form of charger in place for the iPad? My iPad charger doesn't have a grounding pin and sometimes I can hear noise in the headphones when it's plugged in depending on what the buildings electricity is like.

I believe the Pad uses the USB for EITHER audio connection OR charging.  I don't see how you could do both.

[David Shriver]

I think much of the problem was from the power supply.  The keyboard was using a wall-wart (2 wire, ungrounded).  I have a grounding lug on my stage box and I have in the past run a ground wire to the chassis of an amp but in this case the keyboard was all plastic so there was nothing to ground to.

-d

[Riley Casey]

Options ...

http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/seven_hidden_features_ipad_camera_connection_kit

[Mark McFarlane]

An iPad to the iPad Camera Connector to a Peavey USP-P gives you two balanced line outs. Any class-compliant USB audio output device should work.   I'm not sure if this would work with a USB hub and keyboard connected at the same time as the USB output device, but it may.

[Tommy Peel]

FWIW I've used an ipad like this with no issues. The keyboard was a cheap casio with a 2 prong brick. I ran a 1/8>dual mono 1/4 from the ipad to a cheap DI. Never had any hum or noise from the setup. We've since the ditched it in favor of a m-audio midi controller keyboard and a macbook pro connected with the same cable and DI. The only issue we had with the ipad setup was the camera connect kit coming disconnected at random times(usually during a show). Anyway doubt that helps yall but just wanted to say that the setup does work.

Sent from my Milestone X using Tapatalk 2

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