I just bought a used Novation Nova laptop synth and am having a little problem.

There's a quiet but clearly audible crackling/static type sound that can be heard when any of the Nova's outputs are connected. The synth sounds fine, and easily overpowers the noise when played even at low volumes, but the noise remains. The strangest thing is that the noise doesn't increase or decrease in volume with the master level; it always stays at the same level.

I've tried hooking the synth up through different rigs, different amps, made sure wires weren't crossing, etc. etc.

Anyone have any idea what could be causing this noise?

Thanks

i would almost say it was a ground problem, but you say it doesn't change in volume, so that probably isn't it. have you had a chance to try a different unit? it could be a faulty module (which still doesn't explain why it wouldn't change volume. hmm.) that's a weird problem.

Hi,
It could be a bad power supply. I had a similar problem. I should say the exact opposite.
When Nova was powered off its outputs would produce a lot of noise and hum. The fix was easy. Just turn it on and play it. But I had its power supply swapped for a new one anyway. Just in case. Had no noise problems since.

Depending on where you bought it from you may or may not be able to get a brand new spare for your power supply of course.

Otherwise you could try stuff like cheaters and so on just to see if it is the ground loop or not. Although ground loop would affect everything that's hooked up to your mixer. Everything with its own power supply.

A DA might help too but if its just a bit of noise don't worry about it too much. I have quite a bit of hum and cliks on the output of my Motif ES8 when I connect it to my Mac via USB. I live with it. It's not noticeable at all (unless the volume is cranked up to the point where the speakers would fry).

-ED-

Thanks for the replies.

I was thinking that it was the power supply, mainly since the volume knob doesn't affect the noise. I also noticed that the noise isn't always there; it usually comes on a little while after I've been playing the synth, after the thing has had some time to heat up.

I've heard that these Nova power supplies have reliability issues. Maybe I'll just open the thing up to see if there's anything obvious. I really wish I knew someone who had one so I could swap out; I hear those things are expensive!

I know this is completely unrelated but have you updated the Nova to the latest OS? It is really worth it. You get more polyphony, extra filter and oscillator types etc.
The vocal/formant presets that come with the new OS are quite good too.

THe update is free and is user installable. Just download it, put the nova into update mode and play a sysex file from your sequencer.


Getting a hold of another power supply is indeed tricky. Provided the problem is down to a bad power supply and not something inside Nova.

I'd have both checked out by a certified tech. But most techs nowadays are board swappers. makes their life easier.

-ED-

Right now I’m running OS 4.1 on the Nova which I believe is latest (correct me if I’m wrong).

One thing I realized last night while doing some more trouble shooting is that the noise is only audible when the Effects Send knob is turned up! In fact, it increases in volume as you turn the knob up. Now it doesn’t matter if you have an effect selected or if you’re on the menu screen; the relationship between knob and noise seems completely independent of the parameter selected for the knob!

This is a little weird, and I don’t know what to think now…

Yes, 4.1 is the latest OS. Your Nova has all the bells and the whistles then.

I doubt it is a bad knob. I'd even go as far as checking if its one of the analog inputs gone bad but then you would only get the noise on patches/multis that use analog inputs...

I'm still convinced that it is a power supply. The fact that you get more hum as you turn up some knobs is just another oddity caused by either an internal ground loop or possibly a bad interference that the power supply is picking up.

-ED-