UR 22 Phantom Power Noise

All the help I can offer is that I also tried several USB cables to no avail…

I have now also tried another USB cable, and also tried grounding the device using the screw at the back. It made absolutely no difference.

Is it safe to assume that the unit is faulty and I should get an RMA for it? It’s basically useless to me as it is.

I have now also tried another USB cable, and also tried grounding the device using the screw at the back. It made absolutely no difference.

Is it safe to assume that the unit is faulty and I should get an RMA for it? It’s basically useless to me as it is.

If your UR 22 is within the retailer’s return period, then send it back to them for an exchange or refund. If you bought it from a retail store that you could visit, then take it back to the Pro Audio department and see if you can replicate the problem for them there. If it is not within the retailer’s return period, then contact Steinberg customer service and see i f they can trouble shoot the device—from there they’ll be able to issue a RMA number if found faulty.

Just out of interest, are there UR22 users here that aren’t having this hum problem?

Just out of interest, are there UR22 users here that aren’t having this hum problem?

Hi, I don’t have such a hum problem.
I’m using with RODE NT2-A and it sounds clear. :wink:

Might it be depending on which mic you use?

Hi, R. Wings. Rodes are nice microphones. But a low hum in audio equipment is usually caused by an improperly-grounded electrical component. For example, a Neumann U87 with poor grounding will hum.

Thanks for your post.

Hi,

Both audio samplers shows the same issue, I don’t think is cable hum or any cable interference, seems like a issue in the circuit. Something goes wrong when Phantom Power is activated.

If you disconnect the cable from the UR22 leaving the Phantom Power active, the noise remains?

Have you tried with a dynamic mic or line/instrument plugged with Phantom power activated, just to test?

To the ones who have the same issue: Where did you bought your units?

I’m almost giving up to purchase one… Maybe is a batch issue… Will give me hard work to exchange (international shipping)…

I have tried 7 different condenser mics with it from large diaphragm cardioid, to multi-polar pattern, to pencil condenser. Each with leads that have been tested in a cable tester. The hum is there with all of them, regardless of whether the unit is grounded.

To conclude. I have literally just tested it, and the pencil condensers have the hum when powered by the units phantom power, but don’t have it at all when phantom powered by a single AA battery. Completely silent.
So anyone that had this unit and it is exhibiting this horrible hum. My conclsuion after days of testing all of my gear is that it is definitely a defective UR22.

Side note: all of my gear works fine with my UR824. No hum anywhere.

I have tried 7 different condenser mics with it from large diaphragm cardioid, to multi-polar pattern, to pencil condenser. Each with leads that have been tested in a cable tester. The hum is there with all of them, regardless of whether the unit is grounded.

To conclude. I have literally just tested it, and the pencil condensers have the hum when powered by the units phantom power, but don’t have it at all when phantom powered by a single AA battery. Completely silent.

So anyone that has this unit and it is exhibiting this horrible hum. My conclusion after days of testing all of my gear is that it is definitely a defective UR22.

Side note: all of my gear works fine with my UR824. No hum anywhere.

Sounds frustrating. Since you have isolated the problem to the UR 22, I would move forward with contacting Steinburg about warranty coverage.

It hasn’t been much fun, no… :laughing:

I have filed a RMA with the retailer I ordered it from. I’m going to ask them whether returns have been an major issue or not with them, and from there I’ll decide whether to either get a replacement unit, or a refund and wait a while.

Oh wow, I had it all wrong.
For some reason I had it in my head that the UR22 was powered with an adapter!
I’m running the UR28M, maybe that’s why I assumed this, sorry.
I understand though, the unit must be attached directly to the computers USB port, being Bus powered, the loading effect of other devices could be significant.
Do you have any other peripherals attached via USB?

  • Any effect by removing them if possible?
    
  • Any effect by connecting the other USB peripherie via a powered hub?
    

Any improvement when running the laptop powered from mains?
If you deinstall the driver, then reinstall, connecting the UR22 to a different physical USB port socket, does this alleviate the problem?
I all fails you might report the actual USB subsystem chipset manufacturer.

One of the conveniences of the UR 22 that I noticed is that there is no power supply. I’ve been used to having to plug most electronics in via the wall wart.

The noise is generated at various USB ports from my lap top. I’ve been running the UR 22 with no other devices connected. It is, however, interesting that you mentioned running my computer with main power. I’ve been running it with battery power. I’ll attempt with wall adapter. Thanks.

Where I’m at in trouble shooting the phantom power noise is my microphone. I’m in the process of purchasing a new condenser. From there I’ll determine if the noise was being generated by a defective condenser microphone.

Hi,

Steinberg Support answered me that with the only one returned unit for this reason of noise, they did tests on multiple machines and don’t have the problem… They said that in similar cases they had seen, including other brands, the cause is usually on a specific system and caused by computer’s USB power system.

If could be an USB power issue, why some customers did the same tests with other brands USB-powered interfaces and there was absolutely no noise? Only happens with UR22… Maybe UR22 requires a best USB power than the other brands.

Have you tried on others desktop and laptops?

Yes, I have tried it on my main Desktop DAW, that I use with my UR824 and the issue is still there. My main DAW has USB 3.0 ports and USB 2 and is more than capable of powering the UR22.

If the issue is noise generated by the laptop, then why is the hum completely absent if I use battery power to power a pencil condenser microphone instead of the UR22s phantom power?

I filed for a return today and will be getting a refund. I’ll wait a while and let the user reviews roll in and let the hype die down before deciding if I will buy another one. If they are blaming the consumers for problems with their hardware, the user reviews are going to show it.
I bought the UR22 based on how satisfied I have been with the UR824 and thought it would make an excellent portable addition to my studio. Seems I was wrong.

I’ve had zero issues powering other devices with my Toshiba laptop (Core i3, 4GB RAM), such as Wacom Intous4 graphics tablets, external hard drives, charging phones etc.

Blaming the customers hardware is pretty poor practice. It doesn’t fill me with confidence or make me want to get a replacement unit, especially when there are other units that apparently don’t exhibit this problem on the systems that do have it with the UR22.

If that’s the case, especially for desktop PCs (and even Laptops), I would pay particular attention to the PC PSU.
Budget PSUs are an ailment to audio PCs - introducing ripple noise harmonics and shortening the life of components (Can you say D e _ _ or H _).
Higher quality active power correction +80% PSUs are the only ones I use in desktops. There are budget power
bricks available for Laptops with inferior components that will not provide stable power day-in & day-out.
60 cycle hum filtered for your listening pleasure!

I always test the output voltages on all new PSUs; e.g. 5v output (+/-) 5% = 4.75v to 5.25%. But, that’s just one part to be concerned over. A PSU is as important as a Preamp in today’s digital world.

By the way, how many mA supports the computers USB power you tried the UR22? My laptop has 500mA.

Do you know the UR22 mA maximum consumption? I did not found on UR22 specs web page, there is not this info.

To anyone having this hum issue, try this just out of curiosity (if you haven’t already)…

On Windows 7 based systems (no idea about Mac) go to your control panel, then go to ‘power options’, then ‘edit plan settings’, then click ‘change advanced power settings’.

A dialogue box will open in a new window called ‘power options’, open the branch ‘USB settings’, then the branch ‘USB selective suspend setting’.

Here it should have two options, one is ‘on battery’ and the other is ‘plugged in’, set both (or just ‘plugged in’) to ‘disabled’.

Also, go to the branch PCI Express, open it, then open ‘link state power management’ and set it to disabled as well on ‘plugged in’.

You can also set ‘turn off hard disk’ to ‘never’ by entering the value of ‘0’.