A4 gives me electrical shock

There’s no grounding on Elektron devices.

i get a shock if the A4 touches the AR…otherwise fine…not looking forward to those rainy festivals…lol

I have the same annoying problem here, but it only happens when my skin is touching my MacBook Pro at the same time …

best thing is to use grounded power supply - keep your shoes on your feet - or use hand gloves :slight_smile:

Same here, when touching the A4 / AR and my macbook air I get electrical shocks from the elektrons

It has nothing to do with static, it is due to the SMPS (shit/switched mode power supply) used for Elektron gear and many others too, laptops, low end modular power supplies, modern low end mixers, cheap hi-fi and AV gear etc.

In many products you won’t often get or notice any shocks, but on gear with conductive chassis or exposed metal parts under some conditions then you will.

Also for modular use they (smps) are inadequate unless you do not mind not getting the best from your gear, I am not a fan of them. The advantages are low cost for the manufacturer (sometimes not passed on to consumer) and they are lighter, the disadvantages are many. For some things they are ok/adequate but generally for audio gear often not IMHO if corners have been cut on the filtering side as is sometimes the case.

Edit - I generally do not have a problem with Elektron using them, aside from the annoying occasional shock.

More reading https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply

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Any recommendation on getting a better power supply? This is driving my mad … I got my 2nd A4 now and I am still nearly always getting a really annoying electric shock mostly on the screws and the edges/corners when I touch them with my forearm or the palm of my hand … help … please. Or I just ducttape the pointy parts of the chassis but I am not feeling very confident in doing that …

Interested in a solution as well!

Btw: Is it bad for the machine? Does it damage it or something?

I have everything power conditioned straight off the wall via a Furman power conditioner and I run one of the furman power supplies/power strips from that where all the instruments plug in. I receive zero shocks.

…which is nice because I like to stand in the tub while I jam.

:droplet::scream::grin:

Worth checking your sockets in house with one of these. I did when I first moved in…

Did you experience some of those little shocks before you had the Furman?

I never had any shocks, but the electricity is sketchy in my apartment, so I had a lot of audible hum that went away with the Furman-tation. And now I rest easy plugging my gear in anywhere. When we gig we run all power from one outlet, into a two outlet furman and run two Furman power strips from there. (That’s our acoustic duo) and it keeps the PA from buzzing. When I play out alone, electronically, I have a Furman M-8Dx rack-mounted in the case with my Qu-pac, and it has a bunch of power outlets on the back… Also great for that sense of security and running all power from one outlet at the venue. I recommend Furman.

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Hi guys

Just wanted opinions and others experiences. My analog four has always given small shocks from its case since new and electron advise me this is normal and acceptable. I found the other day though it’s also introducing a lot of noise to my system and gives off so much interference that if I hold a jack connected near the box it goes mad (I can upload a video showing how severe of it helps). Elektron have said it is normal for a PSU to cause this and is acceptable and that I need to buy and connect into an earthed mixer. The box has this issue no matter what socket it is connected or even if no other connections are conneted.

Does everyone else have this same issue as it doesn’t seem right to me even though this is what elektron tell me?

Cheers

Craig

Poorly grounded means normal?? :hushed:
Are you sure that’s what they told you?

The PSU isn’t grounded, it’s all low voltage anyway

I notice it once in a while, but only when gently touching near the corner/screws … more like a tiny static jolt, never any noise though

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Here’s a link to what elektron replied

Hi Craig, What you are feeling is the filter capacitor in the PSU and not the mains. This is normal to all non grounded units that has a larger PSU filter capacitor. You will need to connect the unit to a grounded mixer. Regards, Olle

Doesn’t seem acceptable to me that I need to buy something g seperate to make it work correctly and introduce something else to my chain.

The interference running a jack end near the A4 is mad. Tried to upload a video but the file size is too big

The PSU thing is quite normal, not just in Elektron products, I get it with a number of devices, not least my iPads when they’re charging. The interference seems to be a separate issue, either you have a faulty A4 or you have noise induced in the ground loop of your system, hence the recommendation to ground it at a mixer for the latter.

I would think the shock from casing and interference are one and the same thing. It would be unlikely to be seperate considering.
As for ground loop in the system I’ve used both socket and see on plug sockets to test as well as Megas and multimeters to test and all sockets and adapters are good. Plus the rest of my system is absolutely running smooth with zero issues. It also doesn’t matter what socket it’s connected to and has the same issues in completely different buildings/ electrical circuits. Due to the box not even being grounded either does this not mean ground is lifted and any ground loop would not show anyway?
By interference I am talking about say having one end of a trs connected to soundcard in and having the other anywhere within about 3 feet of the A4. No other gear does this only the A4 so it’s giving off something that it shouldn’t be. I think to be advised to go and earth through a mixer is a joke as a solution to a design problem to be honest

Why do they not ground the boxes in the first place?