Analog Drive picking up AM radio?

Elektron Gear Analog Drive
#1

So, I got an Elektron Analog Drive… yes I know it’s kind of an abandoned product but I really like it… I bought it from a store and was sold to me as if new. It has exactly one problem: It appears to be picking up AM radio? If I plug in my electric bass but then don’t play it I can often hear sounds like people talking or piano or whatever. It doesn’t seem to be totally consistent in whether it’s present or not. When it’s present, I hear it on every mode except Clean Boost.

I haven’t got a lot of experience with owning guitar pedals so I’m not sure what to do. Does this mean there is something wrong with the unit? Is the problem likely to be with something else in my setup (I’ve got a bit of a cable ratnest right now? Is there anything I can probably do to mitigate this…?

#2

I had this problem with ground loops and dirty power. There could be an arcing transformer near you. Unfortunately power lines can pick it up and if you don’t have something to clean up the signal you will sometimes hear radio transmissions.

It could also be the unit but I am not sure as I do not have experience with the AD.

Hope that helps! I am sure others know more than I do about this.

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#3

It’s a feature :slight_smile:

#4

My ESQ-1 would pick up radio signals. It definitely made for some interesting recordings.

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#5

AM Synthesis

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#6

Just put a Teenage Engineering logo on it and call it a feature.

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#7

If you change locations or power supplies it may go away. My old bands rehearsal Brooklyn studio always picked up Spanish language radio through our guitarists pedals. We ended up sampling it, reversing it, and running through a Space Echo and it sounded great.

In short: it’s probably your room. There’s little you can do other than trying different outlets and positioning of your board. In my current house, I had a problem with noise (pulsing) coming through my interface on a curtain outlet so I bought a Furman power conditioner and it went away. That’s not the same problem but it’s similar in that you’ll need to move around your room a bit to see if you solve the problem in a low-tech way.

EDIT: ugh, i hate when somebody bumps up old posts with unrelated/“funny” comments, and then i get sucked into a dead topic.

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