RYTM Noise Floor

[disco]

Currently i’m using the OT inputs like this : [quote=“glooms, post:40, topic:14612”]
If you send your kick into OT you can clear up muddy mixing from the rytm outputs and keep your kick level super high without clipping your other percussion . I started out with a rytm as my first elektron now I love my OT/Rytm/DN combo ! Also you can add 4 distortions to your kick that way with a neighbor track
[/quote]

Currenty i’m using my OT inputs like this :

AB - Rytm’s left and right output
CD - A mixer with all my synths plugged in

Octa’s main outs go to Analog Heat, Heat goes to a compressor and finally, to the PA.

[glooms]

You can get my phat glooms kick if you run your rytm perc (everything but kick ) into A (would be mono though) and the BD into B ? My DN goes into C/D like your synth bus (beep beep) !

[glooms]

Honestly you guys wanna know what’s worse than RYTM noise floor is chiptune hardware noise floor , my Commodore 64 / Unmodified NES / unmodified sega Genesis , Gameboy advance / gameboy DMG … giant floor of noise all the time , so that’s how I noticed it in my rytm right away all the chiptune gear had trained my ears to hear backround hum / video circuit noise / noise floor but also made my rytm sound better to me because of this lol

[justfine]

I found massive noise coming out of my AR and came across this thread. Tons of good advice. I found the culprit to be the master distortion level … I cut it to zero and it dropped my noise floor to almost nothing. This after shutting off the compressor. This is a device that requires some attentive gain staging … and also has a very capable output level so starting low with attention to clipping on your mixer helped me a ton.

I do want to say though and I find it a bit of a bummer how many people came to this thread to just attack OP with suggestions that hes just not experienced enough to know that all devices have noise or that hes imagining it or whatever. It feels very “cult of brand product worship” coordinated attacks that I see a lot of online in various of my passions. Lets keep it nice guys. Even the best devices have some issues … lets be empathetic to each other and give one another the benefit of the doubt. Otherwise people may just stop asking questions because they dont want to be berated for it. One love

[Riuozami]

I found the same experience on the Rytm- it requires a very good gainstaging and attentjon to volume level - for example the relation between sample volume, gain volume and track level is very important before applying compression and distortion

[Schnork]

I noticed yesterday, that without anything going into the filter, high resonance and having the amp overdrive turned up really hisses at you like a mad possum. I think I had the reso at around 64, so not super high, just noticable to boost and sculpt some freqs.
Turn the resonance down and it’s dead silent.

I was going back and forth between hat machine and a hat sample and at one point had both turned off. I’d imagine the hiss from high reso and overdrive could potentially add up on multiple tracks, then it would end up in the master distortion and comp where it could be really brought into the spectrum.

Could also be a potential tool for sounddesign, sounded like tape hiss.

Btw, Elektron packs have the master volume (vol on the compressor page) at 64. I adopted this early when I was trying to learn the Rytm’s gain architecture. I’d say it’s a good practise.
Also the OT can be a good guideline for setting output levels. On the Mk1 orange leds with solid red on peaks give me healthy levels without clipping the AR, but not for away from it. Levels are a little different on OT Mk2, but you can always check with the internal noise gate which db reading an input level would be and then go from there.
Such guidelines really helped me setting levels quick.

[justfine]

I didn’t know the compressor page volume was the master output! Very helpful to know that same with your 64 level tip … thank you.

[Schnork]

Yeah, that’s a little confusing, the distortion page has room for additional parameters, that would have been more suitable…imho.
Anyways, keep in mind that the main volume knob on the front is just an output attenuator. So having that set fully clockwise so that it does not attenuate the level you just set inside the Rytm (or maybe just below fully cw so you have some leverage to match with other sources if needed) would probaply be best.

There are a few really good threads on AR’s gain structure here btw.

[justfine]

Great! Super helpful. I’ll do some digging. I keep the output level all the way up … I dont use a DAW, so I have 2 OTs and an AR as my DAW basically running out through an SSL G clone and Elysia Karacter. In order to sample at a proper level I have the OTs and AR headphone outs running to a Mackie Mix 8 and then to a headphone amp I built from the Mix 8 master. This lets me sample live while still hearing my full mix. Its not perfect but its pretty great all things considered.

[Least_Useless]

I also have trouble with high noise levels using Overbridge with separate outs in Ableton. Nothing passes the master distortion or compressor. If I turn src-level, trk-level and amp-level to zero for all tracks there’s still noise. Does that mean it must be something else that creates the noise? Tips and suggestions are much appreciated!

[standingwave]

What does the noise sound like? Is it sputtery? Is it a constant hum?
Sputtery would make me think USB grounding issues, constant hum, probably mains ground loop. Make sure everything is plugged into the same electrical circuit, and maybe a USB ground isolator will help.

[alechko]

for my rytm I’ve found that analog individual outs have less noise then OB individual noise, main outs though are pretty much the same… for example (UL are coming from Motu Ultralite, OB is Overbridge):

the BD channel consistenly has ~6db less noise over the audio interface vs overbridge, main outs are pretty even.
the noise levels are the same with the usb disconnected, so the main outs from the audio interface keep the same level with/without usb connected.
they are of course heavily affected by the compressor / distortion.

as I’m recording into ableton, I try recording as high gain as possible at ~-6db or even higher so later on I can lower the level and the noise goes down, if I try recording everything -16-12db eventually the noise gets pushed hard and becomes very audible in the final stages, it for sure can be used as an effect as the noise do have gritty quality but I suppose it’s a matter of personal preference…

I don’t mind the noise on the master out but the kick as the loudest element does bother me, and maybe if I use DVCO as a bass I can record it separate also from individual out, and it’s pretty clean at the end that way, while the rest of the tracks can be noisy, I don’t mind.

[Least_Useless]

It’s constant hiss/noise. I’m considering buying an isolator so thanks for the tip. So what you’re saying is that if I turn all the volumes down there should be silence?

[Least_Useless]

Thank you for this! I’ve been considering buying an adat expander and get rid of overbridge. I had one before overbridge came and can’t remember there was any noise.

Can you confirm what I asked in the post above, should there be silence if I turn src level, track level and amp all the way down on a channel?

[alechko]

sure, I’ll test it tomorrow and let tou know

[standingwave]

There will always be noise if it is relayed to grounding. Under normal operation, noise should not be an issue. I’ve never actually measured, but I’m sure my noise floor sits below -60db. A bit of safety gating can clean up the super low noise; the level can be very hot in relation.

[alechko]

@Least_Useless

Can you confirm what I asked in the post above, should there be silence if I turn src level, track level and amp all the way down on a channel?

nope, there’s always noise present even with track, src and amp levels at 0, but the analog outs have slightly less noise, at least in my case…

[Least_Useless]

Good to know, thank you for checking!

Isn’t that a bit weird though since many posts in this thread normalize the noise from the RYTM with regards to all its eight VCAs?

I notice that some of my channels are noiser than others, for example channel 9/10.

[alechko]

maybe having the overdrive boosted gets more noise for individual channels as well, anyway imo avg ~-80db noise is not bad at all, and there’s ways to get it very manageable with gain staging so with little practice you can have both on OB or audio interface quite / noisy tracks to your liking

[standingwave]

Analog= the good, the bad, the ugly. Haha