2015 grid noise fix

[damianschwartz]

Yes my kit is affected too, doesn’t bother me much, but is a really easy fix so i’ll do it at some point thx!!! if someone is in Madrid or Berlin and is not comfortable fixing this send me a line and i’ll help

[minorscience]

Is this issue separate from the noise issue documented here (and probably other places):

White whale noise issue - UK advice?

What kind of noise are you experiencing? Does it appear as soon as you attach the grid to WW? Does it change when you turn on more lights on the grid? As you’re powering everything from the one power supply, the typical ground loop noise shouldn’t be the problem – this typically only happens when using a separate power supply for the grid where both supplies are grounded. One idea might be to try moving the WW to a different location in your case to see if that changes the noise? The Intellije…

[tehn]

if using a new aluminum grid, the noise may be reduced slightly. this is mostly about physical noise.

the solution in modular is still to use a Switch module.

[msun]

hey, not sure if I have this problem or something else. I have a Grid I bought from Control about 3 weeks ago plugged into my White Whale. When it’s plugged in I hear a high pitched sound like at around 8K. If I press the memory button on the White Whale the sound stops. I was thinking it was a ground loop or something, but maybe it’s what you are describing here.

[msun]

I just opened up my case and I have the wrong capacitors. I’m not super comfortable with a soldering iron on new gear.

[tehn]

e-mail info@monome.org and we’ll arrange a fix.

[msun]

email sent and thanks!

[Placidus]

Just made the fix myself, it was not the cleanest work as I am totally inexperienced in soldering but everything seems to work fine. The difference is absolutely drastic concerning the noise (I have always been sensitive to high frequencies). It is finally a pleasure to control my modular with the grid. Anyway thanks for the perfect assistance.

[jasonw22]

It’s a good thing you sent the caps taped to a card marked with the capacitance values, because the (nearly invisible) markings on the caps themselves don’t appear to correspond to the capacitance values.

I’m pretty new to SMD soldering. For my edification, if I needed to identify a loose capacitor’s capacitance value, how might I interpret the values printed on the component?

[jasonw22]

Kind of answered my own question (thanks Google!) but the use of codes on various component types varies, so I think the answer I’m personally most happy with is “use your multimeter”.

-Jason

[emiddio]

Hi there,

I seem to have the same issue. There is a high pitch sound around 8k hz, but once I press the memory, the noise is gone.

Should I assume that it is the capacitors? What was the fix - new capacitors?

Thanks in advance!

[tehn]

e-mail info@monome.org for capacitors.

[emiddio]

oh no, nevermind the noise is coming out of a WW module…the more lights turn up the more noise I get…being silly sorry…

[restlessboy]

I have a friend ready to make this upgrade for me. Should I expect it to enable me to use White Whale without the Switch module? At the moment I’ve been having the LED-intensity-related noise issue from WW (output is MN Rosie), but I’m not totally clear from the thread whether this grid mod will fix it.

[tehn]

this is an issue with physical noise coming from the grid-- the capacitors vibrate. this should also lessen electrical noise, but modular power supplies and ground design are so different that i can’t assure it’ll be a complete fix. switch provides complete isolation.

[restlessboy]

Ah okay. I originally got referred here from my other thread asking about eurorack power. Hence the confusion.

Still, best to get the fix done I suppose.

[Muska]

I believe I’m experiencing this issue with a 128 Monome grid I just recently bought from monome.org last month. Could this by any chance be the problem?

[tehn]

all grids shipped from monome directly will have the correct capacitors. you can check this (if needed) by taking off the bottom cover with a 1/16" hex.

what’s your setup more exactly? it may be an electrical issue in general.

[bpcmusic]

This forum software is awesome. It just suggested this topic to me - which made me realize that my Grid 128 must have the wrong capacitors as it buzzes loudly when fully lit. You can hear it in the video below when the “error” mode is triggered in my quick and dirty Simon Teletype patch.

I’ve ordered the replacement parts and will be swapping them out.

Thanks, @tehn, for making this information and fix available!!

[bpcmusic]

Fix applied (finally) and working perfectly. Thanks again for the info on how to do this. My 2015 grid is now super-silent when fully lit!!