Nord User Forum

• noise.mp3

My NE5 worked perfect for almost one year but now I have a problem in combination with my guitar.
The NE5 itself still sounds beautiful but it causes a disturbing noise on my guitar, the more I approach the keyboard with my guitar.
I changed cables, changed the battery of my Steinberger guitar (active pickups), took my other guitars,; the issue is still there even with the humbucker pickups of my other guitar. The issue is irrespective of the sound which is used on the NE5 or the volume, even if the volume stands on zero. But when I switch off the keyboard the disturbing noise is’n t no longer there. For me it seems that it’s related with the power supply voltage, which causes the electrical interferences on the pickups of the guitar?
PS. I have attached a short mp3 with the disturbing noise
(The issue is only with my Nord, with my Motif XS7 and my other Keyboards (Roland XP 30 und Alesis) the guitar works proper.) Because II often change between guitar and keyboard on stage and logically play guitar very close to the keyboard, the actual state is rather annoying. Would appreciate very much if someone in this forum could help me any further with this problem.

Yep, something like this has been reported before http://www.norduserforum.com/nord-stage ... t7849.html
Seems to be the transformer getting picked up by the guitar microphone coils. I do not know if a solution has been found to this problem.

Thanks for the tip; seems to be the same problem like classicrockguy's; the noise is in my case fortunately not so strong but nevertheless annoying.

Have you tried it guitar only--no pedals or anything else in chain? Pedal power supplies can be touchy.

hi ledbetter
i tried directly in the amp without anything still the noise

rudiratlos wrote:My NE5 worked perfect for almost one year but now I have a problem in combination with my guitar.
The NE5 itself still sounds beautiful but it causes a disturbing noise on my guitar, the more I approach the keyboard with my guitar.

Sorry to hear you have this problem.
I find it noteworthy that it appears you did not experience the problem when the keyboard was new. This suggests the power supply has degraded with time and you might be eligible for a replacement under warranty.

I consider the power supplies in Nords to be one of their fundamental weaknesses. If users start demanding replacements for this issue, it gives the Nord an incentive to address the weaknesses in their power supplies (e.g., electromagnetic noise, audible noise, 230V or 115V instead of wide-range input).

I wish you good luck.

Same horrible issue with Helpenstill piano pickups. It is one thing to have issues with Guitars, but when you cannot use a Nord on top of a Baby Grand, that is hitting close to home.
My Nord Stage 2 is only 6 months old....... so there is definitely a fundamental flaw in the Power supply that needs to be addressed by Nord.

The problem is that Nord use an unshielded transformer in their power supplies which emits mains hum right at the level of guitar pickups. I ended up building a remote case for the power supply which solved the problem

Brilliant!
I find it disappointing that Nords' shortcomings required you to do it though.
Thanks for pictures. --It looks very robust.
A question if you have the time/inclination:
If you move the external supply box back up near keyboard height does the noise into guitar pickups return? That is, does the enclosure provide enough shielding, or is the separation (by placing the supply on the floor) necessary?

I'll check it out and let you know. The reason I went for the remote option as opposed to attempting to shield the transformer is that the mod is completely reverse-able if I sell the board and that is there was always the risk of putting in all the effort and being unsuccessful (EME can be tough to contain). Also the space is limited inside and there could have been over heating issues. I did test and found it is just as noisy when you bring the guitar near to the power supply. The case is effectively transparent to EMR so it is the distance that has made the difference.