world of hum- home studio in the city

[the brill bedroom]

I've got a new recording room in my apartment and I'm picking up a ton of hum when i track. it's not 60 cycle, it's something higher and currently i'm laying off vocals because a rasio station playing "Give Peace A Chance" is coming through faintly on my headphones. the hum is stronger at some times and I'm hoping the radio will go away as the earth spins on it's axis.

Here's the signal path just in case it's something obvious I'm missing:
ADK vienna mic through a Joe Meek VC6Q into an M Box. I'm using short monsetr cables between things. Granted, i live in a city and one has to expect a lot of extraneous signal floating aorund, but I've never had this much as previous locations. I know Joe Meek stuff has a rep for being noisy.

Is there anything you all could recommend to reduce this? I have my Mac plugged into the same outlet as my pre amp. Could that be it? I suppose there's one way to find out, but advice would be welcome.

[kayagum]

If you think it's the Joe Meek, try another preamp. That should tell you 1 way or another.

Maybe it's the MBox. Try another breakout box?

Is everything balanced (lines)?

[TapeOpLarry]

Make sure there's no ground loops. Try the mic direct into the Mbox and see if it hums. Then add gear. Use a ground lift (adapter) grey plug thing if needed.

[supafuzz]

I used to live in Gramercy Park 21 street..the electricity sucked and there was a buzz
I moved way uptown [Inwood} and the electricity is dead quiet

you may need power conditioning [and not those cheap Furman spike things]

they can be expensive but may solve your probs

[blunderfonics]

I would try to narrow things down a bit first. Start with an SM57 or some other dynamic mic plugged straigt into the M-Box, then try the ADK into the MBox, then the 57 through the Meek into the MBox. At what point does the hum show up? If you are using a laptop, try running it off the battery for a moment and see if you still have the same noise and go through the above steps.

If it doesn't seem to go away, it is quite possible that it is the AC is sagging your neighborhood or that there is something wonky with the way your new place is wired. Have you tried different rooms?

[Sean Shannon]

You may need a power conditioner, and make sure everything is plugged into 1 outlet to avoid ground loops. Plug the power conditioner into the wall, and plug everything else into it. A great product is the "Hum Free" (I think that's what it's called).

[eeldip]

if you are hearing a radio station periodically, and it sounds higher than ground hum/AC related stuff then it could just be RF straight and simple.

shorter cables help, but you are already doing that. with the mic plugged in, start playing around with the cable... lift it up put it on the floor etc, keep you headphones on.. hear differences in the hum? you are moving around your radio antennae.

try a different mic, it could be your adk. i have two mics or so that have RF problems, frustratingly, they are some of my favorites (gefell um70, rca varacoustic).

you can try starquad cable, but that doesnt seem to do much on short runs in terms of reducing RF in my experience.