My Mackie VLZ 1202 is picking up external hard drive noise..

[Theron D]

Would this be expected for a Mackie VLZ 1202? When I turn on my Seagate External HD (can be located anywhere in the mixing room), a very high whining sound can can be heard on the Mackie main outs/headphones (I would assume its the speed of the disc spinning or a harmonic of it). Location and receptacle does not matter. Is this common or expected? Or would you suspect some issues (grounding) with the mixer itself? Hmm any feedback appreciated on this....

(obviously I get around this by only turning on the external at the end of a session but still I'm not really liking the 1202 and am looking for a reason to buy a quieter small mixer--- maybe a Soundcraft M4???)

Best
Theron D

[high five]

I've got an external Seagate also, and my guitar amp and monitors both pickup the 'revving-up' noise when it wakes up. Once it's awake though, it doesn't cause any noise problems... and it only takes about 3 seconds to start. If it's just the startup whirr, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Theron D]

No its the entire time when the Seagate is on.....I'm going to swap out the mixer see what happens....

I've got an external Seagate also, and my guitar amp and monitors both pickup the 'revving-up' noise when it wakes up. Once it's awake though, it doesn't cause any noise problems... and it only takes about 3 seconds to start. If it's just the startup whirr, I wouldn't worry about it.

[@?,*???&?]

Isolate these devices to 2 separate power circuits. Start with moving them to different power plugs and if you have to go to your fusebox to figure out what circuit feeds what outlet, do so. I've seen this kind of alot. Sometimes having everything coming out of the same outlet is ideal, sometimes isolating them is the way to go. Usually, with these kinds of motors associated with DAW recording, best to isolate things. The FCC approves this computer stuff for use- but not with stringent standards in place that we need to record audio.