Except the passive DI, which I still need to buy
Please pay special attention for your gain staging settings (not only on the MOD Dwarf, but also other devices on the setup).
If I got it well you solve the issues in one location, but it appeared again on other locations.
Can’t you experiment with a borrowed passive DI before buying one?
I played a gig tonight in a club with great equipment, brought the Dwarf. I had set the input gains to zero, output gains to about 70%, and at home there was some noise, but not a ton. At the club, the noise was unbearable. The techs had me unplug the Dwarf completely as it was generating not just hum but some kind of weird overtone on the hum itself. We tried a DI with a ground lift, and it didn’t help at all. Is there anything at all that I’m missing? Otherwise I’m done.
Let the record show that I updated the driver for my Focusrite Clarett 4pre USB and it solved my clicking and popping issues!
Wasn’t even the dwarf. I feel foolish 
Keep your drivers up to date, all!
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I didn’t get if you manage to have it working nice at home or somewhere or not.
Were you? Are you using the same approach in other locations?
EDIT: can you also share with us your setup and where on that you are placing the DI?
After looking at multiple other threads, including @bassyben and his great unpacking of the possible solutions here I’m increasingly disheartened, having spent a ton of time and frankly about 30%+ of the price of the Dwarf looking for solutions that kind of work but not perfectly. The sound issues are, for me, too much compared to the frankly excellent vision of this product.
I love the interface, love the configurability, love the support in this community and the support team via separate emails. However, I don’t see a clear path to a relatively noise-free product I can use in both recording and live contexts. The iDefender+ helped me with the recording scenario, but unless I’m missing a definite solve to playing live into an amp, I need to move on and get something else.
Please let me know if I’m missing something. Thank you, as always.
Hey there,
I’m still working on this issue on my end in my setup. One thing that helped with the noise was replacing the power supply.
This is the one I have been using with better success.
I don’t live play, but I can easily get my hands on an electric and/or acoustic guitar amp, if necessary to test.
I found out about the power supply from another user on the forum, then I ran some tests with my mixer and was able to hear a strange warbling sound coming from the dwarf channels. The new power supply eliminated that noise and it brought the overall noise level down.
I may pull my actual pedal power supply out and test with that as well.
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Thank you @Elk_wrath (great name, by the way).
Do you have any concerns with this power supply not being grounded?
For $12, maybe I’ll give it one more try. If you do get a chance to experiment with a real amp, please let me know. Thanks again.
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Hey NYC,
I actually don’t have an issue with the lack of ground on this supply.
The adaptor has that box inside of a box. Which I guess means it’s safe to use in This application
@ianr was the person who discovered the warble I couldn’t hear under the noise until I started isolating. Here is his post regarding the power supply:
I have one more item arriving today that will allow me to isolate each individual instrument at the power supply to see if the noise is coming from somewhere else.
I’ve recently had to replace two power supplies in my set up, and I’m wondering if maybe my bluebox has a damaged wall wart.
I’ve invested a significant amount of time and money into this issue, but now I’ve ensured that my power situation is no longer a contributing factor to the noise.
I’m hoping these next tests I do can identify more of the issue, isolate it, and hopefully find a solution to recommend.
I’m hoping this issue is dwarf specific, as I have a DUOX on order and I can’t afford to buy more DI boxes lol
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I believe Elk_wrath is saying it is double insulated, which you can read about in what looks like the first page on the internet at GCSE PHYSICS - Mains Electricity - What is Double Insulation? - What is the Symbol for Double Insulation? - Which Appliances are Double Insulated? - GCSE SCIENCE. You can see the double insulation symbol in the image on Amazon that was linked.
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That is exactly what I meant, glad there are smart people here lol
We are actively investigating on this to find solutions for all the different issues. And that’s the reality, noise issues are different between users. A lot of them got solved with a multitude of solutions where the ground loop compensation feature is included. But we are aware that this didn’t solve all and we are working to get it sorted out. That’s why detailed user reports and accurate troubleshooting is extremely important for us.
We prepared a detailed section on the wiki explaining different methods to solve noise issues, yet we are aware that some may persist after all of this and that’s why we didn’t give the case as closed.
P.S.: this guide on the wiki can even be used for other devices and not just the MOD Devices. Fun fact, last weekend I just saw a Moog One with two Radial DIs on its outputs…I may be wrong, but I guess that I know why they needed to have the DI’s there.
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100% agree LOL
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Thanks @VeggieSoup , that was a good education for me and very much appreciated.
One thing I don’t 100% understand: is the Dwarf double-insulated? I’m asking because even if the power supply is insulated, I’m not sure if there’s risk in electricity going into a non-insulated, non-grounded Dwarf. Please be kind, as I know very little about electricity except not to mess with it LOL
Thanks again.
@Jon , I know you’re working on this issue, as we’ve exchanged both emails and posts here on the topic. I appreciate that.
My point is that, as long as I can’t have confidence in plugging the Dwarf into a basic amp setup and having it just work, I can’t use the Dwarf. The specifics of the amp shouldn’t matter, the same as they don’t matter when I use a Zoom, Boss, or other multi-effects pedal.
Thanks for the continued work on this.
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Hey NYC,
You should be fine with running that power supply. The double insulation is there to prevent any sort of electrical shorts without needing an earth line.
My electrical knowledge consists of exactly one industrial electricity class for mechatronics in which I was able to scrape by with a C lmao. So take my opinion with that grain of salt.
I’ve removed the ground loop in my set up, but am now dealing with the 60Hz hum (I think) from my electrical.
I have a HumX coming today that I’ll be using to isolate the dwarf first, and then the mixer I am suspicious of. It is designed to combat the 60Hz hum.
Through this issue, I’ve installed a 1000w medical grade isolation transformer on one electrical socket with 4 power conditioners coming from that. My entire set up is powered off one outlet.
I installed a passive DI on the input of the dwarf, and a stagebug on the output with ground lift.
I also replaced the power supply.
At this point I’m about $850 bucks into this issue, but I can’t fault the MOD team over this as I really needed to address my electrical situation.
Today the last piece of the puzzle arrives, and if I’m up to the task I’ll be testing tomorrow.
I normally test on the weekends, but I am getting called up to drive for UPS this week, and need to brush the 12 year rust off of my manual transmission skills this weekend lmao
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Holy moly @Elk_wrath , your knowledge, patience and perseverance are way way way higher than mine for this issue… not to mention your budget LOL. I look forward to hearing the creations out of that setup someday!
FWIW, an iDefender+ solved a lot of my recording issues. That little unit was worth the money.
If you have time and can update your findings after the testing, that would be awesome. Meanwhile, good luck with the transmission and clutch! Thanks again.
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I’ll tell you that when I started this whole adventure on the noise issue, I had zero idea about any of this. I have been doing nothing but forum gliding and research regarding how to squash this issue.
I had to do the electrical stuff because that was one more variable to eliminate from my testing, that and I had a scary ass power surge that made my bunghole pucker about a month ago that I’m considering may have damaged some of my power supplies.
I’m planning on recording audio on my tests and hopefully making a private video on my channel to share here for internal purposes.
I should be able to demonstrate the warble from the provided power supply, and the results of swapping for this new PSU.
Then it will come down to making recommendations on a DI or isolator, or if it’s even necessary (in my set up 100% necessary)
I’ll also be able to test next month if this issue is dwarf specific or MOD device specific as I have a DUOX on order that should ship sometime around late October.
I’m really invested in trying to find a reasonable and cheap solution either on the user end, or even the MOD team end such as the power supply. Even then, the only pedals I’ve ever owned that provided power supplies are strymons. So they are doing us a favor by providing any accessories at all.
What I am hoping is that it’s a dwarf issue that can be addressed internally to see if maybe some hardware/PSU changes are necessary.
What I don’t want is for it to be a full hardware issue across the line.
This is a very unique and fantastic product, I just want everyone to have a solid experience with it, and I know it’s not just us who are struggling with this issue. If we can make the mod devices 100% streamlined in operation then it will 100% shake up the industry due to the open source nature of this project.
I will always give my support on that. Even though I could install MODEP on a raspberry pi, I never considered doing that because I believe that the hardware sales are critical to supporting the project.
Fingers crossed something I’ve done will give some sort of direction to move in.
So far, there are a few of us who have replaced the power supply with great success at noise reduction. If you test and verify, we may have a cheap solution for the team to work with.
Fingers crossed that a PSU helps you!
I’ll see what I can do about securing an amp to test with.
P.S.
If this HUMX doesn’t solve my problem, I will 100% try out that Idefender. I record through an iPad and can easily put that in my chain. Plus it’s cheaper than the one I’m trying lmao
And tbh, I don’t have the budget to be doing this, I’m just foolish with my money lmao
Also, if you hold off on your final decision on the dwarf until the next update comes out, apparently there will be a few significant changes that we will have access to that may mitigate this issue without spending money. A noise gate is one of the big feature that is supposed to be coming. That feature alone may handle all of this issue, but we won’t know until we get a chance to test it out.
Being an early adopter is an experience. I’ll tell you that this has been the best early adopter experience I have had with a company that cares about their offerings. I’m willing to be patient, but understand that gigging musicians have a much larger necessity for these changes than I do as a hobbyist
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Ugh, you make me feel like such a jerk for even considering giving up. Seriously: thank you!!
I’m ordering that power supply right after I type this and hoping for the best. Will look forward to your findings and will share mine.
BTW, did you see the post about the reamp box? That also sounds like an interesting idea. Not that I’m suggesting spending any more dough right now…
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I want you to make the decision that is best for you at this current time, don’t feel pressured to continue using gear that isn’t functioning the way that you need it to. That being said, down the road, the dwarf will most likely be everything you want it to be and more!
So I’d recommend doing what you feel is necessary to be successful, and while doing that, keep your eyes on the progress being made.
If the dwarf isn’t working for you at the moment, (and I fully believe that it will be the G.O.A.T. of pedals down the road) find something that is gonna suit you best.
You will always be able to revisit the Dwarf down the road if these issues are affecting your livelihood. I’m certain everyone would understand your decision.
I personally decided to swallow the cost of both the units and the troubleshooting expenditures due to personal reasons, and I don’t think anyone should have to do that if they don’t want to, or are not in the position to do so.
I will continue to work on this issue in the hopes that we can fix it completely, but I acknowledge that we need a community with different set ups and use cases to get the best issue identification possible.
If this power supply doesn’t work for you, then I believe that you should pursue avenues that make you successful in life. If it does work, your experience will be a big validation towards the issue that can be solved.
The big thing is that the more testing we have, the more diversity we have in our setups, and the largest subset of data we can provide to the devs will ultimately be the solution to addressing the crux of the issue many of us face.
What’s most important in this situation (in my personal opinion) is that you are successful with what you have.
If you decide to stay on the MOD train, your issues become something we can all test and see if we can come up with a solution that helps everyone down the road.
This is the crux of being an early adopter imo. You sacrifice the features for the idea. Some of us need the features, and some of us want to make the idea a reality. Neither is right or wrong, it ultimately boils down to what you need to be successful.
Most of the stuff I’ve early adopted and sold before maturity, and I’ve regretted every single short sale.
This time I’m committing, and if you want to join, then all of us will be better for it.
Just my personal take on that, and I don’t want it to pressure you about it.
In terms of the reamp box, I have not heard of that but am interested! I’ll Google it, but if you have a direct link, that’d be awesome!
Edit for content: I just checked out the reamp box, and due to being a synth player, it probably won’t help me much. But I will 100% couch for radial devices as I use their passive DI on my input, and their stagebug on the output. They are solid builds and work really well.
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