Line 6 DL4 Noise

[Casavettes]

So I've had my DL4 modded a few times...
Loop switch mod, volume drop, and double preset mod. I don't know if any of these mods would effect what's going on.
But I'm having this noise in looping mode. It's a whistling noise... kind of like a dog whistle. It's most apparent when I have the loop setup for longer recording time.

Tried different cables, amps, power supplies, switching to buffered bypass. Nothing fixes it...
Was wondering if anyone could throw in their 2 cents as to what may be causing this because it is driving me mad.
Everything else on it functions as normal.

[RitalinCupcake]

Is it daisy chained with anything? I've had the same thing, just in longer loop mode, if I have certain pedals on the same power supply.

I've also recently had the same issue with my DL4 when adding the VFE Enterprise phaser to my chain (great sounding phaser by the way) and separating the power supply didn't help. Even running it on batteries didn't get rid of the whine. I emailed Peter at VFE and he said it was due to the Enterprise using a charge pump to increase the internal voltage and poor filtering in the DL4 (and some other digital pedals). He even offered to try to fix the issue if I sent him both pedals, that's some customer service! I didn't take him up on the offer, since I don't hear it at all in the shorter loop mode or any of the delay modes I figured I could live with it.

So, if any of the other pedals in your chain have a charge pump they could be the culprit, Peter mentioned it's a pretty well known problem with the Klon which uses a charge pump and some digital pedals.

[Casavettes]

Hmm, I'm using a voodoo labs pp2 to power it.
Maybe my sibling phaser has something to do with it..

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one experiencing this problem, I appreciate the input

[Seedy]

Do you have the dip switch set appropriately on the PP2?

I have a PP2+ and plugged my Line 6 M9 into it. It seemed to work well until I played for more than 10 mins. Then it was explained to me by Voodoo Labs that the "L6" spot on the PP2+ was only for the single modelers (DL4, MM4, etc) and not the M9/M13. I reorganized my board a bit and am just using the courtesy outlet to power the M9. Solved my problem.

[Casavettes]

Yeh dipswitch is set right

[lukievan]

I have the same problem - high-pitched squeal when I engage the looper. Not while recording - just while playing back/overdubbing. Doesn't seem to matter if it's on my pedal board power or a separate, Line6 power supply. Anybody have any fixes? Thanks!

[RitalinCupcake]

Does it do it if you are in the shorter loop time mode? What else is in the chain?

[lukievan]

Good question - I'm not sure. I will check that out.

Other pedals are (in order from gtr to amp):
Sizzle Fuzz: http://www.mojopedals.com/SizzleFuzz.html
Boss Tuner
Boss PS-3 PitchShifter/Delay
Budda Wah
Vox Valvetone
Dunlop Univibe
Boss DM-2 Delay
Cusack Tap-A-Whirl Tremolo
Line6 DL4

See anything that might be the culprit?

Thanks!

[RitalinCupcake]

Not sure, I guess you could try removing one at a time until it goes away. Is it a recent problem and is anything new in the chain? I think I'd try taking out the tap-a-whirl first, then maybe the Univibe.

[lukievan]

the reason I don't think it's the other pedals is that it only kicks in once the loop starts playing back, not while recording the initial loop.

[RitalinCupcake]

Well, does it do it if you go guitar>DL4>amp? Like I said in my first post in this thread, in my emails with Peter at VFE he said it's a pretty well known problem with some digital pedals and having other pedals with charge pumps in the chain. Mine did exactly what yours is doing when I had the Enterprise in my chain. I have had the same problem before but was always able to get rid of it by separating the power supplies for the DL4 and other conflicting pedals, but not that time. Even if the Enterprise was run on batteries the noise was still there on playback. One of your other pedals probably has a charge pump and the DL4 just doesn't like it.

[lukievan]

Thanks - I will check it out. Appreciate the insights!

[lukievan]

I managed to fix the original problem by re-setting the chip in the DL4. But I just added a J.Rockett Archer to my pedal board and now I get a squeal when playing back a loop in the 'long' mode. I contacted J.Rockett Effects and they tell me that the Archer has a charge pump, which is the culprit here. Anybody know of any way to rectify the problem without removing a pedal or putting the Archer in a separate loop in the board? Thanks.

[sp3k]

I managed to fix the original problem by re-setting the chip in the DL4. But I just added a J.Rockett Archer to my pedal board and now I get a squeal when playing back a loop in the 'long' mode. I contacted J.Rockett Effects and they tell me that the Archer has a charge pump, which is the culprit here. Anybody know of any way to rectify the problem without removing a pedal or putting the Archer in a separate loop in the board? Thanks.

I had a germanium fuzz face with a polarity invertion circuit that did the same to my dl4. No matter what I did the noise was there.

[lukievan]

Thanks for the response. Oh wow - that's a shame. The Archer sounds incredible with my setup and I use the looper in 2x mode all the time. Conundrum.