Brand New PS2 Effects Loop Crosstalk w/Load

Stage & Studio Power Station PS-2
1

I have a brand new PS2 that has odd behavior. When I use the PS2 load along with the effects loop, the loop has so much cross talk with the load signal that the loop is effectively a parallel loop (If I run a single delay 100% wet or with kill-dry on, you hear the dry signal). Lifting ground doesn’t change this behavior. If I use my Suhr reactive load and pass that to the line-in on the PS2 the loop is dead quiet and works as expected. My old Waza TAE did not have this behavior. The head is a Suhr PT100. I also happens with a 50W plexi but not as pronounced.

Before I return this, are there some troubleshooting steps to try? Maybe as loose connection internally?

Signal path 1 results in phasey cross talk:
GTR → PT100 → PS2 → AxeFX2 in PS2loop 100% wet single delay → Cab

Signal path 2 results in clean loop behavior:
GTR → PT100 → Suhr Reactive Load → PS2 line in → AxeFX2 in PS2loop 100% wet single delay → Cab

2

Hi @TubeAmpNut (great name) and welcome to the forum!

What volume level are you playing at?

Are you hearing this in the room?

What happens if you take the PS-2 line out and record a clip, does it sound the same?

Some more debugging steps:

  • I am assuming this is not cables because the same cables work when connecting with Suhr RL?
  • Remove all FX, (front of amp and in all FX loops)
  • Check the PS-2 impedance selector is not stuck in half a position.
3

It’s 100% a ground loop issue. Kind of stunning actually. I had the head and a rack mount Furman power strip (for the AxeFx and PS2) plugged into a Black Lion Audio PG-P power strip. After reading all the forum posts and watching YouTube videos on the subject (and whole heartedly not believing it could possibly be a ground loop), I plugged the Furman into a wall socket separate from the head and 98% of the cross talk disappeared. I ordered an isolation transformer as well. I’m guessing the BL power strip is kinda suspect at this point.

4

Quite a few people have had ground loop issues solved by using different power supplies on the front end versus the FX loop. This sounds different. No obligation, but If you can do a rough sketch of before/after the fix that would be really useful to give people better advice in the future.

Glad the Fryette forum and the Fryette videos are directly helping you out!

5

I’ll do one better: https://youtube.com/shorts/luPfyWkEZ1Y

This demonstrates the effects loop crossover and remediation.

I guess cranking a 100W head has huge current demands that modulates the ground on the surge protector which is audible on the PS2 if it’s sharing the same local power ground as first shown.

6

Hi @TubeAmpNut thanks for coming back! It’s so useful to have real-world examples of broken and fixed like this. I need to now sit down and understand it better…