PS2 in loop of FM3

[ScotViking]

Hello, looking for help with my PS2. I’m trying to have my Magnatone M80/PS2 in the FX Loop of my Fractal FM3 so I can use drives and cabs. When I switch the amp to the gain channel I get massive feedback. Could someone please help me out setup? Thank you!!**

[dan]

Hello @ScotViking and welcome to the community.

Thanks for the helpful description. This is almost certainly a ground loop issues because you mentioned the high gain setting.

If you have not done already, watch these two videos, you need to break the loop.

What is mystery squeal?

When the magnetic field of your picks comes close to the magnetic field of your amplifier’s output transformer, you have made a magnetic feedback loop. This tends to sound more like a squeal than musical feedback. This has nothing to do with the Power Station or attenuators in general. Watch Joe demonstrate the mysterious squeal here: A second type of mystery squeal is caused by having multiple paths to ground: “ground-loops”. Most users will have ground loops and will not even …

[ScotViking]

Thanks so much! Those are great videos. I will definitely try the tips from the second video.

[pauldelpozo]

Dan, any plans for Fryette to release their own isolation device to help with this squeal in the Fx loop with multi affects systems.
I see the one on the video but after some research it seems to be a cheap solution. A cheap solution for high quality gear doesn’t seem to be the right way.

[dan]

Hi @pauldelpozo and welcome to the forum,

Do you have a link to the product you found? The only practical solution here is isolation with small signal transformers; probably the product uses fairly good transformers even if it looks cheap. Of course, you can always improve the bandwidth of these small magnetic parts by designing custom ones, which is certainly up Fryette’s street. We would need to understand what can be improved first. It might get added to the roadmap/whiteboard thanks for the suggestion.

[pauldelpozo]

Thanks man.

So I got the Pyle Phe300 and it definitely works but there is definitely a loss of tone, a bit of the high end and low end.

I’ve now ordered the Lehle IP-ISO which from what I’ve read should mitigate the lost highs and lows. This unit is $100 more but if you’re using high end gear like the Power Station and the Zmacs what’s another 100 to protect your tone, right?

From all the posts I’ve read here and other places this past week, a transformer isolator like the ones im testing are definitely what you need for ground induced interference. In my case the 4cm setup with my Fractal VP4 running into the PS2 Fx Loop.