A 0,01 capacitor on wire ground

[juanpaco]

I have read on some internet site (from australian, I think) that we should wire a 0,01 capacitor to all ground wire of our line signals (medusa etc) from studio to control room to avoid ground loops. Is it true?

JuanPaco

[knightfly]

Hey JuanPaco - welcome. If you would, please start here

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4060

specifically, edit your profile to include a general location - thanks.

As to your question - NO.

Proper grounding of electronic signals means having only ONE common point that EVERYTHING is grounded to - in the case of a studio, it's generally the mixer (if you have one) but someplace that's common to as many cables as possible. Ground loops are caused by having MORE than one ground point, so that the ground wire BETWEEN these two points becomes an antenna to pick up stray electrical signals.

IF you only have ONE common ground point, there is no complete circuit for noise, so there is no current - no current = no difference in voltage, so everything in the studio sees the same ground reference.

IF you were to put a .01 capacitor between grounds, this would (at high frequencies) become the same as a WIRE, which would be WORSE for noise because it would allow RFI to travel from point to point, causing a difference in voltage between the two points - exactly the OPPOSITE of what needs to be.

Try a google search on "star ground", and read/download this

http://www.rane.com/note110.html

Hope this helps... Steve