Defective Diamond Compressor?

[zenkick]

I acquired a Diamond Compressor and am wondering if I have a defective/malfunctioning unit. I suspect so, but want to hear what others have experienced, especially if you own one of these.

When it is in my chain, regardless of the patch cables, and regardless of it being bypassed, and regardless of any other pedals' status before or after it, and regardless of my guitar's volume level, and even if it's the only item in the chain -- I get a buzz.

It's not terribly audible (but still there) with the sound in the open from my cab; but at night, I'm sending a direct feed to my mixer and playing through cans, and it's much more perceptible.

If I remove it from the chain this distinct buzz (sounds like a typical "my buzz stops when I ground my guitar by touching my strings [which is normal]" type of buzz) disappears.

The buzz gets louder (sounds like a "when I touch a ground point on my guitar the buzz gets louder [which is a grounding issue]" type of buzz) when I touch any ground/sleeve point in my chain, with or without any number of my guitars plugged in, and regardless of where it is in the chain. This louder buzz is very noticeable from my cab and that much more from the cans.

I don't think that the answer is "you are compressing the noise, so you notice it more", as typical with compressors (as I have read -- this is my first one though) because it occurs regardless of Diamond's bypass status.

Again, my suspicion is that it is defective in some regard (seems like a grounding issue, yeah?) and I'm looking for some informed comments to confirm my suspicion.

I acquired it second hand, so unfortunately I can't just return it to a store. I'll need to repair it or have it repaired.

I will be contacting Diamond also. I also plan to see if the hi-cut internal switch changes the color or loudness of the buzz, but I suspect it won't.

Thoughts?

[duderanimous]

are you using battery power or an adapter? If using an adapter, try a battery and see if you have the same results.

[zenkick]

It is on power from a subpanel+conditioner+isolated supply.

I did not mention that the symptoms are the same powering from a PP2+ or a PPD.

But valid data point to include, thank you! I will check that when back in the music room in the morning.

[digiTED]

Tried battery power?

When using the AC jack, is the plug loose in the jack? Those things can wear out as well as get loose from suffering a sudden jerk at some point. It's an easy repair at least.

Rest assured Diamond will take care of you though. Their customer service, even with second-hand owners, is as good as it gets. They modded a used Vibrato (refusing payment!) for me to work with some unusually hot pups I have in one of my solidbodies. Class act for sure.

[digiTED]

Originally Posted by duderanimous

are you using battery power or an adapter? If using an adapter, try a battery and see if you have the same results.

beat me to it, Richard!

[zenkick]

Originally Posted by digiTED

When using the AC jack, is the plug loose in the jack? Those things can wear out as well as get loose from suffering a sudden jerk at some point. It's an easy repair at least.

Not that I noticed. It seems pretty mint. I'll wiggle.

Originally Posted by digiTED

Rest assured Diamond will take care of you though. Their customer service, even with second-hand owners, is as good as it gets. They modded a used Vibrato (refusing payment!) for me to work with some unusually hot pups I have in one of my solidbodies. Class act for sure.

I assumed as much considering their rep, but wonderful to know from someone first-hand that they take care of their users!

[CaptainAwesome]

Based on the fact that you're getting the same buzz in bypass and with different PSUs, I suspect it isn't a power issue. I'd guess grounding, but your best bet is probably to conctact Diamond.

[kwaping]

I tried out a used Diamond Compressor in a store and got a terrible buzz when connected to a PP2+. When switched to battery power, it performed flawlessly. A brand new one using the same setup performed flawlessly on the power adapter.

I don't know what the issue was, but you're not alone!

If anyone's interested, the pedal was for sale at TrueTone in Santa Monica, CA for $120. If you can fix it or live with battery power, that's quite a deal!

[zenkick]

Welp, after a bit more troubleshooting this afternoon it turns out that the bad-buzz goes away when I use a different power lead from the PP2+ (or PPD) to the pedal.

How's that for odd?

So after trying it on a few other pedals without any issue, I just labeled the power lead as "Warning: Bad Diamond Mojo" and threw it in my holding bin.

Now that I am acceptably-noise-free, I just need to decide if I actually *use* a compressor, otherwise it may end up in the emporium complete with a free bad-mojo power lead. :-)

Also to note: I pointed Diamond to this thread last night and their customer service was spot on with many suggestions first thing this AM. Kudos to them!

Thanks for the input.

[kwaping]

So it was the cable? Interesting!

[zenkick]

@kwaping - Yes. I smacked my forehead. It's the only thing I didn't swap out yesterday when trying different combinations. I don't recall having a power cable "go bad" that wasn't physically damaged or otherwise lived a long life (my PP's [and cables] are < 6 months old.)

[tdk8709]

I've had a couple of my PP2 cables do this to me. Not sure what the deal is there, but Voodoo Labs has always taken care of it with a replacement.

[Guitarbrett]

In my opinion, those cables are junk. I have been through too many myself. Does anyone know where to get quality PP/Supacharger cables?

[forum_crawler]

I suggest you run the compressor at 24V. I have an ehx walwart that I use to run mine. I find it a necessity since I use a guitar with active pickups.

[awallace]

Originally Posted by forum_crawler

I suggest you run the compressor at 24V. I have an ehx walwart that I use to run mine. I find it a necessity since I use a guitar with active pickups.

Higher voltage will definitely provide additional headroom which can be very helpful when using any pickup with exceptionally high output like the active Seymour Duncan Blackouts.

Zenkick- glad to be of assistance and if you'd like Voodoo Labs to replace the cable I'm sure they would be happy to do so. They're a great company to deal with.