Light Dimmers in the Control room

[Shakti]

Hi, I've built a room and I'm at the stage of putting in lighting.
I've heard lots of horror stories about dimmers causing lots of buzz in audio gear.

I've done my best to run the lights on a different circuit, but I'm wondering if anyone has had good luck with a particular kind of dimmer circuit? Any recommedations? What are folks using out there?

Thanks,

Shakti

[penguin]

I have all my studio gear on a dedicated circuit and I still get buzzing if I use a dimmer. The only way I know of to make it work is to run a totally seperate clean power line from the street.
So... I installed some seperate lighting that I use when I need mood lighting. I put some 25 watt spot bulbs in and its great. Much cheaper than the alternative.
That being said, I would love to hear if there are any other solutions too.
Mark

[xstatic]

Putting audio on a seperate circuit is great, but only takes care of a small percentage of the problems. What really helps is establishing an isolated ground. There are two places where this should happen. The first is right at the Breaker box. Getting an isolated ground for all of your audio equipment (amps included) keeps things like thermostats, microwaves, fridges, lights etc... from referencing the same ground frequency as your audio equipment. The second good solution is installing a STAR grounding system for your audio console and racks etc... There is lots of info available on STAR systems on the web, but I don't have any addresses right now. Also, you can buy nicer dimmers for your lights that will greatly reduce the noise caused by them. Good Luck:)

[Luke]

I use a dimmer that cost about $20-$25,and I have no noise problems. Don't try to use one of those cheap $3 jobs, you will get noise. My lights are on one circuit and the rest of the studio and control room has four circuits. I don't think you'll have a problem if you buy a quality dimmer,it sure is nice to grab a fader and dim a group of lights. Good Luck,
Luke

[Shakti]

OK Luke, give it up. What are they? Where did you buy them? That's the whole point of this thread. I'm looking for a place to buy such dimmers and or a clear description of what I should be looking for.

Thanks,

[xstatic]

Home Depot, Lowes etc... They all carry them. This may or may not change anything though. Some systems don't buzz with ewven the cheapest of dimmers. Like I said before, its not so much as having a different circuit, but much more importantly a different ground.

[Luke]

Shakti,
I did get mine from Home Depot, the better ones usually have an on/off switch and a separate slider. Xstatic may be right, I made sure everything was grounded properly and grounded the studio to it own ground rod.I just know that dimmers have never caused a noise issue for me. Good Luck,
Luke

[Shakti]

OK, I'll go have a look at the Depot this weekend. I'll just go for the best quality dimmer I can find and see how it goes. I've run a different circuit for the lights, so hopefully, that will do the trick.

Thanks to all for the help and tips.

Trying to build this pupply right from the start.

Shakti