Does the new Project Debut Carbon DC fix the motor hum problem?

The only way I have ever heard hum coming from mine is with the dust cover on. I always remove the dust cover when I use the table for this reason and because it just looks way cooler without it.

 

I have the SpeedBox II if that makes a difference.

 

Well the good folks at Crutchfield let me return the Debut Carbon with the hum issue for a new Debut Carbon DC. Plugged it into the same exact set up and BAM NO MOTOR HUM!

I can say with 100% certainty that the motor was producing massive hum on the Debut Carbon. I thought I was going insane for a while. It seems to be a common problem for this deck.

 

Yeah, welcome to the club. It does appear that production errors are at least partially responsible for the Pro-Ject motor hum. Some decks are fairly quiet, others buzz like a lawn mower. It depends on which of these you get. But it remains a major problem for Pro-Ject.

I'm looking at their Essential II deck with interest. It features a different motor that lies outside the platter. I wonder if this one soinds good? I think the company would be wise to jist junk their ancient Debut motor, in favor of a newer design. Perhaps the Essential II does the trick? Perhaps we'll see it in a future revision of thr Debut Carbon?

 

I'm the person that wrote that article, and once I spoke personally to the Pro-ject employees, I realized this was a BIG issue on their AC version turntables, and like you, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ONE MORE, HOW TO FIX THIS HUMMING PROBLEM POST. I feel the exact way you do. How in the world can this obvious engineering debacle not be mentioned on any reviews, by all of these audio magazines?

 

amazing..nothing is wrong with the unit & we are all (myself included) nutz. I find the speedbox does eliminate hum in 33 1/3. Push the button for 45 & hum returns. For me, it is not worth the money to replace. Got other more pressing $$$ problems, but it does chap my nether regions.

 

I've fought this issue on my Pro-ject rm5.
I've tried quite a few things. Nothing I've tried solves the issue totally.
Here is what I've been using lately

 

I believe it is not an analog problem but something to do with the electrical phase (?) of the unit.

 

The electrical phase of some, but not others? How would you suggest that happens?

 

the two screws in the motor plate are labelled as shipping screws in the debut manual... remove them completely.

loose the 4 ring screws until the o-ring is raised up, then just add some shim on the platter spindle side to make the motor flat.
you just have to "suspend" the motor better than it is

 

Mine did not have these shipping screws. Interesting that I'm not complaining about a hum. I wonder what the difference is between my model and this one then. (I may not be remembering correctly, but I know that I did not remove any screws from my motor mounting)

 

talkin' only about my unit & my experimentation/foolin' around with it. Bought a bargain "closeout" and perhaps learned a lesson. Turntables can (?) be an odd/problematic purchase, cash wise.

 

I have run the output of my table in to an a/d converter and viewed the spectral analisys In Sound Forge as I made various changes in motor isolaton. The slightest change effected the loudness of the 60hz mechanical hum. I've a quarter turn of the transit screws made a difference. This is a long, slow process of testing all these changes. It really sucks.
There is a company that claimed to solve the issue with some grommets for the transit screws, a new pulley and a round belt. This was only made for 50 hz models. I don't understand why they never made a 60hz fix. I ordered it not realizing the pulley size was totally different. I returned it.

 

I would bet there are thousands of people that have never even heard this hum, they may think that hum is just normal, or their equipment or speakers are not high end enough to really hear the hum, who knows, but I believe this problem probably exists on many of these Pro-ject turntables and it goes undetected.

 

Did you view the YouTube video I provided, where the man cuts a chunk out of his turntable and isolates it from the other 80% of the turntable?

 

I took out the screws and the sorbothane pads and the hum was reduced greatly, to the point of being practically inaudible. I'm quite satisfied with the sound now, but I'm afraid I might ruin the turntable without those screws. Another thing I noticed is that the hum sounded a whole lot louder with thicker 180g records than with mint older vintage vinyl.

 

Here is one more perfectly done YouTube video which shows exactly what you get with the Pro-ject carbon AC motor turntable, this is exactly what I experienced. I follow up with a compilation of motor isolation attempts by proud Carbon owners. Don't miss this video!

 

Sad really what folks have gone through with this hum dinger of a table.

 

Or you could just remove the dust cover.

 

With mine, the dust cover was never put on!

 

Maybe it wouldn't have fixed yours, but I'm willing to wager that this simple fix would cut the number of complainers in half. It certainly fixed my issues.

 

So the hum isn't an issue on the latest model? Was thinking of getting one when the stylus finally goes bad on my B&O. That or get a $200 replacement from Soundsmith.

 

It is interesting that of all the replies here, very few own the Debut Carbon DC to be able to comment on it. Anything not a DC is an older model that these stores are trying to sell off inventory from. Some still have the Debut III, even. Glad you found the DC to your liking.

 

I bought a DC a couple of months ago and have not noticed any hum. However, I've been loathe to post because maybe I'm one of those "thousands of people that have never even heard this hum, they may think that hum is just normal, or their equipment or speakers are not high end enough to really hear the hum..."

 

I've owned the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon DC since January of this year. It is connected to a 70's Pioneer receiver (SX-580) with Pioneer Andrew Jones' Speakers (SP-BS21) with sub, and for headphones, Grado's SR 325 and Sennheiser HD 598's connected to a Little Dot MKIII headphone tube amp. There is absolutely no hum! The signal is very clean.