Noise from signal chain

Question

My signal chain caused no problem till few days back but now im facing one. My guitar goes into analog pedals , then in a noise gate and then in di box where i use the xlr output with a ground lift. Through this, im getting the best clarity in sound. Literally hum and noise free.. Problem im facing is : 1. No hums and noise while im not playing ..with volume knob turned on or off..i mean there is no problem when im not playing. 2. As soon as i start chugging my chords, noise and hums start coming out alongside it. When i stop ..noise stops . 3. No noise in clean sounds.. only when i play distortion. Even when i only turn on my saved distorted loops from looper pedal...noise still comes.. 4. I mean how come noise and hums be present while im playing but absent when i stop... And i wasnt facing the problem before.. Im using Emg 81 85 ...even tried replacing the battery

Answer 1

That's exactly what a noise gate is for: turning off everything when you are not playing. Remove the noise gate from your signal chain and then try going after the noise. Once you figure that your noise level can no longer be improved, the noise gate may make sense in order to keep things quiet when you are not playing. But for diagnosing problems, it is obviously a nuisance.