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I have an orange micro dark that's unusable due to a strong buzz while playing clean, or comes in too early during the decay in a high gain setting.

Clue: Notably, there's no buzz when the input is unplugged, and because of this im hoping it's not a fault of the tube nor the after market power brick. The tone is still great too - it's just the strong buzz that's the problem, either through speaker outs or headphone outs. Using any other amp does not present this problem at all.

Why does the buzz happen only while the input is plugged?

Any ideas on what might help? Should I replace the power filter cap or something?

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    Are you using a properly shielded cable? Guitar amps being high impedance input can be a little bit sensible for electromagnetic interference. You might want to try if the problem also occurs if you plug in a shortened plug (without cable). In this case it is most likely your amp that is the problem. If not, it might be the cable, but your amp might also be more sensitive than it should be. In that case I advice you to be very careful with the amp. There can be many sources for unwanted noises in an amp, and we will not be able to pinpoint the cause here on the internet,
    – Lazy
    Commented Nov 17, 2022 at 8:24
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    especially without in fact knowing how those noises actually sound. Also handling high power amps can be a bit dangerous, and should only be done if you know what you’re doing. Most likely the best bet is to get proper service for the amp. Depending on how old the amp is this might even fall under warranty. (Which is also a point: How old is the amp? Has is worked before?)
    – Lazy
    Commented Nov 17, 2022 at 8:27
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    1st thing I'd do is check or change the cable. It's a process of elimination.
    – Tim
    Commented Nov 17, 2022 at 10:59
  • After checking the cable for shield continuity, also check the specs on input impedance of amp vs. output impedance of whatever you have plugged into it. If they are way out, consider an impedance-matching junction between cable and amp.
    – Carl Witthoft
    Commented Nov 17, 2022 at 13:10
  • @CarlWitthoft nobody matches impedance in guitar/pedal/amp connections. You can plug a 2 kΩ source in a 500 kΩ amp input no problem, as long as the shielding is ok. In principle it would of course be much more reliable if all connections were balanced low-impedance XLR ones, but it's moot.
    – leftaroundabout
    Commented Nov 17, 2022 at 15:06

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Absence of buzz when the cable is unplugged doesn't necessarily prove the amp isn't the culprit. The input jack very likely is designed to short out when there's no plug. I couldn't find a schematic of the Micro Dark, but here's the input section from a similar product, the Micro Terror. A shorted input will disguise many issues!

But first try a different cable and a different guitar.

'

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  • One way to check this is to plug in a short cable with the tip of the other end wrapped first in sellotape and then aluminium foil around the whole plug. In this case there's no short, but good shielding. (Alternatively, plugging it into the input of any stomp box should give similar results.)
    – leftaroundabout
    Commented Nov 17, 2022 at 15:02

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