i have the old motif the first one that came out.  my daw is studio one.it has a lot of hum noise which I think is the instrument cable. I want to know if I can play it with out using the instrument cable, but using the usb cable instead. if so how do you do that

The cable is only one component in the hum. Don’t (necessarily) blame the instrument cable… Replacing it is not a bad idea… And certainly easy enough to eliminate it as the cause.

No, you cannot use the USB cable instead. It carries no audio from the original Motif. It carries MIDI data only.

Ground hum can get into any audio system. Blaming the cable, the instrument, the computer is not going to get you anything - when you solve the issue I guarantee they will probably still all be there right where they are. (The speakers are humming, they are the ones doing the humming, how come no one seems to blame them? Ground hum is a due to gear being connected to each other… Its a group thing.

Without knowledge of your electrical situation… Have your rig checked by an electrician. The cause of the Noise could be simple or complex.

im thinking its either my interface or my cables because. I don’t have a lot of plugs. my laptop does not plug in, my interface is usb powered. my keyboard is on the otherside of the room. besides my monitors, that’s my set up. I have a hum eliminator and a di box. it helped but the sound still shows up in my recordings. that’s why I was asking if theres a different way to get sound in the computer. its very frustrating when your not sure whats cuasing it. Then I thought well the keyboard is ten years old maybe its crapping out

I recomend when you are done with your final song, use the hum eliminator for your final touch.I use pro tools, and I used to use sonar, they both have hum eliminators for the final mix.Works great!
Also check your levels while recording,if the volume is too hot this wil create hum and hiss. Record vocals seperate ect...I use 3 keyboards and only have volume up on the one I am recording tracks on. When all three keyboards are turned up I can realy here more hums and hiss.