Urgent Advice Please?

[TC Entertainments 0]

Hi all and merry Christmas!

 

Sorry for this being my first post but after some urgent advice if poss!

 

Had a gig last night (Xmas Eve) and all went great but right at the end (luckily)! a got a horrible, constant crackling sound through the speakers but on the music only...

 

Audio from mics was fine.

 

Can't remember the exact makes or models of the kit (I don't store it at home) but to give you a basic overview it's a power amp connected via a 2 x 6.3mm to single stereo 3.5mm jack lead to a mixer, then speakon cables to 2 x passive peavy speakers.

 

Will be setting it up tomorrow to do some testing but I'm just scratching my head at the mo what it could be?

 

IMO it can't be the amp because sound from mics is fine, which by the same token seems to eliminate the mixer as the mics connect to that as well.

 

In my head I think I've narrowed it down to the jack lead (that would be good, got a spare) or worst case scenario the mixer has gone up the swanny (not good, no spare and got another gig Monday night)!

 

Any thoughts ayone?

 

TIA,

 

TC

[mjmac 0]

Welcome to the forum!

 

sounds like your speakers may be on their way out... mic vocals typically put fewer demands on the speakers, while full range audio played at loud levels will be very demanding on the drivers!

 

you may also find that the speakers will be ok for the first hour of use at a gig, then the crackling beings as the voice coils in the speakers warm up... voice coils with severe damage crackling will be apparent from the beginning of the night.

 

Damage like this is typically caused by over driving the speakers or prolonged clipping throughout the night...

 

There are a number of tests you could carry out... if you think you need to go beyond your normal tests to find the problem get back on here and ask away!

 

I think what you have described here is more to do with the speakers... However, make sure all your audio cables are fit for purpose and all your power leads are in good condition. You never know it may have been switching noise on the power side that caused your issues???

 

Also make sure your levels on the mixer arent clipping (ie going into the red on the level indicator - if your mixer has one?)

 

Make sure you put your kit through its paces before your next gig... to ensure its running as per expectations.

Edited December 26, 2010 by mjmac

[TC Entertainments 0]

Also make sure your levels on the mixer arent clipping (ie going into the red on the level indicator - if your mixer has one?)

 

Make sure you put your kit through its paces before your next gig... to ensure its running as per expectations.

 

Thanks mjmac,

 

Been down today and set it all up again and seems right as rain!?

 

I ran it at about 25% of levels I would normally put it through for 20 mins then ramped it up every 10 mins or so to around gig levels, all seems fine.

 

In total it was running for almost 90mins....

 

Maybe it was one of those things that a reboot would have cured but to be honest it all happened at 2am Xmas Eve night (was only booked till 1) and was glad of the excuse to get away to be honest! :)

 

Fingers crossed it's all ok on Monday night!

 

Will keep you posted.

 

TC

[fester 0]

I would still be looking towards a dodgy lead myself. You don't say what you use for music playback but if the signal chain seems ok through mixer, amp and speakers then you need to be looking at your audio source (laptop, cdjs etc) and their connecting leads.

Could also be a channel on your mixer playing up, a knackered slider can produce a horrible crackle.

[TC Entertainments 0]

I would still be looking towards a dodgy lead myself. You don't say what you use for music playback but if the signal chain seems ok through mixer, amp and speakers then you need to be looking at your audio source (laptop, cdjs etc) and their connecting leads.

Could also be a channel on your mixer playing up, a knackered slider can produce a horrible crackle.

 

Could not agree more fester (mixer channel), have had that before, but ran all the sliders up & down and couldn't reproduce the prob!

 

Looking at kit I can GUARANTEE I can order and get before NYE even though seems to be fine now...

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT looks promising?

 

TC

[TC Entertainments 0]

Well,

 

Just got back from a storming night with no sound issues what-so-ever!

 

Bloody electronics!

 

I should prob start a new thread for this but who else has set their kit up exactly the same and some nights it sounds great and another time it sounds like a bag of nails? (Even at the same venue).

 

TC

[TC Entertainments 0]

Just a quick update,

 

Everything is still fine!

 

Kit just wanted me to have a heart attack just before NYE I guess!

[gadget 0]

 

Could have easily been some sort of Mains or Radio interference that could have caused your problems, or faulty earthing in the venue or anything else outside of your equipment.

 

Gremlins ! :devil:

 

Cheers,

 

David

[RobDJ 0]

This used to happen to me in certain venues. It's frustrating and incredibly imbarrasing!

 

I used to use a Behringer VMX200 mixer. I changed to a different mixer and it never happened again.

 

All I could think of was maybe a bad earth in certain places and the mixer was incredibly sensitive to it.

[gadget 0]

This used to happen to me in certain venues. It's frustrating and incredibly imbarrasing!

 

I used to use a Behringer VMX200 mixer. I changed to a different mixer and it never happened again.

 

All I could think of was maybe a bad earth in certain places and the mixer was incredibly sensitive to it.

 

Or in one of my recent cases, a dodgy generator that only pumped out about 160 volts as it wasn't big enough to cope with the village hall. Horrible sound issues for the last hour and a half of the gig (and the *best* bit too) :/

 

Cheers,

 

David