What is that electronic noise in my audio system?
March 25, 2014 12:04 PM Subscribe
I'm hearing some odd noise in my office audio system and I'd like an opinion on what it could be. It appeared right after I replaced three old Shure SCM810 mixers with new versions of the same model. They are usually soft, as heard in this short clip here) but the occasionally sound much louder and become quite noticeable. It reminds me of the interference from Blackberry devices but it's clearly different. Could this be interference from some other device or is something else going on here?
Thanks in advance.
Response by poster: I have 18 Shure MX412 goosenecks feeding into those mixers, which themselves are linked together resulting in only one output. That output goes to an AMX volume controller and then to our D/A and out to our three reinforcement zones.
posted by Jamesonian at 12:34 PM on March 25, 2014
posted by Jamesonian at 12:34 PM on March 25, 2014
Best answer: I've gotten similar noises from laptops plugged into the same power source as the audio system (sometimes just sharing power sources, sometimes it only shows up with laptop audio also into the audio system), and also from data cables run physically next to audio cables, and also sometimes just an artifact of condenser mics (which yours are) that require power run down the microphone cable.
Sometimes fixed by changing mic cables, sometimes by moving mic cables away from data lines, sometimes by running the mixer providing the phantom power from a different plug, sometimes the power in the building is just not right and there's fuck-all I can do about it except swap to a dynamic mic that doesn't need phantom power.
Troubleshooting 101 is unplug every-damn-thing (ins AND outs) from all the mixers, plug headphones into your first mixer, then start plugging in mics one by one to see when/if the noise appears.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:55 PM on March 25, 2014
Sometimes fixed by changing mic cables, sometimes by moving mic cables away from data lines, sometimes by running the mixer providing the phantom power from a different plug, sometimes the power in the building is just not right and there's fuck-all I can do about it except swap to a dynamic mic that doesn't need phantom power.
Troubleshooting 101 is unplug every-damn-thing (ins AND outs) from all the mixers, plug headphones into your first mixer, then start plugging in mics one by one to see when/if the noise appears.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:55 PM on March 25, 2014
Oh yeah, and in case you haven't noticed already, condenser mics have a tendency to send a loud "POP" down the line when they're plugged or unplugged, so turn the headphone/speaker volume down when you're actually plugging the mics in.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:44 PM on March 25, 2014
posted by soundguy99 at 8:44 PM on March 25, 2014
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posted by Lutoslawski at 12:20 PM on March 25, 2014