Behringer Xenyx 1202FX - Effects Overwhelming Hiss

jfmorales

New member
Hi,
I'm just trying the inbuilt effects on the 1202FX. I have a mic plugged into the number 1 pre-amp, and all the knobs in column 1 (including the gain and the FX) set to vertical (zero). My headphones are plugged into the phone jack. Nothing else is plugged into the unit (aside from the power cord). The FX knob is set to 14 (not flashing). The FX TO MAIN knob was originally turned all the way to the left. If I start to turn the FX TO MAIN knob clockwise, it immediately generates a HUGE hissing noise, like a WALL of noise, but doesn't noticeably add any effect to my vocal. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks for any suggestions!
 
Are you using a condenser or a dynamic mic? If using a dynamic mic the gain for the channel may not be set correctly and may be too low at the setting you have and you're compensating by pushing up the Main Mix fader which might introduce some added noise.

I have the 1202FX and just set it up as follows and had no noise. It is possible yours does have a problem.

- Check to make sure the three buttons are in the up/out position (CD/Tape to Mix, CD/Tape to CTRL, and FX to CTRL) and all the other channel FX knobs are full CCW(infinity marking)

- Set the Main Mix fader to '0'

- Level knob on channel 1 full CCW(infinity marking)

- Bring up the Gain knob on channel one while speaking into the mic until the Clip LED just lights and then back off the Gain just a small amount. Note: If it's dynamic mic you might not get the Clip light.

- Now turn the Level knob up on channel 1 until you have the LEDs above the Main Mix fader hitting zero (a little bit over is OK) while speaking into the mic. Set the Headphone level to a comfortable level when doing this.

- While speaking into the mic set the FX knob on the mic channel so the Clip light in the FX display just flickers on and then back down the FX knob just slightly

- Set the FX to Main knob to an amount of effect you want as heard in the headphones.

Hopefully no noise

Below is the block diagram for this mixer. It shows the signal path from the inputs to the outputs and the FX block. Give it a look and see if you can follow the signal through. It can be very helpful to learn how to do this
 

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Thanks, garww and arcaxis. To my embarrassment, the problem has gone away for no apparent reason. I powered the unit down on Sunday and when I turned it on again today, the FX TO MAIN knob doesn't cause any hiss. Perhaps I jiggled something else by accident, but I don't think so. Thanks also for the diagram, which I have printed out. It's very interesting, and it's going to help in future if I get confused. For now it seems like either the power cycle fixed the problem, or else something about the FIX TO MAIN knob was initially sticky but improved with use. Very surprising, but in a good way!
 
I eventually figured out that the hiss results when the power cord isn't plugged in firmly enough. But the hiss becomes inaudible if the FX TO MAIN knob is turned down all the way. If I reseat the power cord, then I can turn up FX TO MAIN without the hiss occurring.
 
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