What causes the crackling sound through the high frequency speaker on playback?

tbkahuna

New member
I am new to recording, especially to digital on the computer. I recorded a song for a friend of mine using Sonar without knowing what I was doing. I finally got it mixed so that it sounded ok (to me). I mixed it through an Onkyo stereo receiver and Bose 301 speakers. It seemed to be ok but it wasn't perfect. I'm learning about compressors, reverb, and delay!!

I just bought some used JBL LSR25P monitors. When I playback the same song with the same levels there is a fair amount of popping or crackling that sounds like it is coming from the high frequency speaker. There is also some other sound that I'm not sure how to describe, but it sounds "digital." I noticed that if I pulled down the main fader a ways, the sound went away. It was showing that it was just barelly lighting up the top red areas above the meters (that means it is clipping?) when it was making the sound. I didn't notice it at all through the Bose 301's, or on car stereo speakers, though.

My question is whether or not it is normal to hear the crackling sound if the output signal is a little too hot, or if I might have a bad high frequency driver?

If anyone has a high speed connection and can receive a 4.5Meg mp3 by email, I will email it to you so you can hear the sound.

Thanks for any help!
 
No. Crackling=bad. In the digital realm you want your levels in between -4 and -12 db somewhere. Too hot and you get distortion.
 
damn thing posted on me, well continuing....

And that is what I suspect is happening here. It is possible it could be something else but I don't think so. And the -4 to -12 is what I sit at while tracking. During playback I'll push it up a little higher than -4 but not much.
 
Back
Top