Crackle in New Monitors (help please)

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Biempi

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Okay, I know very little about how I am supposed to set these up, but I believe I did it correctly, and the sound is a bit distorted and crackly. It is very odd, and I would like some help with how to fix it. Here's what I've done to set them up:
I HAVE Bx5 D2 monitors
I connected the monitors to my Scarlett2i2 interface using two Planet Waves speaker cables.
I connected the power supply from each monitor into a surge protector that I have on the ground.
I lowered the volume of each monitor to minimal, and then turned them on.
I tried playing a song, and it was a bit crackly.
I went into audio device settings in control panel.
I double clicked on Scarlett212 for line out and went to advanced settings
I messed around with the default format and found that it would only let me test a few of the options, and the best sounding of the few that it let me test was 2 channel 16 bit 96000 hz.
I tried playing a song after that, and the problem wasn't as bad, but I could still hear crackling.
At this point I am stuck, and could really use some advice. Thanks a lot guys!
 
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Are you using good cables? What's around your monitors? Any routers or anything of the like?
 
The guy told me that they were really good to get. They are Planet Wave 1/4 to 1/4 cables. They were like 30 bucks each O_O. My computer, computer monitor, router, and other plugins are around the monitor I suppose (within 5 feet)
 
Get the router away from your monitors. I can't remember the reactions they have on each other, but it is apparently bad to have them near the monitors. Something to do with frequencies maybe? I forget. Move your router and see if that helps any.

So your cables are good.

I can't really think of what it could be, and it's quite interesting that a higher sample rate would yield noticeably better results.
 
I have some questions.

1 What type of monitors do you have? Are they active?

2 The Planet Waves speaker cables . . . are they cables intended for passive speakers?

3 Have you tried playing something through the inputs of the interface and monitoring this through the speakers, as opposed to listening to something coming from your computer?
 
gecko zzed said:
I have some questions.

1 What type of monitors do you have? Are they active?

2 The Planet Waves speaker cables . . . are they cables intended for passive speakers?

3 Have you tried playing something through the inputs of the interface and monitoring this through the speakers, as opposed to listening to something coming from your computer?
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1. I honestly don't know how I even find that out. I read everything on the box and nothing says whether or not they are active.

2. The cables also do not say whether they are intended for passive speakers or not.

3. All I can input is my microphone, and it sounds fine. I'm not sure a mic is a good way of judging though.
 
I unplugged the router and it still had the crackling :/
 
Biempi said:
1. I honestly don't know how I even find that out. I read everything on the box and nothing says whether or not they are active.
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What make and model are they? Do they come with a power cable?

Biempi said:
2. The cables also do not say whether they are intended for passive speakers or not.
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ok. Leave that for the moment

Biempi said:
3. All I can input is my microphone, and it sounds fine. I'm not sure a mic is a good way of judging though.
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It's a reasonable way of judging. Try playing an ipod or an MP3 player through the interface.
 
Your monitors have power cables so they are either powered monitors or active monitors.

You don't use loudspeaker cable with this type of monitor - you need a signal cable like you use for microphones (or phono cables for a hi-fi system if they are cheap computer loudspeakers).

To let us help you properly, you really do need to let us know the make and model of the monitors.
 
Friend of mine had the same problem not long ago. When connecting the speakers to a PC at a friends home, all was fine, but at his home - crackling.
A new soundcard fixed the problem for him. He has active speakers (Tannoy).

Problem was not the soundcard itself, it was the way he set up his system. Behind his PC under the table he had something I call 'snakepit'. Thousands of cables crossing each other running along with each other and all on just 40 cm x 40 cm region.

Cleaning that up brought so much more clearance and no crackling anymore. He bought a new usb-soundcard at that time so after we made everything new under his 'producertable' the crackling was gone. With the new interface all is fine.

The circuitry IN the PC and AROUND the PC (magnetic fields) was the problem.

Tried to clean everything up or use the speakers on another system? Put the hardware equipment in another room and try there too (we had the problem of a broken socket-outlet once, which produced weird artefacts in the speakers while playing sounds).
 
I'll try cleaning the area around my speakers today, and keeping all of the power cables and stuff separate from my computer. If anyone else has suggestions please feel free to contribute, and thanks for all the help so far!
 
Biempi said:
I have M-Audio BX5 D2's
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The BX5 monitors are powered.

That means that it is not advisable to use speaker cable to connect your interface to them.

Instead, you are better off using either XLR or TRS cables, or, at a pinch, plain old TS (i.e. guitar) cables.
 
gecko zzed said:
The BX5 monitors are powered.

That means that it is not advisable to use speaker cable to connect your interface to them.

Instead, you are better off using either XLR or TRS cables, or, at a pinch, plain old TS (i.e. guitar) cables.
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Thanks a lot! I wish I would have known that before I paid for the speaker cables, but I'll just go return them and get TRS cables. Thank you again, I'll let you guys know if the problem goes away.
 
Biempi said:
Thanks a lot! I wish I would have known that before I paid for the speaker cables, but I'll just go return them and get TRS cables. Thank you again, I'll let you guys know if the problem goes away.
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OKay. That's plan A underway.
 
IT WORKED! Thanks a lot for your help! Just one more question: is it okay if the back of my monitors get a bit heated up? I am not even listening to very loud music and they are kinda hot.
 
Biempi said:
IT WORKED! Thanks a lot for your help! Just one more question: is it okay if the back of my monitors get a bit heated up? I am not even listening to very loud music and they are kinda hot.
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Awesome!

How hot is hot? Does it hurt your hand if you touch it for too long?
 
There is a power amp in there, and no cooling fan. Yes, they will get a bit hot. If things start on fire, then you have a problem.....Til then, just enjoy the warmth. :)
 
jimmys69 said:
There is a power amp in there, and no cooling fan. Yes, they will get a bit hot. If things start on fire, then you have a problem.....Til then, just enjoy the warmth. :)
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Haha alright thanks! It hasn't gotten top hot, just a bit warm
 
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