Monitor Problem

[Sweetnighter]

I'm playing an MS2000B through Behringer's Truth B2030A monitors. On one of the timbres on the MS ("stab saw") i get crackling/popping from the monitor the lower i play. The high ranges sound very clear, but the lower I get the more crackle/pop there is. Is this a problem with the monitor? I only get this on this one timbre setting so I can't really tell... and if I make the slightest adjustment to the timbre, no matter what it is, the crackle goes away. What could be the problem here? Is my monitor no good or is it something else?

 

[boingoman]

Are both monitors crackling, or just one? If it's just one, I'd say the problem is the monitor. If it's both, it could also be the keyboard. Try it through some headphones.

Can you go back where you got them and try another pair?

For what it's worth, sawtooth waves are one of the most punishing signals you can put through an amp or speakers. Does it happen at low volumes as well? Low freqs take a lot more power to drive than highs. You may just be a the limit of the amp or speakers, or be running too hot a level somewhere.

What is your set-up?

 

[Sweetnighter]

I'm running the MS into a Behringer Eurotrack 1202 mixer, and that goes throught the control room out to the monitors. As a matter of fact, I'm only using one monitor because the other one I bought didn't work at all... bad power supply... so its on back order from Music123.com. I'll try it with phones and see what that does.

Another possibility... could it be the line I'm running from the mixer to the monitor? Its a mono 1/4 cable... is that okay? I don't know if i need something else running to the monitor instead, I think that cable may actually be intended for guitars since I got it from a friend... do I need some special speaker cable?

 

[boingoman]

I'm running the MS into a Behringer Eurotrack 1202 mixer, and that goes throught the control room out to the monitors. As a matter of fact, I'm only using one monitor because the other one I bought didn't work at all... bad power supply... so its on back order from Music123.com. I'll try it with phones and see what that does.

Another possibility... could it be the line I'm running from the mixer to the monitor? Its a mono 1/4 cable... is that okay? I don't know if i need something else running to the monitor instead, I think that cable may actually be intended for guitars since I got it from a friend... do I need some special speaker cable?

Aah. Having only one makes it hard to compare.

As far as the cable, you should be fine. Don't think of your cable as mono, think of it as unbalanced. A balanced cable can help the noise level, but isn't necessary.

unbalanced= tip/sleeve= TS. The connector has a tip and a sleeve, separated by a little insulator. Guitar cables are TS cables.

Balanced=tip/ring/sleeve= TRS. The connector has three parts, each separated by a little insulator.

Mic cables are also balanced.

Does that mixer have meters that you can check signal levels on? I was wondering if you were putting too much signal into the channel.

 

[Sweetnighter]

Yeah I'm alright with the levels.

 

[Sweetnighter]

Okay well I listened through the phones and I get the popping there too... so I'm relieved because that basically means that the monitor wasn't the problem and I'm okay on that front... but then how do I get rid of the popping? Its just on the one timbre... is there some way I should change the timbre to get rid of it?

Thank you for your help by the way
Ian

 

[boingoman]

Hmmm....so you get the distortion at low volumes, too. At this point I don't know what to tell you. I don't know enough about keyboards to say if it is a problem or whether the board just can't handle the extremes of what you are asking it to do.

Maybe someone else will chime in.