Someties my speaers wobble like they are having a fit, why? ha ha

[mrmeggs]

I did a recording recently and I am pretty sure that it was the bass in the mix (it was a bassy part of the song mostly)but the speakers are wobbling out of control. The sound still stays the same but it looks very worrying. Is this damaging my monitors an andd why is this occuring?

 

[hasbeen]

Your speakers are most likely fine, just make sure the polarity is correct.

 

[goldtopchas]

This is called "skating". Once in a while our keyboard players equiptment would do this through the P.A., only on certain settings. Sometimes when he wasn't even playing.
I'm not sure what causes this. but it can't be good for the speakers. I've also heard this described as "excursion". I think it might have something to do with ultra-low freq.'s somehow causing the amp to go into a "runaway" type of feedback. It's so low that it can't even be heard sometimes, yet we see the spekers throbbing to try to reproduce it.

 

[xstatic]

Sounds like extremely low frequencies to me. Not only can it damage your speakers, but it can kill your amplifier's also. Just because a speaker isn't rated below say 60 hz doesn't mean that transients can't get through and it may attempt to reproduce them. Those low transients will also hit the amplifiers and give them one hell of a workout for nothing if the speakers can't do those frequencies. Cheaper speakers and amps tend to have more problems with stuff like that as they use cheaper materials and cheaper crossovers.

 

[mrmeggs]

ok

Yes but believe me these are not cheap speakers, not overly expensive but not cheap (mission sm5a active monitors) so the amp is built in. Do you thing that I shoudl roll of some bass frequencies in the bass guitar and the kik or what. How do I stop this? The last thing I want to do is to fuck my speakers. I only just got them....

 

[xstatic]

With a built in amp it will be a lot easier to damage the amplifier, but the actual drivers will have a little more protection. I would seriously consider soloing your kick and bass, and maybe even any keyboard channels and using a spectrum analyzer. It would be helpful to see where the lowest frequencies are hitting the drivers. There is a good chance that you have a lot of 20 - 60 hz stuff happening that can be greatly reduced without affecting your sound in a negative manner. In fact, if that is going on, reducing some of that will probably tighten things up quite a bit. The fact that they are decent monitors may be the only reason why you haven't already blown something up or locked up a driver.

You may also want to play a commercial CD and look at its response on an analyzer and maybe pick a CD that has some rich low frequency content and watch your drivers. See how much they are moving compared to what you have been witnessing. Since you just got your speakers, you also probably haven't fully adjusted to how they sound and react in your environment so doing some comparisons and analyzing with different commercial releases could have some added benefits to you for learning what your new speakers will and won't do and how well they will along the way

 

[ds21]

My home Stereo preamp is screwed up and causes my speakers to freakout some times. also check the cables

 

[mrmeggs]

Thanks for that, I will try to solo the bass instruments and do exactly what you said. It is true that I have not even got to mixing the recording yet (it is only at tracking stage) but when I solo them I will turn it down and watch them. Dont know what A spectrum analyser is though nor where to get one?
Cheers.

 

[goldtopchas]

If you're using a graphic eq., try killing everything below about 50-60 HZ. Also if it has a low frequency filter,(usually below 20 HZ) engage that as well.