Members thinderik Posted August 28, 2009 Members Share Posted August 28, 2009 I may be doing this all wrong, so i lay my neck on the chopping block while telling you all this. when i run my pa i have my amps turned all the way up and my mixer main volume switch halfway to unity gain. if i put it past halfway i get a little fuzzing/hissing (like white noise). After thinking/reasearching i've come up with some possibilities. A) my mixer's pre-amp is crapping and this is something i have to deal with. (mackie 1604 vlz) B) my patch cables are to close to all the power/powerstip that is located in the back of my SKB gig rig and the ac current is causing the fuzzing. I have a dbx dual channel compressor/gate and was thinking that i could gate the output pre eq. any suggestions on doing this would be appreciated. The only reason i've decided to run amps full and go of the mixer of late is that when i set volume of the mix before a show i later find out that i have to compete with a lead guitar. and then i have to bring up the main mix and then down other things that were not so quiet. so i thought if i just have the main at unity and bring the individual tracks up then later i can bring them up a TID bit more if needed later without messing up the main mix. I really need alot more experience and info, but everywhere i seem to read it doesn't explain it in "retard" ways. again if anyone lives in jersey and would like to get a paid for an afternoon of telling me what a jack ass i am and how crappy my rig is i'd be willing to take it. as long as i walk away with some idea of how to do a better job with what i have. mackie 1604 vlzqsc plx2402crest lt1500qsc usa900 EV sp152EV LF215'sEV rc90a's home made front monitors 12" jbl d120's and crappy horns =(cerwin vega 12" wedge for drummer's monitor. tc m onelexicon mpx100 peavy q215f eq for FOH's and front monitorsgemini 215 eq monitor's / horns dbx 266xl compressordbx 223xl crossover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted August 28, 2009 Members Share Posted August 28, 2009 It sounds like gain structure is off. You have to make a tradeoff between two choices. Its your choice. You can go like you are and deal with the noise. The gear is decent, and even good gear has a certain amount of noise so you aren't the only one. Also, is the noise that bad when the band is playing? Usually the amount of noise that gain structure problems make is not that bad in a loud club environment. Your other choice is to correct the gain structure. Turn the amps down about 10 db and then you can run the board higher than half way. The noise should be notably less this way. Having an amp turned down does not mean it won't go to full volume, just that the board has to be run higher to get there. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thinderik Posted August 28, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 28, 2009 I'll test both ways out tomorrow night. My band is playing then after we play i run sound for the band after us. It just seems noisy to me because when we practice it gets really quiet. Like you said i may find that at the bar/club it just blends into the background noise. Thanks for your help =). I'll keep you posted on the results. derik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lifeloverwg Posted August 28, 2009 Members Share Posted August 28, 2009 It sounds like gain structure is off. You have to make a tradeoff between two choices. Its your choice.You can go like you are and deal with the noise. The gear is decent, and even good gear has a certain amount of noise so you aren't the only one. Also, is the noise that bad when the band is playing? Usually the amount of noise that gain structure problems make is not that bad in a loud club environment.Your other choice is to correct the gain structure. Turn the amps down about 10 db and then you can run the board higher than half way. The noise should be notably less this way. Having an amp turned down does not mean it won't go to full volume, just that the board has to be run higher to get there.Good luck. +1Get a good strong signal at the channel gain and carry it on through to your amps. I tend to run my main faders right around 0 pushing to +6 when needed, but the channel faders are all over the place depending on how much is needed in the house and our PLX amps vary from 12-6 dB down from wide open. Virtually no noise at standstill. Winston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rezrover Posted August 28, 2009 Members Share Posted August 28, 2009 Hiss back at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted August 28, 2009 Members Share Posted August 28, 2009 Hey when you find a EQ and x-over (esp a x-over) that doesn't have floor noise the hissing you hear let us know. Us weekend warriors will make them rich. Forget gating unless it's really driving you crazy. You just gotta re-set your gain. Just about every eq I ever used has floor noise and is even worse with cheaper eq's and really bad with cheap x-overs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thinderik Posted August 30, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 30, 2009 Did a show last night at a bar and the hissing couldn't be heard (the bar was practically empty as well). So I was just being over critical. Thanks all for your help again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.