Members wheresgrant3 Posted November 8, 2004 Members Share Posted November 8, 2004 I'm posting this in here because you guys have always given me some sensible advice. And well... I need it because I am such a dummy when it comes to amps and sound. I currently play keys and guitar in an 80's tribute/party band. I bought a used Peavey KB/A100 keyboard amp for practice and smaller gigs. Let me clarify, I am only using this amp for stage monitoring NOT amplification. I set up my keys in the following way: Synths-stereo into Yamaha Mixer... Main mix-Stereo out to the PA... Monitor Mix- mono out to the Peavey amp using channel 1 & 2 (low impedence). We don't run any keys into the band's monitor mixes. The system is simple and has worked great. I only need the amp to hear myself clearly and my band mates to hear the samples I trigger as cues. So far the amp has worked great. Then, out of the blue, on Friday night, at the beginning of the third set, I noticed that one of my synths seemed to sound noticable distorted, gainy and seemed to sustain a little as if I was playing through external reverb. Of course I panic while playing... I thought maybe something was wrong with the Triton, which would suck since my entire 3rd set depended on it. In between parts and songs I checked my mixer,, checked my wires, I leaned down to check the amp to see if the reverb had been "on". I even went through the "Triton" global settings and turned off all internal and external effects. Nothing worked. Inside I was frantic, wondering if the same distorted notes were being heard thru the PA... on the outside I kept it together and played through everything, is if nothing was wrong. During our encore, it seemed as if the entire single to my amp had been sucked out. Everytime I hit I hit a bass note on the EP patch on my Triton, the strings patch I was playing on the XP30 would drown out in inaudible disortion. My fears were confirmed when my singer came up to me shortly after the gig and said my keys sounded horrible the last couple of songs. Later I asked my girlfriend how things sounded in front of the PA and she replied "Great... didn't seem like anything was wrong at all". About an hour ago I just got around to unpacking my car, plugged in the amp... again through the mixer... tons of noise... plugged directly into the Triton tons of noise as well. The notes from my tirton are distorting at low volumes and it seems to have a soupy sustain, like the reverb is engaged. It's not the speaker either.... it's the preamp... with headphones on there is tons of noise as well. With a 1/4 plug and the volume above 1 or 2 you can hear noticable hiss or buzz. With the Keys plugged it it sounds like crap. I paid about $250 for this amp used 3 months ago and I wonder if it is even worth fixing? Any guesses at the cause... a ground issue? Why does it sound like the reverb effect is engaged. This amp should be silent with no input... instead with the volume on all three channels jacked to 10 and the EQ's pushed to max. Instead it sounds like a gale force wind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boseengineer Posted November 8, 2004 Members Share Posted November 8, 2004 First we need to find out whether the Triton is clean. Have you tried headphones on the Triton and plugging the Triton into a known-good amp ? If that's clean you can concentrate on the amp. Plug the Triton into the Peavey. Turn all knobs on the Peavey to flat, all effects of, input volume all the way down, Triton to mid-volume. Then bring up the volume on the peavey slooowly. Check if there is any setting that's quiet and clean. Then bring it up some more and see if there is a setting when the bad stuff starts to happen. That may help us to determine what's wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted November 8, 2004 Author Members Share Posted November 8, 2004 Triton is clean. Sounds great through headphones and through the mixer. With all of the levels on Channels 1, 2 & 3, as well as the Eq's (Low, Low Mid, Mid & High) there is definately some background white noise that is present. At low low volumes it is barely audible... however at from 12 O'clock on it sound amplified. The same with the eq's. with the low and mid eq's engaged it sounds like white noise... like snow from a television... when I turn up the hi-eq the sound changes pitch and becomes much louder. Very loud, wind-like sweep. The noise is not singled out by any jack, channel or pot. Just like intense white noise. I will say, a few weeks back I picked up an AM station or radio signal, clear as a bell. We took a break at practice and some German Beer Hall music was playing. Maybe this amp is possessed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boseengineer Posted November 8, 2004 Members Share Posted November 8, 2004 When it's not noisy (12 o'clock and below), does the Triton still sounds distorted ? Can you get ANY clean sound of it (by turning the volume down) ?Could you provide a link to the user manual for your specific model (your model doesn't seem to be around in the US anymore).It's probably not possessed by simply broken. I'm just trying to identify what the problem could be.Did you try all input channels? Do they all behave the same? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted November 9, 2004 Author Members Share Posted November 9, 2004 At 12:00 with the Triton volume on 2 there is still recognizable background noise, but the Triton itself sounds pretty clear. At 12:00 with the Triton at volume 50%, the sound is noticably overdriven with louder static in the background At 12:00 w/ the Triton on 10 the Triton's bass notes are breaking up so badly that they are barely recognizable... they are actually cutting off the high end. Also, strange soupy sustain prolong notes, and lots of ghosting and microphonic noise after notes are played. Tried also bypassed with headphones and got the same effect. Tried also with XP30 received the same results. PDF KB/A 100 Peavey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boseengineer Posted November 9, 2004 Members Share Posted November 9, 2004 Thanks for posting the link, that helps.Do all three channels show the same symptom ? I would try all 3 individually (and turn the volumes on the others all the way down).If that's bad, try to plug in directly into Effects return. If you don't have an insert cable (TRS to two TS) you can try to plug the 1/4" from the Triton half-way (to the first click but not all the way). You can also try to connect the headphone to Effects send, check whether this is clean.If the send is good and the return is bad, try plugging directly into the "power amp" in the rear. My guess is that either the EQ section or the reverb section is at fault. If that's the case, you may be able to bypass that with a patch cable from the Effect send to Power Amp in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boseengineer Posted November 9, 2004 Members Share Posted November 9, 2004 And another thought. With all these experiments, start with everything turned all the way down and bring things up slowly. Also, you might want to use something cheap as a sound source (portable CD player or so) and not your most prized possession. I don't there is any danger what I suggest, but the amp obviously problematic, so a little caution might be advised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted November 9, 2004 Author Members Share Posted November 9, 2004 Originally posted by boseengineer Thanks for posting the link, that helps.Do all three channels show the same symptom ? I would try all 3 individually (and turn the volumes on the others all the way down).If that's bad, try to plug in directly into Effects return. If you don't have an insert cable (TRS to two TS) you can try to plug the 1/4" from the Triton half-way (to the first click but not all the way). You can also try to connect the headphone to Effects send, check whether this is clean.If the send is good and the return is bad, try plugging directly into the "power amp" in the rear. My guess is that either the EQ section or the reverb section is at fault. If that's the case, you may be able to bypass that with a patch cable from the Effect send to Power Amp in. Hmmmm... I'll try that... a quick fix for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J the D Posted November 9, 2004 Members Share Posted November 9, 2004 Check your input jacks. If the solder connections are cracking you could experience the noise you are talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted November 9, 2004 Author Members Share Posted November 9, 2004 Spoke with Peavey Tech Support Forum. They think it is noisy 4560 IC's. I have no clue as to what that part is. Those guys are great by the way. You guys are too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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