Trouble with P.A. horns

stratobastard27 · Post by **stratobastard27** » Sunday Feb 24, 2008

Ran into a brand-new audio gremlin last night. We were at a Fire Hall I've never played before, and for the LIFE of me I could not get rid of the "sizzling bacon" popping sound on dynamic peaks. Or I mic'd a bowl of Rice Crispies. I tried everything. Moved the lights to 3 different circuits, moved the PA to 3 or 4 different circuits. Isolated every single instrument and microphone. Nothing. Thought maybe my bare wire connections on my tops amp was arcing, not the problem. I never did locate the damn problem. I've never had this issue before, anywhere. It was at its worst when we were loudest, pulling the most amps. Any ideas?

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Sunday Feb 24, 2008

Are you sure its not the power amp? That's the sound a bad transistor makes and it might not show up until you turn it up and generate more heat on the transistors.

Post by **Ron** » Monday Feb 25, 2008

lonewolf wrote:Are you sure its not the power amp? That's the sound a bad transistor makes and it might not show up until you turn it up and generate more heat on the transistors.

Jeff's right. Sounds like a transistor on the verge of self-destruction. If the sizzling is at a constant volume no matter what the input level is, then that definitely is the problem. I'd have the amp looked at before it turns itself and your horns into boat anchors.

stratobastard27 · Post by **stratobastard27** » Monday Feb 25, 2008

The sizzling wasn't happening constantly. Just when we were at our loudest. Board Clipping, you might think. Nope. Turned the master fader down to damn near inaudible (old-people friendly) volume, and the sizzle was still there on peaks. This has never happened before, and I have no reason to think the power amp is faulty. Yet.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Monday Feb 25, 2008

Process of elimination. Try another power amp.

stratobastard27 · Post by **stratobastard27** » Monday Feb 25, 2008

Thank you for the input. I will.

floodcitybrass · Post by **floodcitybrass** » Monday Feb 25, 2008

Sounds like a defective Behringer DCX2496.

stratobastard27 · Post by **stratobastard27** » Sunday Mar 02, 2008

Used the exact same set up this weekend and it didn't happen. Had to be a quirk of that fire hall. BTW, FCB, how'd you guess Behringer? You make it sound like they've got a junk reputation...

floodcitybrass · Post by **floodcitybrass** » Sunday Mar 02, 2008

stratobastard27 wrote:Used the exact same set up this weekend and it didn't happen. Had to be a quirk of that fire hall. BTW, FCB, how'd you guess Behringer? You make it sound like they've got a junk reputation...

it's a known issue with the behringer processor. We're you using one?

stratobastard27 · Post by **stratobastard27** » Monday Mar 03, 2008

The EP2500. I'm pretty satisfied with the amp. But then again, you do get what you pay for.