Strange "fuzz"

R-o-D- · #1 05-10-2010, 10:30 PM

Just build a 15/6/1 fearful.

Using the peavey 3 way crossover recomended in the fearful wiki

Getting a strange quite "fuzz" sound when i play some notes sometimes.. Pretty sure its coming out of the 15 driver. Sometimes when I play certain notes if i let them ring out there is a quite fuzzy electronic tone that can be heard as the note fades out, but other times its not there.

I'm thinking it could be the crossover or the power amp? tried 2 different preamps through my P.A. ; same intermitten weird fuzz sound. I'm gonna try through a totally different amp on Wednesday, if that doesn't fix it I guess its def. the crossover. anyone come across this before? I'll post some sound clips after I try out the cab /w the different amp.

JimmyM · #2 05-10-2010, 10:38 PM

if it's what i think it is, then it's what's known as "neo hiss." the cones travel so much farther with neos that you'll sometimes hear a hissing sound from them. this sound, however, doesn't get amplified and you usually can't hear it at all during the course of a gig. bothers some people, doesn't bother me.

if that's not it, check for small air leaks. if that's not it, ask someone else

R-o-D- · #3 05-10-2010, 10:45 PM

Hmm, not the news i was hoping for!

It's liveable, I doubt anyone will notice unless they play it. This strange sound seems a little more than subtle, however. Maybe you can tell me if this is it for sure once i post some audio clips.

bobcruz · #4 05-11-2010, 11:03 AM

Could it be your bass or onboard electronics? The new speakers could be so much more hi-fi than what you're used to that you're hearing something from your bass for the first time. Try headphones and see if it's still there.

BassmanPaul · #5 05-11-2010, 11:37 AM

If you're using an active bass check your battery.

Paul

billfitzmaurice · #6 05-11-2010, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

if it's what i think it is, then it's what's known as "neo hiss." the cones travel so much farther with neos that you'll sometimes hear a hissing sound from them

Whatever you're smoking send me some.

It's very unlikely a properly constructed crossover would explain it. Try another amp to rule the amp out as the cause. If it's not the amp the most likely cause is some junk caught up in the driver suspension or surround.

JimmyM · #7 05-11-2010, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

Whatever you're smoking send me some.

i will, but seriously, you've never heard that hissing sound from neos? i guess it works out better for the op for it to be a crossover problem, but really...you've never heard it?

billfitzmaurice · #8 05-11-2010, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

i will, but seriously, you've never heard that hissing sound from neos? i guess it works out better for the op for it to be a crossover problem, but really...you've never heard it?

Nope. Got snakes in your cab?
You might have heard a leak around the driver frame, or through a jack.

JimmyM · #9 05-11-2010, 04:04 PM

well you're the expert but i think i've heard it in every neo cab i've played. i really don't think i'm hallucinating. maybe i am...who knows? i lived a year in miami in the early 80's and i'm sure i lost a few brain cells there.

billfitzmaurice · #10 05-11-2010, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

well you're the expert but i think i've heard it in every neo cab i've played. i really don't think i'm hallucinating. maybe i am...who knows? i lived a year in miami in the early 80's and i'm sure i lost a few brain cells there.

I've never heard it. Chalk it up to South Beach flashbacks.

R-o-D- · #11 05-11-2010, 06:18 PM

As always, thanks for the speedy responses.

Here's a sound clip of the problem i was having:

http://rod.plkeene.com/audio_3_bass_fuzz.mp3

(yea, its clipping, but hear the garble/fuzz at about 5 secs?.. you may need headphones to notice)

Well, I check everything ya'll suggested but the amp. (my other amp is at the jam room an hour away)
Turns out it was the crossover; adjusted some settings on it, and everything is money!
I have not the technical know how to explain why, but "lowering the high fq roll off " of the woofer fixed the problem. Simply jumping the green wire from M2 terminal(nominal) to the M1 terminal(lowered).

From the ECS-3 Manual "For most 15" pro sound woofers, the nominal factory setting is appropriate...... Certain very high output 15" woofers, or MI style 15" woofers may need to use this adjustment too because their tendancy for a hot high end."

Sorry for being such an idiot and not checking first, but atleast someone else /w this problem will know what to do. Esp. since this PEAVEY ecs-3x is listed under the "generic crossovers" section of the fearful wiki.

*side note; it may be not that i needed to switch to the "lowered high fq roll off" but the connection /w the other terminal was a bad soldering job or something along those lines.*

JimmyM · #12 05-11-2010, 10:20 PM

well sorry i initially bummed you out. honest to god, i've heard this hissing sound from every neo cab i've played. i know i'm not crazy. ok, i'm crazy, but yeah, no way you could listen to that clip and think it was the cone hissing. oh well, glad you got it fixed!

lbwdog · #13 05-11-2010, 10:39 PM

Wow! That is somewhat akin to the sounds I was hearing after retrofitting a 3015LF in my Carvin LS 1503 a couple of years back. After replacing the compression driver and another crossover from Carvin, the distortion persisted. Conversations with greenboy at the time led us to think the problem was crossover related. I decided to go with different speaker cabs then, and shelved the LS project, intending to eventually have a stouter crossover built (still not done).