Unwanted noise on almost every power on

flonky · « **on:** April 22, 2016, 12:46:52 PM »

Hi,
I have a brand new (of course) OB-6 in my room.
After some days of use I noticed that almost any time I switch it on I hear the patch with an unwanted noise sound. The noise doesn't disappear when I change patches. Only when I switch the OB-6 off and on the noise sound disappears.
On every power on and off there is also a really loud click noise coming out of the speakers and headphones.
Is that a hardware problem or could this be fixed with an firmware update?
Thanks,
Florian

Morgenspaziergang · « **Reply #1 on:** April 24, 2016, 10:48:41 PM »

pretty sure you should turn off the amp/speakers or mute the channel the synth is in when powering it down. i think the noise you hear is normal. the tempest does this and i think its normal due to how the hardware is designed.

as for power up, i usually turn speakers/amp/mixer on last so i cant comment on the startup noise.

Horace · « **Reply #2 on:** May 28, 2016, 07:23:38 PM »

Hello,

Mine did that from day 0.
I don't think its a major problem,
but the noise gives me earache, so I
just turn on the speakers after synth
has been on and warmed up.

Don't really have this problem with other synths,
but not a major issue

Horace

Novem · « **Reply #3 on:** June 12, 2016, 05:41:51 PM »

My Prophet 6 was doing the same thing, turn the AMP sustain all the way down..no more pop!

N.

Soundquest · « **Reply #4 on:** June 14, 2016, 08:30:12 AM »

I have not noticed any unusual noise base.

BobTheDog · « **Reply #5 on:** June 14, 2016, 12:36:16 PM »

When starting always, aways turn your monitor on last.

When finishing always, always turn your monitor off first.

goldphinga · « **Reply #6 on:** June 16, 2016, 11:03:52 PM »

All my DSI gear does it and it can be pretty frustrating. My monitors are on all the time as their switches are round the back. I'm not sure why they didn't include some of start up muting circuitry.

Maurizio De Cecco · « **Reply #7 on:** July 06, 2016, 03:12:25 AM »

Well, a lot of analogue gear do that, and this have been true for the last 30 years or more; my mackie mixer do that, for example.
This is why the usually good practice is always: switch on your speaker last, switch off your speaker first.

Maurizio

PS: just arrived on the forum, waiting for my OB-6;

bluesmoose · « **Reply #8 on:** July 06, 2016, 10:12:48 PM »

Quote from: Maurizio De Cecco on July 06, 2016, 03:12:25 AM

Well, a lot of analogue gear do that, and this have been true for the last 30 years or more; my mackie mixer do that, for example.
This is why the usually good practice is always: switch on your speaker last, switch off your speaker first.

Maurizio

PS: just arrived on the forum, waiting for my OB-6;

The OB-6 doesn't just 'pop' on power-on. It sounds like snap, crackle, pop for 2-3 seconds, like something is broken.

Maurizio De Cecco · « **Reply #9 on:** July 07, 2016, 01:10:09 AM »

Quote from: bluesmoose on July 06, 2016, 10:12:48 PM

The OB-6 doesn't just 'pop' on power-on. It sounds like snap, crackle, pop for 2-3 seconds, like something is broken.

I remember having some equipment (may be it was my Matrix 1000 ?) that at switch off made an oscillator sweep up
two/three octaves :->.

Yes, on the other side, some other equipment have a muting system too.

Maurizio

StephDamo · « **Reply #10 on:** December 27, 2017, 12:51:28 PM »

no pop on power on for me but when I use my phones I can hear a loud pop when powering off (even with volume and AMP sustain turned down) is this normal ?

AlainHubert · « **Reply #11 on:** December 27, 2017, 02:02:31 PM »

Pretty much all my synths will produce some kind of noise when powering them on, or off. There are a few exceptions (like my Korg DW8000 which has a muting circuit inside that cuts the output whilst booting up), but a good rule of thumb is to always power all your synths first, and then your amp (or monitoring system) last.
Even my brand new DeepMind 12 produces a large thump when finishing booting up, and it even has a relay to prevent this !
The worst one I have is the Ensoniq SQ80 which will produce a sort of whining (like it's dying) when powering it off ! lol !
My OB6 produces a static click when powered on, and a faint one when powering off.

gilesjuk · « **Reply #12 on:** December 29, 2017, 08:29:28 AM »

Modal synths are the worst for this. the 008 makes an horrific sound if powered up with the volume up. I'm thinking of getting one of those passive volume control knobs you can put between your monitors and mixer, then you can easily mute the speakers before switching gear on.

DavidDever · « **Reply #13 on:** December 29, 2017, 08:53:28 AM »

Leaky input decoupling capacitors on the mixer channel may cause this; you can measure from hot to ground (synthesizer unplugged, turn the fader all the way down) to see if you've got a few mV DC. I've seen this happen with quite a few AC-coupled designs.

That said - yeah, don't switch on your synths with the mixer channel unmuted - this is Audio 101-level stuff.

MKDVB · « **Reply #14 on:** July 01, 2019, 07:32:34 AM »

Eh, was playing my OB6 module on headphones the other night with the fam asleep & lost power ....

Really painful, enough that I haven't touched it in a few days. Still pissed about it really & inclined to just sell the damn thing. I spend a lot of time making music on cans & none of my other gear makes as horrible a popping sound nor cost as much as the OB6.

AlainHubert · « **Reply #15 on:** July 01, 2019, 10:23:38 AM »

Hello dvb. I know what you mean. [moderator edit]

Might I suggest getting a UPS (no, not the unreliable carrier company of the same name, but an Uninterruptible Power Supply), in case of unwanted power outage ?

That's what I did, to avoid having a recording session cut short in the middle. And when I power on my system (recording gear, computer, and instruments), I keep my headphone amp powered on last to avoid sending those loud audio pops and clicks into them.

BTW, I don't use the onboard headphone output on any of my many synths, simply because their sound quality always leaves much to be desired anyway...

MKDVB · « **Reply #16 on:** July 01, 2019, 01:06:16 PM »

Well, I made up w/ the OB6 this morning when it gifted a simple, yet amazing patch to me.

Yes, that's definitely all good advice & I do have a UPS on my studio downstairs. This unfortunate incident didn't occur there but in the house where I don't have any gear other than a Keystep, ipad & some computer speakers.

What I love about the OB6 module is how portable it is but I can't risk using its onboard headphone jack again. By far the worst pop of any gear I've ever used, cheap or not. Shame since I had plans to take it camping ...

Quote from: AlainHubert on July 01, 2019, 10:23:38 AM

Hello dvb. I know what you mean. [moderator edit]

Might I suggest getting a UPS (no, not the unreliable carrier company of the same name, but an Uninterruptible Power Supply), in case of unwanted power outage ?

That's what I did, to avoid having a recording session cut short in the middle. And when I power on my system (recording gear, computer, and instruments), I keep my headphone amp powered on last to avoid sending those loud audio pops and clicks into them.

BTW, I don't use the onboard headphone output on any of my many synths, simply because their sound quality always leaves much to be desired anyway...

AlainHubert · « **Reply #17 on:** July 01, 2019, 02:54:34 PM »

I wonder why DSI engineers didn't include a temporized auto-muting circuit ? Surely it wasn't a question of this additional low cost measure on such an expensive and high quality product, was it ?

MKDVB · « **Reply #18 on:** July 01, 2019, 04:54:29 PM »

Frankly, it feels borderline rude that they didn't put some such circuit on itn especially as it's far louder than most other gear. The whole synth feels like exercise in manufacturing "efficiencies" since it shares so much w/ the P6 ... wouldn't be surprised if was a cost issue.

Wonder if the p6 has the same issue? I've always wondered if I should grab that one instead & the lack of power noise blast would be a big plus for me.

DaveP6guy · « **Reply #19 on:** August 01, 2019, 07:12:26 AM »

Quote from: Horace on May 28, 2016, 07:23:38 PM

Hello,

Mine did that from day 0.
I don't think its a major problem,
but the noise gives me earache, so I
just turn on the speakers after synth
has been on and warmed up.

Don't really have this problem with other synths,
but not a major issue

Horace

I think many electric instruments will give quite a pop on power on and power off through an amplifier /speakers. Whether this can damage the amp/speakers, I don't know, maybe it is possible. I've heard many say that you should switch the amp/speakers on last.

If I'm being really careful and the audio leads are plugged in (and they will um and pop if you put them in when the amp/speakers are on too, of course), I would generally also set the input fader on any mixer or recording gear to zero at the start/end of a session, so any nasty spikes don't get into your other valuable gear.