Intermittent popping/crackling noise through amp or direct to PA

[leadtooth]

Hello community,

 

I did a search and could not find anything on this so if I somehow missed it please forgive me for creating a new topic.

 

I am getting a intermittent popping/crackling noise out of my Helix running direct to a Fender Custom Deluxe Reverb (amp reverb and tremolo off) and also this morning during worship at church I had it running direct to PA with 48V Phantom off. I was also hearing it in my headset this morning and it almost sounds like a clipping of sorts.

 

I run the Helix volume at noon, use the expression pedal for volume, guitar pad is on as I am playing with my Music Man Axis with hot pickups. Anyone experience this issue or can help me please? its not my guitar, cable, or XLR cable. Thanks for help folks much appreciated in advance.

[steevo1977]

I have been hearing quite a bit of noise also through my cans too since the update..crackling and hiss (I use a variax too)

 

Didn't think too much of it but will have a go to see if it happens a lot or in what situations it is worst.

[spikey]

Dirty power? Fluorescent lamp ballast going out?  

[GlennDeLaune]

Hello community,

 

I did a search and could not find anything on this so if I somehow missed it please forgive me for creating a new topic.

 

I am getting a intermittent popping/crackling noise out of my Helix running direct to a Fender Custom Deluxe Reverb (amp reverb and tremolo off) and also this morning during worship at church I had it running direct to PA with 48V Phantom off. I was also hearing it in my headset this morning and it almost sounds like a clipping of sorts.

 

I run the Helix volume at noon, use the expression pedal for volume, guitar pad is on as I am playing with my Music Man Axis with hot pickups. Anyone experience this issue or can help me please? its not my guitar, cable, or XLR cable. Thanks for help folks much appreciated in advance.

I was thinking you might be clipping the input. Did this update change anything in the Globals with the input settings?? Try turning the pad on and see if that helps. 

[leadtooth]

Thanks for the reply all. Nothing to do with power or ballasts and I don't have fluorescents in my home. Also, as I mentioned in my post, I DO have the pad turned on. Not sure what is going on....

[MonkeyXT]

I may have heard this type of thing as well; need to spend some more time to see and will report back.

[leadtooth]

I may have heard this type of thing as well; need to spend some more time to see and will report back.

 

Thanks Monkey and anyone at LINE 6 can answer?

[leadtooth]

Bump:

 

Support ticket in still waiting for help. I cannot believe I am the only one with this issue.....

[spikey]

Will another guitar (without all the electronics added) cause this issue as well? Elimination is the key to finding the source of the pops and such.

 

FYI about power noise, I've seen step-down transformers in the alley 3 houses down causing noise in audio electronics... Just saying that it could be coming for anywhere including Helix itself.

[leadtooth]

Will another guitar (without all the electronics added) cause this issue as well? Elimination is the key to finding the source of the pops and such.

 

FYI about power noise, I've seen step-down transformers in the alley 3 houses down causing noise in audio electronics... Just saying that it could be coming for anywhere including Helix itself.

As I have stated it happens at home or at church through the PA 15 miles away no less. I am confused about "all the electronics added" statement you made as I have no electronics added. I am running direct into Helix and ..... please re-read my original post. I get the same effect using my strat with gen 4 noiseless pickups.

[spikey]

 

I am confused about "all the electronics added" statement you made as I have no electronics added.

 

 

Sorry I thought I read Majesty, not Axis. That's where the electronics stuff came from. Yea doesn't like a power issue after re-reading. When you say its not the cables, then you have taken the ends apart and verified nothing is lose or touching where they should not when bent, correct?? 

[lungho]

I didn't see this anywhere in your original post, but does this happen with any other patches or just the one you use for worship?  

[leadtooth]

 

Sorry I thought I read Majesty, not Axis. That's where the electronics stuff came from. Yea doesn't like a power issue after re-reading. When you say its not the cables, then you have taken the ends apart and verified nothing is lose or touching where they should not when bent, correct??

Yes I checked my cables and I don't run cheap ones. I use Divine Noise cables.

[leadtooth]

I didn't see this anywhere in your original post, but does this happen with any other patches or just the one you use for worship?

If seems to be globall but is more predominant on my Worship patch which is scripted

From Glenn DeLaune. Could this be a EQ problem? Pulling straws at this point but just thought about EQ.

[spikey]

Sorry other than some weird static discharge or some grounding or cold solder joint somewhere, I just don't know then. Try disabling blocks in the preset itself maybe and see if it changes?

[lungho]

If seems to be globall but is more predominant on my Worship patch which is scripted

From Glenn DeLaune. Could this be a EQ problem? Pulling straws at this point but just thought about EQ.

 

I had a problem with my main patch after the update.  I was getting this horrible fizz I hadn't heard since owning a X3 Live.  

 

To troubleshoot this, I turned off all the blocks except for the amp and IRs and made sure there they were not the problem.  They weren't.  So I then turned each block on, one by one, and playing each time until I found what was causing the fizz.  It turned out to be the dual delay block.  

 

Maybe try this same process to help narrow down and isolate the problem.  If this wasn't one of Glenn's patches, I'd just say upload it so we could try it out on our Helix <-----is there a plural version of that word?   :P

[MonkeyXT]

(Because 'Helix' in this context is a proper name, you would use the plural rules as such - so in this case, it should be Helixes.  If we weren't talking a proper name, then it would be 'helices.')

[DunedinDragon]

If seems to be globall but is more predominant on my Worship patch which is scripted

From Glenn DeLaune. Could this be a EQ problem? Pulling straws at this point but just thought about EQ.

 

What's not clear to me is whether or not this popping and crackling happens if even if you're not playing...in effect there's no signal going through the Helix, everything plugged in, volume turned up but not playing.  I mention this because you said it almost sounds like clipping which would indicate it only happens when there is an active signal going through your rig.

 

I'm also curious about your reference to the worship patch being "scripted" from Glen DeLaune.  I'm assuming you mean you modified the patch in some way.  However since you also mention it happens, but just not as much with other patches this leads me to think about the signal being processed out of the Helix and into your Deluxe Reverb or even into your headsets.  In other words some aspect of gain staging of the signal that's off so that it's causing digital distortion.  Digital distortion is different from analogue distortion in that it results in noise, not really a clipping sound like you would have in an amp.

 

The fact that you're running into the preamp portion of your Fender Deluxe is also a question in this regard.  Since the Deluxe Reverb has no external loop input you have no way of bypassing the preamp in the Deluxe Reverb and just getting a pure amplification of the signal.

 

I guess the first thing I would check would be to take an empty patch and play through it and see if it causes the same effect.  This would tell you that there's some aspect of gain staging of your signal in your patches might be causing this problem.

[leadtooth]

What's not clear to me is whether or not this popping and crackling happens if even if you're not playing...in effect there's no signal going through the Helix, everything plugged in, volume turned up but not playing.  I mention this because you said it almost sounds like clipping which would indicate it only happens when there is an active signal going through your rig.

 

I'm also curious about your reference to the worship patch being "scripted" from Glen DeLaune.  I'm assuming you mean you modified the patch in some way.  However since you also mention it happens, but just not as much with other patches this leads me to think about the signal being processed out of the Helix and into your Deluxe Reverb or even into your headsets.  In other words some aspect of gain staging of the signal that's off so that it's causing digital distortion.  Digital distortion is different from analogue distortion in that it results in noise, not really a clipping sound like you would have in an amp.

 

The fact that you're running into the preamp portion of your Fender Deluxe is also a question in this regard.  Since the Deluxe Reverb has no external loop input you have no way of bypassing the preamp in the Deluxe Reverb and just getting a pure amplification of the signal.

 

I guess the first thing I would check would be to take an empty patch and play through it and see if it causes the same effect.  This would tell you that there's some aspect of gain staging of your signal in your patches might be causing this problem.

 

Sorry I meant to say Snapshot. The one I use most for worship is the GD-AMBNT SNPSHT. I only get the popping when I am playing. If I stop playing and the Helix just sits it does not happen. This happens with different patches as well. I could understand the issue being me running direct into the preamp portion of the Fender at home, however, as I stated, I get the same result direct to the PA at church. As far as "cans" go I am referring to the PA headset at church as I do not like using the in ear. Everyone with "cans" or "in ear" can also hear it. I have tried other patches even just a straight out crunch build and I still get it. I will try to some suggestions you all have shared today and see if I can try to narrow it down further.

 

Thank you all for trying to help I greatly appreciate it.

[shanecgriffo]

make sure your phone isn't near your guitar too, a long shot that it would be the problem but mine does some weird stuff when it is near my guitar sometimes

[DunedinDragon]

Sorry I meant to say Snapshot. The one I use most for worship is the GD-AMBNT SNPSHT. I only get the popping when I am playing. If I stop playing and the Helix just sits it does not happen. This happens with different patches as well. I could understand the issue being me running direct into the preamp portion of the Fender at home, however, as I stated, I get the same result direct to the PA at church. As far as "cans" go I am referring to the PA headset at church as I do not like using the in ear. Everyone with "cans" or "in ear" can also hear it. I have tried other patches even just a straight out crunch build and I still get it. I will try to some suggestions you all have shared today and see if I can try to narrow it down further.

 

Thank you all for trying to help I greatly appreciate it.

 

This doesn't negate the possibility that your outgoing signal is too hot.  The "clipping" or digital artifacts may be the result of a signal chain with too much gain or output volume being processed for output.  This has nothing to do with your master volume setting, but rather with the internal processing of the signal to prepare it for the output.

 

Again, take a blank patch and play through it and see if you get the same artifacts.

[jbuhajla]

Digital clipping sounds may be "enhanced" by all the delays and reverbs in an ambient preset, especially if trails are left on. Sometimes switching between snapshots (depending on what parameters you are changing), you could be slamming some of the "trails" with some new signal with a new gain characteristic from the new snapshot. Bypass all the delays, reverbs, and time based effects and see if it goes away.

 

Also do like DD mentioned above and just create a new dry patch to see if is still apparent. 

[leadtooth]

Digital clipping sounds may be "enhanced" by all the delays and reverbs in an ambient preset, especially if trails are left on. Sometimes switching between snapshots (depending on what parameters you are changing), you could be slamming some of the "trails" with some new signal with a new gain characteristic from the new snapshot. Bypass all the delays, reverbs, and time based effects and see if it goes away.

 

Also do like DD mentioned above and just create a new dry patch to see if is still apparent. 

 

This is exactly where my issues is. I have isolated it down to a combination of mod/delay, vintage digital delay, and partical reverb. Separately they all work fine but when I mix them on a particular patch and combine tremolo and chorus I have the popping. If I turn off the trail delay and leave the others on its fine. Need to do more digging later today. Thank you all again for all the help I truly do appreciate it.

 

I use all these in combo for worship for swells with volume, ambiance, etc..

[jbuhajla]

This is exactly where my issues is. I have isolated it down to a combination of mod/delay, vintage digital delay, and partical reverb. Separately they all work fine but when I mix them on a particular patch and combiner tremolo and chorus I have the popping. If I turn off the trail delay and leave the others on its fine. Need to do more digging later today. Thank you all again for all the help I truly do appreciate it.

If I remember correctly, the vintage digital delay has a "headroom" parameter, or something like that to simulate older low resolution systems. Maybe the noise is being created there and accentuated by effects downstream. Maybe try changing the delay to the Simple Delay and see if it goes away. 

[tourultimate]

With 2.20 firmware, I'm experiencing popping/cracking with the vintage delay. No other effects needed. Just hit the strings hard and nasty pops/cracks. Turn vintage delay off, hit the strings hard as you want, no problems.

[MonkeyXT]

With 2.20 firmware, I'm experiencing popping/cracking with the vintage delay. No other effects needed. Just hit the strings hard and nasty pops/cracks. Turn vintage delay off, hit the strings hard as you want, no problems.

 

See bug report thread for the fix for this.

[MonkeyXT]

This is exactly where my issues is. I have isolated it down to a combination of mod/delay, vintage digital delay, and partical reverb. Separately they all work fine but when I mix them on a particular patch and combine tremolo and chorus I have the popping. If I turn off the trail delay and leave the others on its fine. Need to do more digging later today. Thank you all again for all the help I truly do appreciate it.

 

I use all these in combo for worship for swells with volume, ambiance, etc..

 

It occurs that you might need to do the process of noting the Vintage DDL settings, deleting, and re-adding - and then take note and dial up the 'Headroom' parameter... I believe that won't show up on older patches until it's deleted and re-added...

This actually pre-dates this firmware update mind you.

[leadtooth]

Yea that's the issue the vintage delay. The reason I assumed it was global is that I was using it on several patches thus the same results. I appreciate all the replies and help thanks so much!

 

Furthermore, one of the patches from Glenn DeLaune that I mentioned I used in worship also had the vintage delay. Glenn fixed it fast and sent me the new patch. Just a shout out to Glenn; he is a great guy to deal with, friendly, genuine, and really cares about helping people.

[MusicLaw]

Not sure if I'm hearing the same or similar characteristics as you are depicting. Having just installed 2.20 yesterday afternoon, upon exploring the Setlist 1 and 2 Factory Presets, there was a lot of granular noise from the Vintage Delay in several of the presets. In one Preset having the Industrial Delay (I don't recollect which one) the extent of the noise was absurd.

 

I rarely use the Factory Presets, vastly preferring to cook my own, so these may have always been this way....

[leadtooth]

Not sure if I'm hearing the same or similar characteristics as you are depicting. Having just installed 2.20 yesterday afternoon, upon exploring the Setlist 1 and 2 Factory Presets, there was a lot of granular noise from the Vintage Delay in several of the presets. In one Preset having the Industrial Delay (I don't recollect which one) the extent of the noise was absurd.

 

I rarely use the Factory Presets, vastly preferring to cook my own, so these may have always been this way....

 

I am not using Factory Presets either. The problem is a known issue with the vintage delay (apparently been like this for some time). If you get rid of that and switch it it should go away as it did for me.

[Carson3511]

On 4/5/2017 at 6:41 AM, leadtooth said:

Yea that's the issue the vintage delay. The reason I assumed it was global is that I was using it on several patches thus the same results. I appreciate all the replies and help thanks so much!

 

Furthermore, one of the patches from Glenn DeLaune that I mentioned I used in worship also had the vintage delay. Glenn fixed it fast and sent me the new patch. Just a shout out to Glenn; he is a great guy to deal with, friendly, genuine, and really cares about helping people.

I know I'm coming here a few years later, but I just want to thank you! I had the same problem, and, after reading this, my Vintage Digital was the problem! I can't thank you enough for solving this problem because I really did not know what to do!