Hi guys, I am new to this forum so if I do anything wrong please tell me. My son is singer but neither of us have much technical knowledge so forgive me for that too. My issue is son was doing a gig yesterday but the sound kept cutting of fading in volume. He uses a mixer amp. Has anyone any advice please? Would be so grateful.
There is something wrong with your system.
That is about all that can be said without knowing what gear you have, so can you detail that with model numbers, how it was connected, and what the environmental conditions were at this event? For example was it outdoors in direct sunlight on a hot day or indoors in a climate controlled room?
That is about all that can be said without knowing what gear you have, so can you detail that with model numbers, how it was connected, and what the environmental conditions were at this event? For example was it outdoors in direct sunlight on a hot day or indoors in a climate controlled room?
Thanks so much for the reply. I'll do my best. The environment was a small pub
The system is as follows
Mixer/amp - Alto RMX 2408 4 x 500 watt Power
Connects to sons laptop for backing tracks
Speakers - 2 x behringer upto 1000 watt b215xl
Wireless mic -ld systems ws100
Connections speakers into back of mixer amp
mic and laptop into front of mixer amp
Hope this is okay and thank you again.
Isolate the problem. Did the sound cut out on only his mic or was it the entire sound system? Were both power amps cutting out or only the main?
The amp has two power amps, and a switch on the front sets them up either as left and right for main or a one for main and one for monitors. Either way, did both cut out or only one? And for that matter that switch could be involved, flip it back and forth a few time to see if it clears any dirt.
The amp has two power amps, and a switch on the front sets them up either as left and right for main or a one for main and one for monitors. Either way, did both cut out or only one? And for that matter that switch could be involved, flip it back and forth a few time to see if it clears any dirt.
There's nothing wrong with your system. There's either a limiter in your system or a PTC (positive temperature coefficient thermistor) in series to your tweeter as a protection. Lower the volume/gain and it will work normally or, if you don't lower the gain, it will cycle with fading out and comming back heights.
I see a possibly mismatched system and perhaps a wrong speaker-amp connection.
Amplifier back panel shows a *confusing* (even for us, go figure) amount of operation modes and multiple connectors, which to boot require different wired cables. (what were they thinking?).
SEVEN different modes of operation, using EIGHT separate connectors (some ar dual or multiple mode).
CRAZY
We need the Operation/User Manual to see what THEY suggest.
I could not find it even at Alto own page because it´s a "discontinued" model, go figure.
I suspect your Son connected both speakers to the "Bridged" output which expects a total 8 ohm load and overheated when trying to drive 2 cabinets (8 ohm each? - 4 ohm each?) and overheated, self turned off, restarted, on and on.
So please somebody upload the proper Manual to proceed with some certainty.
As of speakers: "1000W Max" is useless/nonsense, actual power handling is 250W RMS
It mentions: "Built-in Overload Protection:
Maybe they have PTC resistors or bimetallic thermal breakers padding or straight cutting off Tweeter (quite usual) and Woofer (unusual but possible) in which case cabinets self muting is a possiblity.
So we need access to a user manual and answer Enzo´s questions.
Amplifier back panel shows a *confusing* (even for us, go figure) amount of operation modes and multiple connectors, which to boot require different wired cables. (what were they thinking?).
SEVEN different modes of operation, using EIGHT separate connectors (some ar dual or multiple mode).
CRAZY
We need the Operation/User Manual to see what THEY suggest.
I could not find it even at Alto own page because it´s a "discontinued" model, go figure.
I suspect your Son connected both speakers to the "Bridged" output which expects a total 8 ohm load and overheated when trying to drive 2 cabinets (8 ohm each? - 4 ohm each?) and overheated, self turned off, restarted, on and on.
So please somebody upload the proper Manual to proceed with some certainty.
As of speakers: "1000W Max" is useless/nonsense, actual power handling is 250W RMS
It mentions: "Built-in Overload Protection:
which is as clear as mud.
Maybe they have PTC resistors or bimetallic thermal breakers padding or straight cutting off Tweeter (quite usual) and Woofer (unusual but possible) in which case cabinets self muting is a possiblity.
So we need access to a user manual and answer Enzo´s questions.
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Thanks for all your help guys, really appreciate it.
In answer to Enzo abit difficult to say as wasn't near enough to decipher.
The mic cut out and we have ordered a replacement but towards the end of the gig the backing went down in volume a little but was still playing.
Important question. Having only the mic cutting out is a completely different problem from having the whole sound cut out.
That's even an understatement. You can only get help for the things you're giving informations about. If the horn driver fades out and comes back later, that's typical for a PTC or light bulb driver protection.
Make a test run and switch the parts one by one until you've narrowed it down to the most likely parts of the chain. Check the complete chain. Start with the mic and try it with a different or, even better, another type of source (cell phone or cd player) etc. Feedback can trigger a limiter or PTC quite quickly btw.
Test the cables, wiggle on them and replace them if it suddenly cuts out (opposing the 'fading' of a ptc speaker protection). Test if it behaves differently with other cables or channels of the amp.
The question we don’t know the answer to is does it ONLY misbehave when it is turned up loud? There seem to be two ideas floating around here - whether there is something really amiss, or is it just normal protection limiting due to being driven too hard. With lower tier equipment it really could be either.
I'm really sorry but its all a bit confusing, not very technically minded I'm afraid.
The volume at the time was loud but not mega loud. I am not even sure if we have the mixer/amp on the correct settings that would really help but we don't have a manual and after looking online didn't really understand it. We need it explained in the simplest terms.
The volume at the time was loud but not mega loud. I am not even sure if we have the mixer/amp on the correct settings that would really help but we don't have a manual and after looking online didn't really understand it. We need it explained in the simplest terms.
Ok, let´s go bit by bit.
One big suspect is the wireless mike, at some positions microphone built-in antenna and that one at the receiver do not align well and you lose sound, it´s a possibility.
Wireless microphones warn of "dropouts" as a reality of life and all working with antennas know they have "dead spots".
Sadly the experiment to rule out one or the other must be made in original conditions, so at that Club and "doing the movements".
If at all possible, go there when no public is present, and try to find when/how the problem appears, without the pressure of performance.
Ok, then the whole system was not cutting off, just the microphone; that rules out major catastrophes, triggered protections, etc.
One big suspect is the wireless mike, at some positions microphone built-in antenna and that one at the receiver do not align well and you lose sound, it´s a possibility.
Wireless microphones warn of "dropouts" as a reality of life and all working with antennas know they have "dead spots".
Sadly the experiment to rule out one or the other must be made in original conditions, so at that Club and "doing the movements".
If at all possible, go there when no public is present, and try to find when/how the problem appears, without the pressure of performance.
My questions are not technical. WHen the sound cuts out, doe ALL the sound stop? Or does his mic stop but other parts of the sound continue?
WHen the sound cuts out, does the entire sound stop ir maybe just the low sounds while the high sounds continue? Or the other way, does the low sound continue but the highs (the clarity) continue?
Are there not some blinky lights on the panel that dance with the music? If so, wwhen the sound cuts out do the lights continue to dance or do they stop blinking as well?
Oops, I see Fahey beat me to it.
WHen the sound cuts out, does the entire sound stop ir maybe just the low sounds while the high sounds continue? Or the other way, does the low sound continue but the highs (the clarity) continue?
Are there not some blinky lights on the panel that dance with the music? If so, wwhen the sound cuts out do the lights continue to dance or do they stop blinking as well?
Oops, I see Fahey beat me to it.
To rule out the wireless, get a mic cord and plug a mic directly into the mixer. Does that still cut out?
