Karaoke Forums

If some of you recall, recently I purchased a set of AKG WMS40 wireless microphones. Overall, I am thoroughly impressed with only a couple of issues. One is the handling noise is a little high if the singer leaves the mic in the mic clip. If they hold it in their hands, it's very low, but only if they keep it on the mic stand and hold the mic.. creates some noise that way... This is something I can teach people to compensate for...

The other issue is this, and I am asking for some advice on what it could be. On only 1 of the mics,, I get some sporadic crackling noises. It's quite annoying to me.. nobody else has mentioned it, but I notice it. I was told to use shielded cabling from the mixer to the receiver, which I did already. Is there a difference in quality of cabling??? Could that be the problem? The noise is only from the same mic all the time, and it doesn't matter where I am either. The venues do not make any difference, so I believe that it's NOT from outside interference, unless the interference is coming from my equipment. Does anyone have any suggestions? Defective possibly??? cabling? settings?? I am all ears..

Scott

Do your mic. stands have rubber feet?
Sounds like a faulty mic.

From what you describe, I don't think it is a cable issue. If it's always coming from the same microphone/receiver output regardless of which cable you're using, it's not a cable problem. From your description it sure sounds a lot more like RF interference. Likely something in your geographic area is causing a problem. Unfortunately, that set is not frequency agile or I'd simply suggest changing channels. In this case there is only one frequency each mic operates on and it's set at the factory. Make sure your antennae are positioned properly (aimed outward in opposite directions at about a 45 degree angle). Also make sure you have a clear line of site from Microphone to Antenna to ensure maximum signal and avoid multi-path interference.

To fully rule out any other possible cause, wiggle all your cables and see if any produce the same sound. Could be a bad plug somewhere in the chain, but not very likely from what you described. Also, check your complete routing path for that mic starting at the receiver. Make sure that there is no clipping at any gain stage in the full path that signal takes. Beyond that, you're pretty much stuck contacting the manufacturer to see what they recommend.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Tony, I did check all the cabling, to see if anything made any difference. Nothing seemed to help the situation. As far as RF interference, it would have to be coming from something in my set up, because I get the same results everywhere I set up. I have tried putting the receiver in different proximity to my rig, but nothing seems to lessen the crackle. The noise is not constant, but it is often. I am not sure off the top of my head which frequency it is, but I could surely find out tonight at my show. From my stand point, I feel it's a defective mic, but I could be wrong, I just want to eliminate every possible situation before contacting the manufacturer.

Scott

Edit: Oh, by the way, the settings are identical as can be on an analog board. So, it's definitely not a clipping issue. If it would help, i can take a pic of my settings tonight at my show and post.

Just got this set for Christmas! Going to try it out tomorrow night. If all goes well, i'll add into my mic line-up, just need to get a new quad compressor!

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I called AKG a couple of days ago. They want me to send them back in for testing. Seems what I am experiencing is definitely not normal. I got the service number already and will be sending them in Monday. Just gonna have to go back to using my Sennheisers