VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Darren Altman

Recently, I noticed that I have been getting hiss and interference in my cans and that my headphone volume was becoming increasingly low. This has been annoying me, but it hasn't prevented me from recording at home, mixing and sending off files.

Today, I got a call from a producer at a radio station for an ISDN session, it was an ad for the 2012 Olympics in London, Nice! I fired up my codec, checked everything and waited for him to dial in. He said hi and that my level was good and I could hear him fine. As I was reading the script for him, he commented that there was hiss on the line. S%!t I thought and my heart sunk. "really?" I said! He checked things his end, disconnected and dialed me back, while I jiggled leads to see if they were all in correctly! When he dialed in again he told me that the hiss was still there. I told him that I am able to record fine, so he directed me over the ISDN, but I recorded my end and emailed the file to him, thankfully he was very sweet and understanding.

After I sent him the file, I got in contact with an audio engineer and producer friend and told him what had happened while at the same time I googled "mixer & headphone hiss" and started to furiously read forum posts. My friend suggested that if any other channels were up on the mixer, it could cause interference - they were not! I un-plugged my leads and plugged them in again and un-plugged my pre-amp and plugged that back in. The hiss was still there, the level in the cans was alarmingly low and I was gutted. My booth is only a few months old, the leads are good quality and the gear is brand new and sounded fantastic.

I even called a voiceover colleague who helped set up a friend's ISDN studio here in London to ask his advice and he was a bit stumped. He said he'd dial in tomorrow to troubleshoot with me and see if he could resolve the problem.

The producer emailed the finished ad to me and it sounded fantastic! He did a really good job with the production and I was grinning from ear to ear. I called him back to thank him and to say how much I enjoyed what he had done with the dry read and he kindly agreed to connect to my ISDN just to see if there was any change after I had routed about.

I got in the booth, put the headphones on and nearly blew my head off with the volume in the cans!! I haven't had it that clear in months! He connected and told me that the hiss had gone! He cranked me right up his end and said "nope, nothing's there now... everything sounds great to me!" I was blown away! I had to turn my cans right down to avoid ear bleed and the sound is now back to being A1!! I'm so happy I can't tell you, after putting up with a deteriorating sound for months now.

This afternoon I had a chat with a sax player friend of mine, who is an ex-BBC sound engineer and who also runs his own recording studio and told him the afternoons goings-on. He told me that after a period of time, leads, or connectors can build up oxidiation which effects the sound. Even when my pre-amp was connected securely, moisture and dust from the building works we undertook could have affected the connections. The meer act of disconnecting, un-plugging and plugging in again was enough to make the connection true and rectify the problem.

The moral of the story? If you notice hiss and interference in your chain, don't panic! Try removing leads, giving them a wipe and plugging them in again and you may find that you get your problem gets sorted.

I am currentl a very happy bunny!! Laugh

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bobsouer · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 8:11 pm Post subject:

Darren,

What an excellent end to your story and thank you for sharing your insights. Good for you!
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Jan Anderson · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 8:28 pm Post subject:

Hi Darren. Glad it all worked out for you. Oxidation/corrosion is a common problem to all electronic devices, from your car's battery to your doorbell to your studio, etc. VERY frustrating, but in this case not expensive. Smile

Now back to enjoying your sweet digs!!

Jen Gosnell · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:41 pm Post subject:

Wow, Darren, so glad to hear that it was a very simple solution to such a vexing problem.

It's helpful to know these sorts of troubleshooting techniques - thanks for posting!

And I'll have to admit, the image of you as a happy bunny made me giggle a bit... Wink

Jen
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COURVO · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:21 pm Post subject:

Great story, Darren...I'm filing this one away for future reference!

Dave c
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voicy1stef · Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 4:09 am Post subject:

Thanks for sharing this tibit. Super glad that it worked out for you in the end! Smile

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Darren Altman · Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 4:29 am Post subject:

Did an ISDN session this morning and it went very well. Good quality sound both my end and the producer's. Thrilled! Thanks for the comments. Remember: an in and an out and a wiggle and a jiggle will do your leads/connectors the world of good!! Wink

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ballenberg · Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 9:36 am Post subject:

Are we still talking about audio? Smile

Deirdre · Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 5:44 pm Post subject:

I am so happy to hear about the good results!! It is amazing what a bit of messing about can do.

Remember, as The Fat Man, George Sanger says: It's always the cables.
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Monk · Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 6:28 am Post subject:

Ballenberg beat me to it.

Sung to the tune of the Hokey Pokey

Put your cable in,
Pull you cable out,
grab all your connectors and wiggle them about...
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Brad Venable · Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 12:23 pm Post subject:

+1 to Deirdre for a reference to The Fat Man. Smile

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Lisa · Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:12 pm Post subject:

So glad everything turned out well for you, Darren. Thanks for explaining your situation. One more nugget of valuable information to tuck away.
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