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Post by bluesholyman on Aug 15, 2024 12:56:20 GMT -6
So I spent half a day trouble shooting this to figure out if my monitor's (Focal Shape Twin) sleep circuit was going wonky or not. The focals normally go into standby/sleep mode if they don't get a signal after a certain amount of time. Well, the right monitor would try to sleep then immediately come back on. No sound playing, interface muted, no output. Left monitor slept like a baby.
At first, I thought the interface could have an issue, so I disconnected the cable from the monitor and it went to sleep, no issues. Ok, so bad output on interface. Moved the cables around to see if it followed the cable or the interface output - it clearly followed the cable to the other monitor from either output.....cable has issue somewhere.....what?
Its a HOSA cable which I figured would be decent enough, but my Sweetwater guy suggested if a cable *would* go bad, it would be a HOSA.
Anyone seen this sort of thing before? Cable wasn't abused or used on the road, although I have moved a few times in the 4-5 years I've had it, with it getting packed in a box of cables - hardly cable abuse. Audio sounds fine, I think, but I just don't like the idea of it cycling the monitors amps like that. Gonna replace both.
Hard to tell these days what is good quality and what is not.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Aug 15, 2024 13:20:03 GMT -6
So I spent half a day trouble shooting this to figure out if my monitor's (Focal Shape Twin) sleep circuit was going wonky or not. The focals normally go into standby/sleep mode if they don't get a signal after a certain amount of time. Well, the right monitor would try to sleep then immediately come back on. No sound playing, interface muted, no output. Left monitor slept like a baby. At first, I thought the interface could have an issue, so I disconnected the cable from the monitor and it went to sleep, no issues. Ok, so bad output on interface. Moved the cables around to see if it followed the cable or the interface output - it clearly followed the cable to the other monitor from either output.....cable has issue somewhere.....what? Its a HOSA cable which I figured would be decent enough, but my Sweetwater guy suggested if a cable *would* go bad, it would be a HOSA. Anyone seen this sort of thing before? Cable wasn't abused or used on the road, although I have moved a few times in the 4-5 years I've had it, with it getting packed in a box of cables - hardly cable abuse. Audio sounds fine, I think, but I just don't like the idea of it cycling the monitors amps like that. Gonna replace both. Hard to tell these days what is good quality and what is not. In Yeah that sounds like a HOSA cable, if you bought it from Sweetwater have your rep look for the invoice and then tell him you would like a replacement under HOSA’s lifetime warranty, of course at the same time you should probably purchase some decent cables and retire the HOSA’s to back up. |
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Post by svart on Aug 15, 2024 13:22:27 GMT -6
Usually they will go bad at the connector. Can't say I've had a Hosa go bad though.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Aug 15, 2024 14:01:56 GMT -6
If the cable is crackling that could definitely wake up the monitor.
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Post by bluesholyman on Aug 15, 2024 14:17:04 GMT -6
So I spent half a day trouble shooting this to figure out if my monitor's (Focal Shape Twin) sleep circuit was going wonky or not. The focals normally go into standby/sleep mode if they don't get a signal after a certain amount of time. Well, the right monitor would try to sleep then immediately come back on. No sound playing, interface muted, no output. Left monitor slept like a baby. At first, I thought the interface could have an issue, so I disconnected the cable from the monitor and it went to sleep, no issues. Ok, so bad output on interface. Moved the cables around to see if it followed the cable or the interface output - it clearly followed the cable to the other monitor from either output.....cable has issue somewhere.....what? Its a HOSA cable which I figured would be decent enough, but my Sweetwater guy suggested if a cable *would* go bad, it would be a HOSA. Anyone seen this sort of thing before? Cable wasn't abused or used on the road, although I have moved a few times in the 4-5 years I've had it, with it getting packed in a box of cables - hardly cable abuse. Audio sounds fine, I think, but I just don't like the idea of it cycling the monitors amps like that. Gonna replace both. Hard to tell these days what is good quality and what is not. In Yeah that sounds like a HOSA cable, if you bought it from Sweetwater have your rep look for the invoice and then tell him you would like a replacement under HOSA’s lifetime warranty, of course at the same time you should probably purchase some decent cables and retire the HOSA’s to back up. No, I bought these at Sam Ash so I could call them.....oh wait, no I can't.... If the cable is crackling that could definitely wake up the monitor. Music sounds absolutely fine and when the monitors are on and there is nothing playing, dead quiet. Its a strange one to me... |
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Post by doubledog on Aug 15, 2024 14:44:29 GMT -6
there is probably a short starting - meaning there is a short, but at a high resistance. You would have to put a multimeter on the cable and see if you can find anything between any 2 pins when it's not connected to anything. If you find any resistance ( a non-open reading, and don't count your fingers holding it) then you probably found the culprit.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Aug 15, 2024 16:45:31 GMT -6
In Yeah that sounds like a HOSA cable, if you bought it from Sweetwater have your rep look for the invoice and then tell him you would like a replacement under HOSA’s lifetime warranty, of course at the same time you should probably purchase some decent cables and retire the HOSA’s to back up. No, I bought these at Sam Ash so I could call them.....oh wait, no I can't.... If the cable is crackling that could definitely wake up the monitor. Music sounds absolutely fine and when the monitors are on and there is nothing playing, dead quiet. Its a strange one to me... That sucks, the reason HOSA can get away with their “ lifetime warranty “ is you need a copy of your original invoice to make a claim! Who keeps invoice’s for cheap cables? Honestly if Someone wanted to do a warranty claim on HOSA I would usually just give them the replacement cable for Free & take the loss. It wasn’t worth my time or the service dept time, nor the customer’s waiting on HOSA. The service guys always had my back for taking the loss because it was such a pain. I once asked the HOSA rep how long they would stay in business if everyone actually kept invoices and put in claims, he told me if people did that he would drop the very profitable brand in a second. ( imagine 7% of dealer cost of all the HOSA sold by SW & Full Co plus all the other dealers in WI IL & IN). |
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Post by ninworks on Aug 15, 2024 20:07:09 GMT -6
I buy quality cable in bulk and plugs and always make my own cables. I can make them the length I want and never have an issue. I haven't had a cable I have made fail in over 30 years and they are all as high quality as it gets. Yes it takes time but I can make ultra high quality cables for about 1/3 of the cost of buying them pre made. Usually less than a Hosa and I never have to worry about it. I have made thousands of cables in my career so by now I know how to do it. Mogami cable and either Switchcraft or Neutrik plugs. Done!
It takes time but I'm now retired so that doesn't cost me anything.
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Post by bluesholyman on Aug 16, 2024 18:42:05 GMT -6
I buy quality cable in bulk and plugs and always make my own cables. I can make them the length I want and never have an issue. I haven't had a cable I have made fail in over 30 years and they are all as high quality as it gets. Yes it takes time but I can make ultra high quality cables for about 1/3 of the cost of buying them pre made. Usually less than a Hosa and I never have to worry about it. I have made thousands of cables in my career so by now I know how to do it. Mogami cable and either Switchcraft or Neutrik plugs. Done! It takes time but I'm now retired so that doesn't cost me anything. Nice, I certainly have the skills but felt the parts, unless bought in sufficient quantity, did not make the time/effort worth it. I guess mogami is on the higher end of cost but it seems 2plugs x $5/ea + cable is $10/cable min to make my own. Just didn't feel it was worth the time investment since I still carry a J.O.B. |
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Post by ninworks on Aug 16, 2024 19:35:39 GMT -6
Many times I can find used plugs for a dollar or two each. I'm always on the lookout and snatch them up anytime I see them so I'll have a surplus when the need arises. At least I won't have to buy ALL new plugs for some project and that saves money. I have yet to buy a used plug that wasn't usable although I have had to work on some of them. Mogami 2549 mic cable is .87 per foot from Redco if you buy 100 feet. If you buy 300 feet it's .83 per foot so I think that's reasonable. Sometimes you can find good deals on it. I have plenty of mic cables by now. Most of the cable making I do anymore is to make snakes to wire racks and such.
Good cables make an audible difference. Been there, done that, have the tee shirt. I'm not going to spend $3000 on a mic, $1000 or more on a preamp, as well as other expensive analog hardware and then compromise running it through a $12 POS cable.
When I built my first studio back in the late 70's I couldn't afford good cable and didn't know the difference. When I built my second one I mostly used the cabling I already had when I put the first one together just to get everything working. When the cable-management-spaghetti-fucking-mess finally got to my OCD I was in a better financial state so I rewired everything with Mogami. I was astounded with how much better everything sounded just because of that. It was far better than just noticeable. It was substantial! I'm never going back. I probably have enough cables now to put a mic in Miami and hardwire it here to Tennessee. I have crates of them stacked up in the closet and out in my shed.
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