Crackling Noise

[ARMCL]

Good Evening

I've been using JKZ since last August but since upgrading to the silver plan I get an horrendous crackling noise to the point that JKZ is unusable for me.

My setup is:
AT2020 mic + Stagg XLR cable
Behringer UMC22 + USB 2.0
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)  2.7 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5  8 GB 1867 MHz DDR3
MacOS Big Sur 11.2.3

Instrument is a Hammer Dulcimer, so High attack and long sustain

I originally used a SM57 mic and older lead, but bought the new mic & lead when I started having this crackling sound issue, thinking they might be the cause as both were quite old.  However this changed nothing.

I noticed that the crackling seemed to pulsate in volume so wondered if this was something to do with the audio processing.  I found if I connected my earphones to the laptop rather than the interface (setting up the audio profile accordingly) the crackling reduced considerably, but I now cannot find a combination of gain and output volume which enables me to play along with anyone - if I turn myself up so that they can hear me, then I am deafened.

I have very little technical knowledge of audio matters, but if anyone can suggest where I might be going wrong it would be much appreciated.

[Dimitri Muskens]

Good Evening

I've been using JKZ since last August but since upgrading to the silver plan I get an horrendous crackling noise to the point that JKZ is unusable for me.

My setup is:
AT2020 mic + Stagg XLR cable
Behringer UMC22 + USB 2.0
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)  2.7 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5  8 GB 1867 MHz DDR3
MacOS Big Sur 11.2.3

Instrument is a Hammer Dulcimer, so High attack and long sustain

I originally used a SM57 mic and older lead, but bought the new mic & lead when I started having this crackling sound issue, thinking they might be the cause as both were quite old.  However this changed nothing.

I noticed that the crackling seemed to pulsate in volume so wondered if this was something to do with the audio processing.  I found if I connected my earphones to the laptop rather than the interface (setting up the audio profile accordingly) the crackling reduced considerably, but I now cannot find a combination of gain and output volume which enables me to play along with anyone - if I turn myself up so that they can hear me, then I am deafened.

I have very little technical knowledge of audio matters, but if anyone can suggest where I might be going wrong it would be much appreciated.

>>>
Hi, did you try to find assistance in 'open sessions'?
There are almost always people online willing to give a hand.
Also, dedicated 'tech sessions' are being held.
It's most likely a setting which is too testing for your AI/computer/network and very unlikely anything to do with your upgrade to silver.
Having your headphones in your pc instead of your AI is not the best choice in any case.
When you're in Europe (timezone) I could 'meet you online' if that's what you'd want to do.

[ARMCL]

Hi yes please I would appreciate some help with this. Could someone help me next Saturday afternoon? I am in the UK.

[Dimitri Muskens]

Hi yes please I would appreciate some help with this. Could someone help me next Saturday afternoon? I am in the UK.

>>>
I think I could do that, unless you have things sorted before then.
Do remind me by that time.

[ARMCL]

HI Dimitri are you able to help me tomorrow morning or afternoon please?  I am in the UK so on UTC+1 time
Andy

[Dimitri Muskens]

HI Dimitri are you able to help me tomorrow morning or afternoon please?  I am in the UK so on UTC+1 time
Andy

>>>
Just noticed your post.
Weekends are really not the best time for me.
I'm in the studio most part of every weekday.

[Sticks]

Good Evening

I've been using JKZ since last August but since upgrading to the silver plan I get an horrendous crackling noise to the point that JKZ is unusable for me.

My setup is:
AT2020 mic + Stagg XLR cable
Behringer UMC22 + USB 2.0
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)  2.7 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5  8 GB 1867 MHz DDR3
MacOS Big Sur 11.2.3

Instrument is a Hammer Dulcimer, so High attack and long sustain

I originally used a SM57 mic and older lead, but bought the new mic & lead when I started having this crackling sound issue, thinking they might be the cause as both were quite old.  However this changed nothing.

I noticed that the crackling seemed to pulsate in volume so wondered if this was something to do with the audio processing.  I found if I connected my earphones to the laptop rather than the interface (setting up the audio profile accordingly) the crackling reduced considerably, but I now cannot find a combination of gain and output volume which enables me to play along with anyone - if I turn myself up so that they can hear me, then I am deafened.

I have very little technical knowledge of audio matters, but if anyone can suggest where I might be going wrong it would be much appreciated.

Hi ARMCL,

I had the same issue when playing an acoustic drum kit.

The solution was very simple in my case, I took my drum kit out of my personal JK mix (volume zero). Since the noise of the acoustic drums was bleeding into my headphones already this was not a deal breaker for me. Then I lowered the JK mix volume in my headphones until the overall mix from JK and my acoustical bleeding drum kit was at an acceptable level.
You could try to do the same with your hammer dulcime since this instrument creates some good volume too. Maybe it works.......

[ARMCL]

Hi ARMCL,

I had the same issue when playing an acoustic drum kit.

The solution was very simple in my case, I took my drum kit out of my personal JK mix (volume zero). Since the noise of the acoustic drums was bleeding into my headphones already this was not a deal breaker for me. Then I lowered the JK mix volume in my headphones until the overall mix from JK and my acoustical bleeding drum kit was at an acceptable level.
You could try to do the same with your hammer dulcime since this instrument creates some good volume too. Maybe it works.......

Hi Sticks

Funnily enough, I arrived at that same workaround last Sunday! It's not exactly a technical solution, but at least it works...

[jeffrey.e.farley@gmail.com]

I used a UMC22 for a number of months with Jamkazam. I could hear crackling but I tried fixing everything else before switching to an M-Audio interface which does not have this issue.

[B.J. van Hoek]

We are a 4 piece -modern- Bluegrass band, rehearsing as 2 couples of 2 with 180 km between us.
After some initial problems, things have been fine with UMC 202HD as our audio interfaces.
Each side fitted with two Audix SCX-25A mikes, giving us a good quality and leaves some room to "weave in and out" as people in Bluegrass bands do, controlling their dynamics & blending.
This setup keeps our overal latency at or below 4 msec which is just right for playing real time Bluegrass.
We'll rehearse every Friday from 13:30 to 15:30 LT and this really kept us alive ( as a band) during the Covid period.

Crackle experience: zero 

Except last week.
My wife (guitar, leadvocal) mentioned to 'the other side': 'your picture just froze'. And indeed, there seemed to have been a small dip in the power.
I (banjo/dobro/mandolin, harmony vocal) tried to answer (we were still hearing our friends), but a strong hissing and crackling sound made it all inaudible for 2 seconds, followed by a strong 'Click' and then total silence, except the decaying notes of the banjo.....
Next thing we knew was a power down in all our house.
Checked the fuse box, all circuit breakers were still armed, so it should have been somewhere outside.

And indeed... I found the source of this crackling....   

The whole province blacked out. You can even see the HT lines on the left smoking, as the safety switches didn't trip. Took minutes switching it all of manually.
Extensive damage to the HT grid there.  Luckily we've been re routed to a different net and things are OK for the time being, but repairs (railroad electric infrastructures were damaged too) will take weeks.