Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions popping sound at high volume!!

Dear all,

I just got my axiom audiobyte computer speakers with the EPZero Subwoofer. The sound clearity is fabulous but.. ! When it gets above a certain volume the speakers start "popping" and no other sound but that comes out. If the music is too loud just for a short time I will hear popping for that time and then it will play again. I dont know how else to explain this!

Its terrible! Some music obviously varies in volume and classical music especially so! When I try to listen to classical music it will have popping noises disturbing the music all the time when theres a forte (loud part). Its crazy and I dont know what to do! Please help!

I experimented a bit and found that when i play some music and slowly turn the volume control on the axiom amplifier it will start crackling first (like an old record) and then a little later the popping will start!

Any ideas?

The first thing I would do is call Axiom. They have A+ costumer service.

I agree, Axiom should be able to help. Otherwise, there are a few audiobyte owners on this forum, hope they chime in....

Welcome to the boards..

Randy

Yup, it sounds like there's a manufacturing defect. My Audiobytes certainly don't do that. Give Axiom a call.

Could it be the sound card on the computer your using?

Do you have an SPL meter?
It would help to know at wich level it starts doing it.

The in-room sensitivity of the speakers is only 87db with only 55Wpc of amplification.
So depending of what you are trying to achieve as levels, you might just be overdriving them (what you describe sounds like the amp clipping).
Try with an active sub (or at least without the Ep0).

It does the same thing when my ipod is connected instead of the lap top. It also does it when the subwoofer isnt connected.

I went through a lot of songs and interestingly enough it doesnt do the popping thing on some of them even at intense volumes (i didnt try how high i could go because it would have made my ears pop! Thats how loud it went without popping). On a few other songs it starts popping at very low levels! Maybe its the frequency?

I'll give axiom a call tomorrow (if they're open). I already sent them an email.

@EFalardeau. I dont have an SPL meter. Where would I find that? DOes it take frequency of sound into consideraton (i think it has something to do with that). Dont think I'm trying to overdriving. Whats an active sub? Isnt it always active when i'm using the speakers?

@all: thanks for the quick replies. I REALLY appreciate them!!

An SPL (Sound Pressure Level) meter measures how loud in dB's (decibels) your listening to something, at the location where you place the meter.

The fact that there is no difference when the EP0 is unplugged is very telling (as it influences a lot the power intake).

An active sub is one that has its own amplifier. The EP0 relies on the Audiobytes' amp for power.

With the last info you provided, it is better to wait for Axiom. Are you using the same cables and connectors? One could be sligthly dammaged?

I just got the cables with my axiom speakers so they should be fine. I have an extra cable i just bought and will try it instead of each of the other cables and report back.

nope. Not the cables. Doesnt change anything.

Time to call.
BTW, Axiom's phone lines have just closed (Sat 9PM), but they are open starting 10AM (Eastern Time) tomorrow morning.

Will call them tomorrow. I hope they can help me because i'm really quite fond of the sound thats coming out of the speakers when its not popping :-p

Thanks again for trying to help!

Axiom will make it right for you, it's (Axiom) a great company to do business with.

Just to chime in here with a personal experience, you have nothing to worry about. I just got a new pair of Algonquins and one of them had a bad tweeter (ugly static sounds at medium to high volumes). Within literally 30 seconds of me explaining the situation they offered to send me a new tweeter.

Summary: They'll take care of you. (I know it's still a little disappointing to go through what you are, but you can at least know that you'll definitely be able to get the sound you were expecting after a discussion or two with their support team).

Jason

@myrison I know but I just want working speakers!! I already sent one pair back (not axiom) because it just wasnt good enough for the price and the highs were way to sharp and i spent ages looking for new ones. I dont want to send the speakers back and wait for another two weeks until I have the new ones and worry about having the same problem with the new ones once they finally arrive. I might be sounding melodramatic but getting satisfying and working speakers just shouldnt be this hard.

You're right. It shouldn't. I understand the frustration. I've had my share of unluck when it comes to gear. However, if you can be a little patient, Axiom will, as Jason mentioned, take care of you. They are, without a doubt, the best example of customer service I've yet encountered.

Its unfortunate that you are having a problem with your new audiobytes,problems can be had with any product. try to be patient, Axiom has great customer service and will get the problem resolved.

We're all with you... the first wait is unbearable enough, I can't imagine having to go through it again.

Fortunately for me, I'm currently held up from enjoying my Algonquins by the daunting task of running about 75' of speaker wire from my attic to my first story patio, so waiting for the tweeter is a convenient excuse for not having done all that work yet.

Even so, I'm feeling like today might be the day to get that work started. It's a cool morning in Texas, and NOT doing it today would probably mean I'll end up doing it on a much hotter day in the near future... *sigh*

Back to the point, good luck with the wait.. I can only say that I'm nearly certain the time will have been worth it in the end, despite how frustrating it is now.

Jason

Knowing Axiom they will ship out new gear, if that's the problem, before you send back the old ones.

Hi rialtmann,

Sorry you're having trouble with your Audiobytes. You should not be getting any popping noises.

Try putting the output volume of your computer or iPod or MP3 player at about the halfway setting--you might be overloading the output of your source, driving it into distortion, or the input of the Audiobyte amplifier. Then adjust the master volume of the Audiobyte amplifier to reach a volume level that's comfortable.

If that still doesn't help, email or call Axiom--if you haven't already done so.

Regards,

Rick that really does out me in a MUCH better mood thanks!

Alan: thanks for writing. I feel honored I did write to axiom and they replied saying the exact same thing with the volume output. I tried it but sadly it didnt work. I'll call them later too.

I love axiom - everyones so nice and helpful!

So I talked to Brent, one of the axiom experts, on the phone and am getting a new amp sometime. We also discovered that my laptop (I'm playing from a laptop) has no audio output but only a headphone jack. Any experiences of problems with headphone jacks? Has anyone ever hooked their i-pod or whatever external music player to their axiom speakers via a headphone jack?

I haven't run into any problems of that sort.

have you used a headphone jack as audio output and played music and high volume (not crazily high)?

I do it with a portable headphone amp. There's no great difference between the two (audio out and headphone out), they're both audio outputs. That shouldn't be a problem.

The expert said it the difference was in level of microvolt output. Since headphones are easy to drive the headphone jack boosts the output up. Its just a thought.

What's the brand?

I have 3 laptops. One of them is not too great with the audiobytes (older Compact), but the other 2 are fine (old Toshiba and recent HP). One of my employees once came with a tiny IBM thinkpad (the very expensive ones; I know, the company pays for them! ). and it did clip quite a bit when trying to drive the system louder. My desktop has no problem whatsoever.

As a test, do you have high-impedence headphones? The same machines (4 laptops) have similar results with my Sennheiser HD650 or PXC250. 2 of them are ok (not great, but decent, some compression, no distortion) with the 300Ohm while 1 has poor performance (heavy dynamic compression, slightly fuzzy sound) and the IBM thinkpad actually "cuts" with those headphones (unbearable). None of them have any kind of issues with lower impedence.

Do you have other source like a DVD or CD player that you could connect directly to the audiobytes?

Its a one year old sony SZ71MN. I tried two different i-pod's with it too. I have sennheiser earphones something like the CX 300 - its impedence is at 16 ohms so i guess that doenst qualify.

The ipods should be ok. Mine are ok with the audiobytes.
I have a pair of CX300 also (great for subway rides, but I hate them for walking as I can ear myself walk). And no those would not qualify for that test.
Sounds like you better get a new amp!

Haha - yes, i hate hearing myself walk too! But I kind of got used to it (maybe I just walk differently now?)

OK, that's weird. I think you've cursed my 'bytes. I just got a popping turning the volume knob with nothing playing.

Holy Crap! Mine, too!!!

Oh, wait. I don't own Audiobytes.

I sincerely hope thats not my influence Mine dont pop though when nothing is playing...

No, I have the feeling the knob just got a little dust in it or something. It hasn't done it again.

Whew. Kinda started a panic there, Ken....

It's OK, everybody.... Nothin' to see here......

How often do you dust your knob? You know its good to knock the dust of the ol' knob every once in a while.

Wow. I can't believe I didn't write that.

Did it bring a tear to your eye when you saw it? Your influence is everywhere...

Got the new amp and the problem is solved. Love them. Thanks everyone for the help!

Great news rialtmann!!!

Dr. House

Great news!