MOTU 896HD surge???

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

I have an 896 with a pair of EventTR6's plugged in the main outs. When
I turn on the MOTU there is about 5 secs of warm up and then the LEDs
all blink and the unit is all set to go. The issue is, in that moment
when the MOTU is snapping on it produces a loud pop in the TR6's and
also in headphones when they're plugged in. Incidentally, I've noticed
some serious oxidation on the prongs of the XLR cable but only in the
male ends that are plugged into the monitors. So, obviously there's
some kind of power surge. Is it avoidable? Is it doing harm to my
monitors or just the cables? The noise I can avoid by turning the
monitors on after I power-up the MOTU so if that's the only thing to
worry about, then I guess I'm OK. Thanks

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <1121804938.517834.30470@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> mic_rider@hotmail.com writes:

> I have an 896 with a pair of EventTR6's plugged in the main outs. When
> I turn on the MOTU there is about 5 secs of warm up and then the LEDs
> all blink and the unit is all set to go. The issue is, in that moment
> when the MOTU is snapping on it produces a loud pop in the TR6's and
> also in headphones when they're plugged in.

Well, turn the powered speakers on and plug in the headphones after
the MOTU has "popped" and is ready to go.

> Incidentally, I've noticed
> some serious oxidation on the prongs of the XLR cable but only in the
> male ends that are plugged into the monitors. So, obviously there's
> some kind of power surge.

XLR pins, other than bright plated one, always oxidize. There's no way
that the MOTU or anything else in your system could produce enough
voltage to arc over and leave dark traces. Get some silver polish and
clean them if you're so inclined. The female sockets probalby look
like that, too, but you just can't see inside to see the oxidation.
The nice thing about an XLR connector is that it wipes that stuff off
the contact area every time you insert the plug into the socket.

Oh, and don't believe Paul Lehrman's recent article in Mix about the
contact area of diffrent types of connectors. Think about your high
school geometry. You don't realy have surface-to-surface contact so
all the square inches of the pin don't matter. You have at best a line
of contact, and a perfect line has no surface area. Somehow, though,
these things still manage to work, and work very well. (the line
isn't perfect, of course) The only thing he's right about is how
bad mini phone jacks are.

> Is it doing harm to my monitors or just the cables?

Certainly it's not harming your cables, and chances are it's not
harming your monitors either, but it's annoying. Just get into the
habit of leaving them off until the pop is over.


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