CLR Active Cab noise: Is it normal?

DTS

DTS

Experienced
Hi guys!
I noticed, that my active cab is a little noisy, when i turn the volume up. I've set the Cab levels as the Atomic CLR manual says. The input level is set so, that the red light won't clip on the cab. Then the master volume of the cab is set to maximum.

I first thought, that it was my AFXII, that makes the noise, but after i switched to my Krk monitors, the noise was gone. The noise is like high electric hiss/fizz. Very noticebly to me.

So i'm asking you fellow CLR owners: is your Active CLR cab/wedge dead silent or do you have some sort of hiss/fizz going on with your CLR?
 
i think running anything with the master wide open is gonna get you noise. i run my clr where i see the red light start to come on then barely back it down. i run my master at about 2 o'clock and then use the Axe to control volume.
 
how loud is this noise you're talking about? any power amp turned all the way up can and probably will create noise.

is it as loud as a normal conversation? loud as a room fan?
 
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Mine has the same issue. I run the master low for home use. I just had to adjust the signal chain a little. I do wish it was quieter. It was not like that initially.
 
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Yes, there is some hiss when the master is on 10. The 120db of guitar kind of fixes that problem though.
 
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Mine is not just some hiss though, I'm afraid. I imagine mine noise issue is close to the OP's. It is manageable, and yeah, live? No issue.
 
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Good evening. Is the problem severe enough that, in hind-site, it might be preferable to run CLR passives with a separate amp? Does it sound like a dirty amp or maybe a ground lift issue? Very curious. Thanks.
 
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gitfruit said:
My CLRs also produce some "good" amount of hiss, master half way up. Hiss is loud enough that I had to switch the CLRs off when recording vocals.
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i turn off everything when recording vocals... still doesn't tell us how loud it is.

is it as loud as a normal conversation? as loud as an unplugged electric guitar? like a lawnmower?
 
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i just don't feel like the gain staging instructions ever implied running the master wide open....did I miss something? I thought you got the input gain set correctly (just below clipping) and brought the master to where you needed it in relation to your Axe output volume.

am i crazy??
 
reduce all volume knobs: Axe Front Panel Output Level Knob, Input Knob on CLR, Master Knob on CLR

set the Axe Output Knob on the Front Panel to 12 o clock as a starting point.

set the Input volume on the CLR so it doesn't clip.

set the Master on the CLR so it's loud enough for the room you are in.

that's it.

adjustments:

during the performance if you need less volume, you can use the Axe Front Panel Output knob to reduce volume without adjusting anything on the CLR. if you need more volume though, increase the Master volume on the CLR, since you've already gain staged the CLR for the Axe at 12 o clock. perhaps raise the master "too high" and then reduce the Axe Output knob below 12 o clock for some range.

once you get used to this setup. you can start with the Axe knob at 9 o clock or so, since you know where to set the Master volume and get the range you need to use the Axe knob. the Input knob setting on the CLR should not change from situation to situation, assuming you haven't made major changes to preset volumes.


if you can barely turn up the CLR Master because it's too loud, reduce the Axe volume knob. (you could also reduce the Input knob on the CLR, assuming it was set correctly to begin with, but this is probably rare.)

if you turn up the CLR Master all the way and it's not loud enough, turn it all the way back down, increase the Axe volume knob, set the Input knob on the CLR again so it doesn't clip, increase the Master Volume. if that's still not loud enough, you need an additional speaker to increase volume.
 
Thank you for your reply Chris. Honestly not attempting to hijack the thread, but what your overall honest opinion of passive or active for best served sound quality? Just trying to decipher between opinions on active versus something like Matrix/passive in regards to sound quality, not necessarily volume. Thank you in advance for your opinions.
 
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Savage1969 said:
Thank you for your reply Chris. Honestly not attempting to hijack the thread, but what your overall honest opinion of passive or active for best served sound quality? Just trying to decipher between opinions on active versus something like Matrix/passive in regards to sound quality, not necessarily volume. Thank you in advance for your opinions.
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I have the active, it sounds great...you aren't going to gain anything other than weight in your rack adding a power amp for a passive cab.
 
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Thank you both. jlynnb1, my deliberation is in regards to the truest "flat" response as it would seem the most pertinent for direct connection to the Fx. I know there's post after post regarding this particular topic, but for some reason the truest "quiet/noise free/responsive/flat response" character seems to be what many are still trying to achieve. CLR's are not the only speaker/monitor preferred, I understand, but if the investment amount (money) was not a factor, what would be the preferred route regarding just CLR's. There would seem to be a difference between actives and amp/passive combinations. Again, I realize I'm hijacking here, and I apologize in advance, but truly interested in those opinions and think that, as a whole, those experiences of others may factor into Drop's original topic question in the end. Thanks again.
 
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Once I reset the gain staging for home use after relocating, it was less of a problem than at first. I still think they had less hiss before the move, but they were packed very well in the original boxes and carefully loaded in the truck. I don't know, maybe I really just didn't notice it before (although that room was awesome, with much better electric, and significantly lower noise). Still, 1st world problem. Totally useable. And yea, they still sound awesome.
 
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Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
how loud is this noise you're talking about? any power amp turned all the way up can and probably will create noise.

is it as loud as a normal conversation? loud as a room fan?
Click to expand...

To me it's very noticeably. I recorded a short video of the noise:



Edit:
The cab will work 100% great at gig levels. No problem there. But i was just curious, that is this noise something, that every CLR has. It looks like it is. I'd say that the noise is louder, than tube amps noise.
 
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If my active CLRs have their masters at max, I get hiss. Difficult to say whether it is the same level as yours though. As someone posted earlier, you don't have to run the masters at maximum. I use mine in a band environment with the input levels at around 2 o'clock and masters at halfway, with AxeFX output 1 between 10 and 12 o'clock (the latter is loud, too much for my band rehearsals), and there is no discernible hiss. Try lowering the CLR masters and see how you find it.
 
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