dumb question - any "fix" for the loud pop you get when powering on/off?

[mr_fender]

That's a good practice for sure but it doesn't cover emergency situations if you need to reboot mid song or set.

 

[Rex]

Both of my FM9s are dead silent during power up and power down, as are my Axe-Fx IIIs. My FM3 produces a noticeable but manageable pop. Previous generations of Fractal gear did the pop thing, except for the FX8, which is also dead silent when you flip the power switch.

Contact support. Your FM9 shouldn’t be popping.

 

[Rex]

That's a good practice for sure but it doesn't cover emergency situations if you need to reboot mid song or set.

Wake up the sound guy (throw a rock or something) and signal for him to mute you.

 

[Dave Merrill]

FWIW, here at home, Axe III, XLRs into two PXMs, I routinely shut off my Axe with those monitors on and connected, because it's easy ergonomically. No problematic noises, don't remember if it makes any sound at all, but if it seemed alarming I wouldn't do it that way.

 

[unix-guy]

Just to add to anecdotal evidence, both my FM9 Turbo and standard and my Axe Fx III (first gen) ALL produce a pop when powering off.

This happened when I was using a Matrix amp and passive cabs and currently with active cabs.

I run the Output at +4dB in all cases.

When powering on, I think the Axe Fx does not pop but the FM9s do...

 

[Stratman68]

Not feasible in a FOH situation. Even in my studio it means turning off my audio interface which causes other issues.

As far as your home studio I would suggest you check how you have things set up. Most all of us having Audio interfaces in our home studios. Yes if I turn my AI off first it causes issues with my PC\daw, not any pops or fractal stuff.
At home, can you not turn off your monitors\or whatever powered amp you have first? That is the way it's always been done.

 

[Stratman68]

Just to add to anecdotal evidence, both my FM9 Turbo and standard and my Axe Fx III (first gen) ALL produce a pop when powering off.

This happened when I was using a Matrix amp and passive cabs and currently with active cabs.

I run the Output at +4dB in all cases.

When powering on, I think the Axe Fx does not pop but the FM9s do...

But if the amp and speakers are powered off I would imagine their is no pop-right?

 

[weird guitar person]

Hmm. I see this was discussed on two separate threads. @jzucker, I responded earlier on the other thread. Bringing things back here.

 

[Rex]

Just to add to anecdotal evidence, both my FM9 Turbo and standard and my Axe Fx III (first gen) ALL produce a pop when powering off.

This happened when I was using a Matrix amp and passive cabs and currently with active cabs.

I run the Output at +4dB in all cases.

When powering on, I think the Axe Fx does not pop but the FM9s do...

Weird. I've toggled power on my FM9 while my channel was open to FOH and my wedge was being fed from Out 2, and nobody heard a thing.

 

[weird guitar person]

Weird. I've toggled power on my FM9 while my channel was open to FOH and my wedge was being fed from Out 2, and nobody heard a thing.

Were you running line level straight into the board, or, through a DI box into mic preamp? Or perhaps, straight into a mic preamp?

 

[Rex]

Were you running line level straight into the board, or, through a DI box into mic preamp? Or perhaps, straight into a mic preamp?

Straight to the board, +4 dBu line level.

 

[la szum]

 

[Tonemasterus]

Not feasible in a FOH situation. Even in my studio it means turning off my audio interface which causes other issues.

FOH should be able to just mute you before you turn off and disconnect? That is the way we always did FOH

 

[unix-guy]

But if the amp and speakers are powered off I would imagine their is no pop-right?

Of course not - that's impossible.

And I don't normally do that. I pretty much always follow the rules for power off...

However, the point remains that it does happen, and if for some reason I turned off my device while connected to a live megawatt FOH system the FOH person isn't going to be very happy, nor anyone in the vicinity.

 

[unix-guy]

Weird. I've toggled power on my FM9 while my channel was open to FOH and my wedge was being fed from Out 2, and nobody heard a thing.

So my memory wasn't quite correct.

The FM9 pops on power off. There's a small blip in power on, but nothing you'd likely notice if not paying attention.

The Axe Fx III pops on power on and not on power off.

I recorded some videos on my phone... I'll try to upload them and post links.

Edit:

 

[Planta Fantasma]

Not feasible in a FOH situation. Even in my studio it means turning off my audio interface which causes other issues.

If you're in the live situation ask the FOH engineer to mute the channels you're using. After all, it's their gear taking the square waves, they should be happy to help.
If you're having this issue in your home studio try using a master monitor control of sorts so you can easily control your volume & mute when necessary. I'm using a Mackie Big Knob Studio. It works great for switching inputs to monitor, can select from multiple pairs of speakers, volume control, muting, etc........

 

[BCy2k]

These are some interesting observations.

Until recently, I'd always power on my monitor system (either FRFR or IEM) after I power up the FM9 (monitors being the last thing on, and the 1st thing off). As has been mentioned, this practice has always alleviated this problem for me. However, I accidentally discovered that when powering my FM9 either on or off with the monitor(s) still on, I get something I'd describe as a mild, understated click sound. Both on FM9 boot up and power off. Not a big loud pop (which I did get with my AX8), just a mild mannered, sort of wimpy click. This seems to be pretty consistent based on my recent observations.

There's a twist though. Just a day ago I was using the headphone jack on the FM9 to monitor through and when I went to power off my FM9 I did hear a very loud, violent pop from my headphones. Fortunately I wasn't wearing the headphones at the time, but that sucker was loud. I heard it half way across the room. So something is up with this. It seemed odd to me that my EV monitor just clicks, but the headphone jack does make a wiked pop when powering off. What also seems odd is we all seem to be having a variety of somewhat different experiences.

 

[Duncan Rigby]

power up from the inside out, power down from outside to in

 

[∞Fractals]

Just to add to anecdotal evidence, both my FM9 Turbo and standard and my Axe Fx III (first gen) ALL produce a pop when powering off.

This happened when I was using a Matrix amp and passive cabs and currently with active cabs.

I run the Output at +4dB in all cases.

When powering on, I think the Axe Fx does not pop but the FM9s do...

I get a similar thump on power up/down. Axe3/Matrix/cabs. Transducers make a big move.

 

[Stratman68]

Of course not - that's impossible.

And I don't normally do that. I pretty much always follow the rules for power off...

However, the point remains that it does happen, and if for some reason I turned off my device while connected to a live megawatt FOH system the FOH person isn't going to be very happy, nor anyone in the vicinity.

Just wanted to make sure I wasn't totally gone yet!