persistant soundboard screech problem

[ShakespeareJr]

Hello Forums,
My highschool has had the same soundboard for at least fifteen or twenty years now, probably more (it's a Tascam M-2600 Mk II), and recently it has developed an interesting problem that we have nicknamed the "friendly little screech of death." Basicly, whenever we turn on said soundboard it gives us a horrible schreech on all our speakers. The only solution that we have found is to turn it off-and-on-again for anywhere from three to ten times until suddenly the screech stops. I have consulted just about everyone I could think of, and no one had any answers for me.

Thanking you in advance,
Shakespeare Jr.

 

[DuckJordan]

Hello Forums,
My highschool has had the same soundboard for at least fifteen or twenty years now, probably more (it's a Tascam M-2600 Mk II), and recently it has developed an interesting problem that we have nicknamed the "friendly little screech of death." Basicly, whenever we turn on said soundboard it gives us a horrible schreech on all our speakers. The only solution that we have found is to turn it off-and-on-again for anywhere from three to ten times until suddenly the screech stops. I have consulted just about everyone I could think of, and no one had any answers for me.

Thanking you in advance,
Shakespeare Jr.

Could be quite a bit to it, How do you turn your system on, do you have a power sequencer or what order do you turn on, such as Board, Processing, Amps. It sounds like your power supply for the board is going bad but it could be something else as well.

 

[ShakespeareJr]

Could be quite a bit to it, How do you turn your system on, do you have a power sequencer or what order do you turn on, such as Board, Processing, Amps. It sounds like your power supply for the board is going bad but it could be something else as well.

In general we go Main power (we have everything hooked up to a surge protector), Board power, Amps.

 

[Footer]

Short term, leave the console on 24/7 after it powers up correctly. There is no reason to turn it off.

 

[FMEng]

The screech is produce by an audio or power supply circuit breaking into oscillation. It needs to be repaired by a competent technician. It is likely to get worse, and eventually fail completely either at turn-on or in the middle of a show. The noise could damage speaker components (or hearing), so you should not continue trying to use it.

It may be time to retire the beast. Tascam wasn't known for building anything for longevity and ruggedness, and you've certainly gotten a lot of life out of it for a high school environment.

 

[SteveB]

It's a feature.

You are supposed to time it so the screech occurs while the carpenters are trying to communicate to the riggers on the grid. Alternately you can run this while the LD is trying to focus the coves.

It's all in the timing and simply takes experience to get it right.

 

[ShakespeareJr]

The screech is produce by an audio or power supply circuit breaking into oscillation. It needs to be repaired by a competent technician. It is likely to get worse, and eventually fail completely either at turn-on or in the middle of a show. The noise could damage speaker components (or hearing), so you should not continue trying to use it.

It may be time to retire the beast. Tascam wasn't known for building anything for longevity and ruggedness, and you've certainly gotten a lot of life out of it for a high school environment.

Heavy sigh. This is exactly what I was hoping not to hear. aw well. Can anyone give me a time frame on it? (I don't think we have the budget to bring in someone with the skills necessary to fix it quite yet)

 

[FMEng]

Heavy sigh. This is exactly what I was hoping not to hear. aw well. Can anyone give me a time frame on it? (I don't think we have the budget to bring in someone with the skills necessary to fix it quite yet)

I'm afraid there is no way to predict when it might get worse.

It would be far cheaper if someone can haul it to a repair shop instead of having a tech make a field call. If you have a road case, it could be shipped for repair.