pm-30 buzz

[tanshul22]

i received my pm-30 yesterday.

i must say that it is a pretty good amplifier for personal practice usage (my main purpose of purchasing it).

but i notice some buzz on my 3rd and 4th tom on a lot of VEX kits (from the masters pick)

i do have the equalizers set to zero with the punch off on my amp. it still gives me the buzz which feels like a sustain on the toms which isn't really working all that well. i wonder if this is going to ruin my speakers over time.

i tried to turn off all the effects on the TD-20 module which does make the buzz go away (not completely though). the buzz is more prominent on certain kits.

Could it be a manufacturing defect?? i doubt it though.

Any suggestions???

[BarT]

It seems it's only being produced by the very lowest frequencies, so you could probably reduce it by cutting some bass on the PM-30 equalizer or reducing low gain with Master EQ on the TD-20.


Bruce

[tanshul22]

thanks Bruce.

good idea. wonder why i didn't think about the EQ on the TD-20.

Well i'll try that and let you know if it helps.

in the meanwhile i tried swapping my left and right satellite speakers just to make sure if its not something to do with my right speaker and i noticed that the buzz is a little more on the left than on my right. well it could be just the fact that the low frequencies need to be cut down (as you said) but i just want to be sure that there is no fault with my new amplifier.

again, thanks for the advice.

Anshul

[SuperPuss]

How loud are you running your PM30? Does it happen at all volumes?
IMHO, an amplifier of the calibre and price of the PM30 should not be making any noises other than those it is supposed to be making.

[tanshul22]

i am running it at master volume set at about 60%, V-drums channel set to 50% on the amp and the master on the amp set to about 25%.

i guess thats a pretty low volume level which shouldn't be causing this issue.
i could be wrong though.

[BarT]

in the meanwhile i tried swapping my left and right satellite speakers just to make sure if its not something to do with my right speaker and i noticed that the buzz is a little more on the left than on my right.

The lowest toms are probably panned more to the right channel; therefore more low frequencies could be expected from the right satellite speaker output.


Bruce

[SuperPuss]

Do you get the buzz from the same side when you swap the speakers around?
Do you hear the buzz through a decent pair of headphones?
What happens if you swap the left and right outputs from your module, ie, unplug the left output cable and plug it into the right channel and vice versa? Leave the other end of the cables (plugged into your amp) as they are. Just swap the module channels.

[tanshul22]

well i should have been more clear before about the way i swapped my speakers. well i didn't really swap them physically but just the cables from the module. which is what superpuss is suggesting.

and then the tom sounds are mapped more to the left speaker which makes sense but the buzz is still more on the right speaker.

the left does have a very minor buzz if i listen to it very carefully but negligible to the right.
i also tried reducing the gain on the master equalizer on the td-20 which does help but the effect is still negligible.

i wonder if my right speaker is bad or is it that the speakers for left and right are different and i just have them wrongly placed. i didn't see any left right markers on the speakers though.

[SuperPuss]

It sounds to me like you have a fault with your PM30. I'd be calling the store you purchased it from to see what they might suggest warranty wise. They may have another one you can swap.
One more thing you could try, although I doubt it will make a difference, is to swap the cables going from the sub to the satellites at both ends (ie the amp and the speakers). That will help eliminate whether those cables could be at fault.

[tanshul22]

thanks for the quick replies.

well i guess ill have to get to roland warranty/support service.

hopefully should get this sorted out.

thanks

[SuperPuss]

You're welcome. Hopefully they get it sorted for you. In my experience both as an ex-Roland tech and as a customer, they are pretty good with warranty support.