Intermittent hiss then pop in church sound system

Could be lots of things, but I’m putting my money on a wireless mic system.

Regards,
Wayne

Wayne A. Pflughaupt said:

Could be lots of things, but I’m putting my money on a wireless mic system.

Regards,
Wayne

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I 100% agree; however, no wireless mics were in use today. But ... I don't know if the receivers were on or not. I'll pay attention to see if they register a signal when/if this occurs next time. Thanks for your reply!

Try muting all channels. If it still is happening, then disconnect the mixer and processors from the amps. If it still happens, it is in the amps. If not work your way backwards adding in things working your way back to the mixer in order. It sounds like a loose ground or a failing filter stage in a pre/amp.

A failing capacitor in the right part of any audio circuit could produce that sort of sound without an active source--it would just have to be turned on for it to happen. The "pop" is usually from a "leak" in the capacitor causing a small internal arc that temporarily relieves the problem by eliminating (burning away) the tiny gap where the leak formed. The hiss is from the leakage across the bad spot in the capacitor... and the pop happens when the "leak" gets bad enough.

Did you ever solve the problem?

Old thread, but thought I should ask- What kind of board are you running? Does it have a digital snake connected by Cat 5 cable?

Hi! Did you manage to solve the issue? I've experienced similar issues before in our First Church Love, and it's usually caused by interference from other electrical devices. Have you tried moving any nearby electronics away from the sound system? It's also possible that the wiring is outdated and needs to be replaced.
If none of that works, it might be worth bringing in a professional sound engineer to take a look. They have specialized equipment and knowledge to troubleshoot and fix these types of problems. In the meantime, keep an ear out for when the hissing and popping happens. Does it correspond with certain parts of the service, like when the choir starts singing or the preacher raises their voice?

If the sound board is a Behringer X32 or the Midas M32, the problem could be unshielded CAT 5 or 6 cable when using a digital snake. The cable has to be shielded and have Ethercon connectors on each end to keep stray signals and static from causing bursts of what sounds like white noise from coming through the mains and/or monitors.

If you're using the P-16 personal monitor mixers, they need shielded CAT 5 or 6 as well, but you'll have to (get to?) skip the Ethercons on those cables.