Yamaha HS7s creating an "angry squirrel" noise - Help!!

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    I just got my Kemper and I am stoked. Dealing with some buzzing in the room but for the most part it sounds great.


    Except for one issue.....a few profiles (and it always seems to be the ones I love), when I hold certain notes it creates a ticking noise as demonstrated in the video. It only happens at midrange or higher volumes, but it's nowhere near the level that should clip my HS7s. This video uses ToneJunkies BM Proto 1 BM 4, but I've had it happen with several other profiles as well.


    It is only one of the two Yamahas that does this.


    Should I get in touch with Yamaha and have them replaced? Or is there an easy solution here?

  • If it's only one speaker it's probably not the profile. This might be a bit out there, but given the kind of chatter, the first thing I'd do is look in the area to see if there's something loose / sitting on a desk / etc. that's rattling when a certain resonant frequency is hit.


    If you get your ear close enough to verify that it's in fact coming from the speaker and not reflecting from somewhere else, it may well be something loose in the speaker itself.


    Of course, I'm just guessing here, but resonance is where my gut takes me first on this.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • I figured it would be some sort of resonance issue - the noise picks up only after holding the note for a moment, and it's on a specific note. If I switch to an Eb guitar, it happens one fret up.


    The sound doesn't sound mechanical, though. Not sure if that came across in the video...It seems like it's a sound the actual tweeter is making

  • If it happens one fret up on an Eb guitar then I'd say it's certainly a resonance issue. That's about as much of a smoking gun as you can find.


    Tweeters are just another physical component of a speaker, and physical objects can and will resonate if allowed. There are a number of opportunities from looking at a picture of one. First, there are 8 mounting screws on the tweeter. If loose, they'll vibrate. If internally the piece that they screw into is loose, it'll vibrate on the inside. Additionally, if there's an intermittent connection internally, when the resonant frequency hits it could shake that connection to make it cut in and out, or allow greater / lesser fidelity of sound.


    Here's what I'd do if I was testing it. First, swap your speakers (but not the cables). If the problem follows the speaker, the speaker is likely the culprit. If you swap the speakers but the squirrel stays on the same side of the room, it's probably not the tweeter, something else is resonating and the reflections are just tricking your ears into thinking it is.


    However, having just said that, if the squirrel doesn't move, and you can't find anything else that's vibrating, I'd then swap the cables (rule one of debugging: always change one, and only one, thing at a time). What I said about intermittent connections could apply to the connections to the speaker or audio interface as well.


    Once you've got it isolated, then you can consider next steps. At this stage of the game it's sounding a lot like a faulty speaker. Or, you know, one that was sealed at the factory before the squirrel had a chance to escape.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Okay thanks for the advice - I'll give that all a go tomorrow.


    If it follows the speaker, and the noise stays when I put the speaker on the carpet on the ground, should I return the speaker?

  • If it follows the speaker, and the noise stays when I put the speaker on the carpet on the ground, should I return the speaker?

    That's certainly what I would do.


    After all, you wouldn't want to get a call from the authorities about harboring a dangerous rodent.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Lol


    Do you just use one DXR-10? I'm thinking of swapping the HS7s in for one of those. The stereo doesn't do much for me with my current setup anyway. Will it be too much for noodling in my bedroom?

  • Lol


    Do you just use one DXR-10? I'm thinking of swapping the HS7s in for one of those. The stereo doesn't do much for me with my current setup anyway. Will it be too much for noodling in my bedroom?

    Yes, just the one DXR, and I can't speak highly enough of it. I actually chose it because a) it gets a lot of love around here and b) it's a very small footprint (I have a small car).


    Perfect for gigs or bedroom noodling. You can turn it down to where it's barely audible without losing tone quality because unlike regular guitar cabs, volume based speaker breakup isn't a tone contribution with FRFR speakers as their design goal is to faithfully reproduce what the Kemper outputs. What you set is what you get.


    I'd still get that HS7 sorted because sooner or later you're probably going to want to do some recording, which is really the task they're designed for. While I record guitars mono, there are of course lots of other stereo elements in a mix.


    Besides, squirrels make me nervous.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Hmm okay, thanks for the advice. If I want to record stereo later, I could always get another DXR-10. I'll probably order one, compare it with the HS7s, and return my least favorite

  • Hmm okay, thanks for the advice. If I want to record stereo later, I could always get another DXR-10. I'll probably order one, compare it with the HS7s, and return my least favorite

    Actually, you don't need another DXR for recording stereo. When I'm rehearsing for live applications, I run the DXR out of the monitor / speaker output, mono. When I'm recording, the DXR isn't even turned on as I'm listening to the entire song, including my guitar part (whether I want to track it mono or stereo) through my studio reference monitors.


    In fact, you don't even need to rewire things to go back and forth. You can keep the DXR plugged into your monitor out and your L/R mains into your audio interface. When you're just playing and your DAW isn't running, turn on the DXR (if the DAW is running you can always just mute the guitar). When recording, turn the DXR off. Of course, you could leave it on, but then the guitar would probably be way louder than the rest of the song, making it hard to play in time.


    The only reason you'd need two DXRs (at least that comes to mind) is if you were playing live and didn't go through the PA. In that case you could use the L/R mains into the DXRs and run stereo like it was a regular stereo guitar amp / cab setup.


    As for returning one or the other, if finances dictate that you can only keep one, and you're not recording right now, the DXR will serve you well. However, if money isn't an issue you'll eventually want both as an FRFR and studio reference monitors are really designed to do two different jobs.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10