Spikes on my recorded audio channels

[streamfuchs]

Hi everyone,

As mentioned in other posts I am doing multichannel recording with 2x S16 Stageboxes and a Klark Teknik DN9630 AES50 to USB converter directly within my DAW.
In my recording sessions I got aware since several months that there are spikes on my audiochannels from time to time.
Somethimes it affects only one channel, somethimes several channels.
Sometimes there are several spikes within a few seconds, somethimes there is e.g. 40min. normal operation between two spikes.
The spikes are very short with a broad bandwith and are audible as low level clicks.

Has anyone made any experiences with this "spike problem" in general?
It is happening at different venues, so I doubt whether the lokal power supply could be the problem?

Any idea or help is very appreciated.

[pvannatto]

Hi @streamfuchs, could it be a result of ESD? Are your AES50 cables shielded with ethercon shells? If so, have you checked for continuity between shells?

[streamfuchs]

Hi Paul,

ESD was my idea as well, but my AES50 cable (50m) is shielded with ethercon on both ends.
I just double-checked my cable:
I measure a value below 1 Ohm between both ethercon shells. I also measure the same value between e.g. protection earth of my daisychained S16 and the Ethercon connector of the DN9630 when everthing is plugged together.
While recording the AES50 cable will not be moved.
Is it possible that the age of the cable (12 years) could cause this behaviour?
I am doing no tour business with this cable and it was always used indoor.

Your oppinion?

[pvannatto]

Your oppinion?

Good question, which I don't have an answer, sorry. Do you have a spare cable to try?

[streamfuchs]

No, I don´t.
But I am thinking about buying a new one.

My existing cable is cat5e and shielded as S/UTP
When buying a new one I am thinking about a cat6 cable shielded as S/FTP

What do you think about that idea?

Best regards
Thomas

[pvannatto]

When buying a new one I am thinking about a cat6 cable shielded as S/FTP

My ethercon cables are a mixture of cat6a and cat7 (shielded) cables, because shielded cat5e is becoming very difficult to find here in Canada. The price of shielded cat6a and cat7 are now relatively inexpensive. What I do is purchase pre-terminated cables and add the ethercon shells. Neutriks makes ethercon shells that will go over pre-terminated RJ45. I have been getting them from B&H in New York. But since the recent events that have forced most Canadians to boycot purchasing anything from the US, I've found replacements from China.

[KMaxwell]

When buying a new one I am thinking about a cat6 cable shielded as S/FTP

My ethercon cables are a mixture of cat6a and cat7 (shielded) cables, because shielded cat5e is becoming very difficult to find here in Canada. The price of shielded cat6a and cat7 are now relatively inexpensive. What I do is purchase pre-terminated cables and add the ethercon shells. Neutriks makes ethercon shells that will go over pre-terminated RJ45. I have been getting them from B&H in New York. But since the recent events that have forced most Canadians to boycot purchasing anything from the US, I've found replacements from China.

I will only buy sliver ones because even the Neutrik black ones aren't conductive (anymore) which defeats one of the main purposes for the EtherCon shells. Some of the non Neutrik black ones are painted black and the paint is also on the inside and I have had to scrape that off to get continuity to the shield.