M1 passive and Venue issue

[carbon ribs]

Hi this is my first post here.... I figured it was best to go straight to the source since my pickup and preamp are both LR Baggs products.

I am getting a white noise type hiss from the M1 and venue combo, but it's kind of odd. When my acoustic channel is unmuted on the board and I talk into my mic there is an audible hiss after I stop talking but only for a second or so, then it immediately cuts off like its being gated. It is also audible when I play a short strum on the guitar, with same gated type cut off. If my acoustic channel is muted then the hiss is not present at all.

I have to have the gain all the way up on the Venue for the board to get usable signal, which I found strange because I didn't used to have the gain up that high on my PADI.

When I run the M1 straight to a DI box an use only the board gain it is not there.... or at least not noticeable.

Any thoughts or ideas?? Is this just an issue of the passive signal being to weak and the Venue having to be turned up to much?

I would appreciate any help I can get.

PS Would I get better results from an M80 since it is active and I could feed the Venue a hotter signal to begin with?

Thanks

[Bryan McManus]

Hi Carbon,

I apologize for the delay and thank you for your question. I have a few questions and suggestions that should help isolate the issue to one part of the signal chain or another.

First, I appreciate that you also have a PADI for an A/B comparison. Do you have access to another Venue DI for use as a better reference?

Regarding the apparent gain applied to the M1 signal by each preamp, are you operating both the PADI and Venue DIs on a battery? Please say what you're using to power each device.

You mentioned having to turn the gain on the Venue DI all the way up. May I assume you're connecting to the board from an XLR output in each case?

Does the odd sound appear when you connect to other channels of the same mixing board? Have you tried to duplicate the situation with another mixer or an acoustic combo amp of some kind?

Does the sound remain if you back the Venue DI's gain off a bit? I understand this is not a solution as you mentioned the signal is just usable with the gain maxed. It's not uncommon, though, for the passive M1's low output signal to allow for maximum gain without overdriving the preamp's input.

On you last question, the M80's built-in preamp makes for a stronger signal from the source and should allow for a hotter signal to the mixer channel. Whether that would remedy the situation with the gated sound depends on what you find from the questions and suggestions above. Please reply when you can and I'll try to get back to you in a more timely manner.

[carbon ribs]

Hi Bryan,

No worries about the delay and thanks for responding.

I actually don't have the PADI anymore, as I replaced it with the venue when it stopped working. I did have it for about 3 years though and only recently got the Venue. I was powering the PADI with 48v phantom power and I power the Venue with a battery.

I used the XLR out on both the PADI and the Venue.

I have not tried a different channel on the board yet, but I can tomorrow at rehersal.

I'm not sure if it the sound gets less apparent if I back down the gain, but I assume it might since it is not audible when running the M1 through a passive DI to the board.

I will report back tomorrow evening with my findings on using a different board channel as well as backing off the gain on the Venue.

[Bryan McManus]

Anything you can do to determine what conditions influence the gated hiss sound would be excellent. Let me know if you're able to see any correlations.