jimmyjernigan Posted February 27, 2015 Report Posted February 27, 2015 I've observed this forum for years and used it as a resource to guide me through gear, technique, business practices, etc. Since this is my first post, I just wanted to say that I am humbled and grateful to everyone for sharing your knowledge. The discussions, arguments, and even outright verbal fist fights have been valuable to guiding me to the answers to my questions. I've scoured the forum, but haven't found anything for a particular problem I've been having. I bought 2 ERX2tcd units a few months ago (receiving ifb signal from a qrx235) and immediately noticed a frequent glitching sound in the audio. Sent the all of the units back to Zaxcom (including the 235) to get checked out, but when I got them back, there didn't seem to be any improvement. So… I took everything over to Trew in Nashville, where I purchased them, and we set up a few test scenarios mixing my units, one of their nomads as transmitter and a couple of their ERX's. Every test had the glitches. I had a conversation with Howie, and he explained how the system worked and why I might be hearing what I was hearing. He also offered to take another look at the system. However, before I take him up on the offer, I just want to make sure my expectations are reasonable compared to what other users are experiencing. To the ERX users out there, Is your audio clean? Do you have any glitches, if so, how frequent? The linked video illustrates what I'm hearing... https://jimmyjernigan.com/zax/ERXGlitch.m4v Quote
Ze Frias Posted February 27, 2015 Report Posted February 27, 2015 Wow. That is one annoying glitch. I can safely say that this is not common. I've been using ERXs for a few years now, and none of my four ERXs display this behavior. I've used friend's ERXs, none of theirs do this either. I'd say this is a pretty isolated event. The source of the issue? I'm not sure yet. Typically I use my Nomad's built-in TX to transmit Zaxnet Audio to my ERXs, so I personally don't have any experience with Zaxnet out of the QRX-QIFB (just got one this week, so I can test it out tomorrow or Sunday). Do you have any other Zaxnet TX or RX that you can use to troubleshoot? I'd say that if the glitches are apparent on BOTH of your ERXs, then the problem would more likely be on the transmitter side, unless both ERXs are faulty, which is a possibility no matter how slim it is. Quote
Solid Goldberger Posted February 27, 2015 Report Posted February 27, 2015 FWIW, The only time I have heard glitching like this is when I was listening to an ERX from another source too closely to my Nomad's Zaxnet antenna. They're fairly easy to overload with RF, in my limited experience listening to them. e. Quote
Matt Martin Posted February 28, 2015 Report Posted February 28, 2015 Not sure if this helps your situation but ... I just recently discovered what I believe to be a bug. Not sure if it is a bug with the ERX or with the nomad transmitting the zaxnet (or just my particular gear?). In my tests, the ERX2 only works correctly when my nomad is set to a sample rate of 48k. Anything higher and the audio in the ERX is distorted and "glitchy", the reception led turns red (even though it is still locked to the frequency and shows up as "RX" in the extended menu). Timecode also does not jam the ERX at high sample rates either. Turning the sample rate back to 48k in the nomad immediately cleans up the audio, led turns green, and timecode jams. At 44.1k on the nomad, the audio in the ERX is very glitchy but the led stays green and the timecode jams properly. Can anyone else confirm this with their gear? I'm still waiting to hear back from Zaxcom about this (posted on the support forum) and will let you know what I find out. Quote
Bootleg Posted March 7, 2015 Report Posted March 7, 2015 I've had the exact same issue Matt. My ERX's have never liked 44.1k. Quote
PTA Posted March 7, 2015 Report Posted March 7, 2015 From the Zaxcom forms, Howie said that Zaxnet cannot operate outside of 48 kHz, as this is the only frequency that the IFB module is meant to work in. Outside of that will cause issues. Quote
jimmyjernigan Posted March 20, 2015 Author Report Posted March 20, 2015 Thanks for the info guys. José, when your ERXs are in a normal operating distance, do you have any glitches at all, or is audio completely clear? We tested several different scenarios at Trew: my ERXs and their 235, their ERXs and my 235, their Nomad and all the ERXs. There was always an occasional glitch no matter the scenario. The only thing we didn't try was an IFB 100/200. After the test, I was thinking that maybe that's just the way these things work, but I couldn't imagine that no one else would be complaining if that were the case. In Zaxcom's defense, after seeing the video, Howy did say that some sort of glitch was likely to be heard in a pure tone since the system is constantly resycing, and that it would try to resync between words in dialogue. Does this seem consistent with your experience? Jimmy Quote
johnpaul215 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Posted March 20, 2015 What did the glitch sound like? I don't think I have had that. Once one of mine had a weird glitch where timecode burst over the audio side for a second. The Audio Department found it when they were doing my mod, and fixed it for me. When I got it back, I left it hooked up to a small speaker and let it go for a few hours, and never heard anything. I was transmitting a very low level boom signal though, not tone or something where I would notice a minor distortion. Also, I was really listening to make sure I didn't get the loud TC burst. I basically turned on my nomad with just the boom in my office, and put the ERX and the speaker in another part of my house where I was doing some work. Quote
Wandering Ear Posted March 20, 2015 Report Posted March 20, 2015 I have the notch filter turned on, so I don't think I've ever heard tone through an erx. I only hear glitching at the edge of reception. Quote
Jack Norflus Posted March 20, 2015 Report Posted March 20, 2015 There will be some audio "glitches" when sending tone. But when sending audio it will be fine. It has something to do with the amount of audio that is transmitted with sending a constant signal at -20dbfs Quote
Emmanuel Clemente Posted September 16, 2019 Report Posted September 16, 2019 My ERX2tc’s IFB audio is so distorted. Using Zaxnet. The sample frequency of my NOMAD 10 is 48 kHz. Time code has no problem. What could be the reason for the IFB’s distorted audio signal? Thanks, anybody. Quote
ramallo Posted September 16, 2019 Report Posted September 16, 2019 On 2/28/2015 at 4:26 PM, Matt Martin said: Not sure if this helps your situation but ... I just recently discovered what I believe to be a bug. Not sure if it is a bug with the ERX or with the nomad transmitting the zaxnet (or just my particular gear?). In my tests, the ERX2 only works correctly when my nomad is set to a sample rate of 48k. Anything higher and the audio in the ERX is distorted and "glitchy", the reception led turns red (even though it is still locked to the frequency and shows up as "RX" in the extended menu). Timecode also does not jam the ERX at high sample rates either. Turning the sample rate back to 48k in the nomad immediately cleans up the audio, led turns green, and timecode jams. At 44.1k on the nomad, the audio in the ERX is very glitchy but the led stays green and the timecode jams properly. Can anyone else confirm this with their gear? I'm still waiting to hear back from Zaxcom about this (posted on the support forum) and will let you know what I find out. From a old Nomad manual, I guess that is the same for TX Quote
glenn Posted September 16, 2019 Report Posted September 16, 2019 Put out the test tone and see if that is ok. If it is make sure the Encryption code is 000 000. Quote
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