Hi there,
Last night while performing at a five star hotel locally, my CQ 18T became faulty. Intermittently it would let out loud noises similar to gunshots. It was quite annoying for me and very uncomfortable for the guests who were at the show.
Has anyone else here had issues similar to this.
Thank you.
Regards
John
I haven’t experienced this, but that’s extremely disturbing. We need to rely on our equipment. Combined with the unresolved bugs in the firmware/app, this doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in the product.
Many times when a system randomly produces loud “bangs” it is the result of static electricity being introduced into the system. However since the CQ system doesn’t allow for external stage boxes or I/O cards, there aren’t a lot of ways that static electricity could be introduced into the system. Therefore it really might be something going on internally with the console.
Where you able to determine if the “bang” happened on one or more individual channels, or was it across all channels at the same time? In other words, did you happen to watch the channel meters when this occurred and did they all peak at the same time? Specifically I’m curious to know about any channels that didn’t have open mics as a source. (Obviously if the source was a mic in the room, the meters would react to the bang coming through the PA). What about channels that weren’t being used? Did you see the meters on those channels react with the bang?
This can help determine if the problem was with a individual source or channel, or if it is more “system wide”.
Thank you for our reply. The only thing I introduced was an SD Card as I wanted to record the show. Could that have created static?
Thanks for replying. No it doesn’t inspire confidence although when working properly it is a great little desk.
Recording on the SD card wouldn’t introduce or allow a static charge IMHO. I honestly don’t think it is static in this case because most times when static electricity is involved, it is introduced through a unshielded network cable connecting a console and a stagebox. Obviously that is not the issue in this case.
Thank you for your reply. I wonder if there’s anyone here from Allen and Heath who might shed some light?
My first thought reading this was, if it was on one channel only, could it have been a faulty XLR cable on a channel running a condensor mic or active DI box? Small movements in the cable every so often breaking the connection and the +48v turning off an on again?
No condenser mics. One Sm58 Beta plugged directly in, one senheiser radio mic, Guitar plugged in directly and iPad connected to bluetooth
I the other thread you wrote that also your power supply died.
So your console first generated these noises, and then the power supply died?
What was the sequence of both problems, and could one be related to the other?
Ooooh. Nicely caught, Detective SQuser!
Kudos. You might be onto something there!
The A&H power supply didn’t work and I had to use the spare Which I bought on Amazon recommended by one oth the members her I believe. I have used it in the past with no issues.
Hahaha! 
Surely you only noticed this because the connected console unexpectedly wasn’t working.
It’s very unlikely that two different devices would break independently of each other one after the other.
It’s not really to be expected in a hotel like this, but can you rule out the possibility of problems with the mains voltage?
I know it’s unusual for two power supplies to fail, but sadly they did. As the hotel is world class five star I have to assume that they have all the power requirements needed to run all their own equipment so that shouldn’t be a problem. One never knows though. I don’t have time this evening, but I will put the owners on and check it overtime to see if there’s any problem here at home. I’ve also ordered another power supply on Amazon as it’s very difficult to get one from Allen & Heath.
Regards
John
+353 (0) 868 682 053
I meant your both problems on the same evening.
A friend of mine actually had a case at a venue where the three-phase current was incorrectly adapted to the standard mains voltage.
The result was that the outlet was obviously running 400 V instead of 230 V.
This immediately killed a external power supply.
Amazingly, the rest of the little equipment that evening survived.
And now, please don’t misunderstand me, but just to be sure:
Are you 100% sure that your (defective) external power supplies was actually the right ones for the mains voltage in your area?
(… seen it all before.)
Its the West of Ireland which is the same as the UK
Kind Regards
John
johnstaunton@hotmail.comwww.johnstauntonmusic.com
+353 (0) 868682053
Ah the good old Wesht!
I remember doing a gig in a nightclub in Sligo where the only power was an uncovered 32a C-form.
We had to wire a plugboard into it while it was still live 
Done quite a number of years ago, and not something I would recommend to EVER do!
There were a few places like that in the 80s. Thankfully there’s none of that now.
A few people injured due to bad wiring.
Regards
John
+353 (0) 868 682 053
And from what I heard, our plugboard was still “installed” exactly as we left it, and still being used, at least 15 years later.
Maybe the unit is killing the supplies