Sound Cuts In and Out
-
Got my Spark for Christmas but I’m just getting around to playing with it in the last few weeks here. Was really starting to dig it then a few days ago the input started cutting out randomly. I checked guitar and cable and narrowed it down to the amp. Didn’t know if it was an issue with my phone being connected so I disconnected the sound then the Bluetooth and my phone completely with no change. I unplugged the amp and cable and tried again with no luck. Then yesterday I saw there was an update for the app. Did that and the amp seemed to work all day for me. Then today all it does is cut out then come back for a minute or so and then it cuts out again. I guess I wanted to see if anyone else has had or heard of any issues like this before I try to contact positive grid and go through that hassle.
-
This just started happening to me. tech support said to update firmware. Did that but it didn't fix it.
-
Do you suppose that they will actually honor the 1 year warranty. I received it about 11 months ago.
-
@sean-solberg said in Sound Cuts In and Out:
Do you suppose that they will actually honor the 1 year warranty. I received it about 11 months ago.
I thought there was a message from Ceo saying that the guarantee was going to be extended to 2 years or did I just imagine seeing that?
-
@niak-snikrah No, you didn't imagine seeing that. It was a real release from the CEO. If I recall he also in that same letter mentioned "new effects" coming to the Spark but we have yet to see any of that. Proving that talk is cheap.
I don't recall whether that CEO's message only applied to units which were then being waited for, such as mine, or to all Spark amplifiers.
One thing's certain -- PG's ability to make a statement and stick to it is seriously in doubt. Had I know all this b.s. before I had placed my order, I would never have bought a Spark, even though I like it now that I finally got it and so far (knock on wood) I'm one of the lucky ones who haven't experienced a problem with it.
-
Hi, This is the 2nd Spark I have purchased in just over 3 weeks, I sent the first one back, same issue, now I have had the new one for a few days same issue as you, sound seems to cut out especially when playing a tone downloaded from tonecloud via the app, the amp is fine if its is not connected to the app ? is this the same issue as you guys are facing ?
-
@pauly64 What you're describing is different from what the others are saying. When you say your sound cuts in and out do you mean you play a chord or a single note and it doesn't sustain at all? That's an issue with the noise gate effect. In my experience that should be turned on but the left hand knob should be turned all the way to the left (the lowest setting) and the right-hand knob should be turned to the right (the highest setting).
-
@dhbailey Hi thanks for the reply, when I play a chord or a single note, the sound comes on then cuts out then comes back again, its normally when I play with some tones which I have downloaded I've tried 2 guitars and a few leads, thinking it maybe connection fault but it seems all to be with the amp, when I turn the volume of the guitar down to below a 5 I get the same issues, all very strange.... Thank you for the advice about the noise gate and the lack of sustain, I will look a that as it seems that sustain has been turned off on this amp !
-
It happens the same with my amp, no matter if I am playing throw the app or not, I will try with the gate noise settings and see what happens… :(
-
I got my spark slightly more than a year ago and I am now experiencing severe issues where the sound on my amp continues to just completely stop playing sound whatsoever randomly and consecutively. It will play sound for about a minute or so then cut out. I can't hear Bluetooth music, or music from my computer that is directly plugged into it. I also can't hear my guitar or anything at all, and there seems to be no fix on the internet at this moment. Because it has been slightly more than a year positive grid is asking me for $110 in order to repair it, even though this problem occurred after no trauma to the device, and I wasn't even using it when this happened because I came back and it was cut out, then it cut back in shortly after. I feel like this device was rigged to break after a certain time in order for them to claim $110 from me because it seems a little too perfectly flawed. The device does not cut off when it cuts out, it just stops playing sound, like it's almost supposed to do so. Really truly regret buying this amp with all of my heart, caused me so much grief at this point.
-
@ezzellmax It's worth trying a small amount of switch cleaner (NOT WD40!!) into the headphone socket and pushing a headphone jack in and out a few times. There is a switch on that socket that cuts out the speakers when it thinks something is in there. A small amount of dirt or silicon (sometimes a hangover from manufacture) in just the wrong spot can cause it, but can be remedied by this if that's the issue.
-
@ezzellmax
Does your Amp work stand-alone with no headphones, Bluetooth or Spark App connected? Amp and headphones only? -
@dan-lawrence My Spark now has the same issue like @Clutch-Letter that got cut off in around 2 to 5 min and come back around 10 min, I have tried to put headphone in and it works. It has all the effects and guitar sound in headphone. Even I can play music with bluetooth but only headphone has sound.
So I think there is something that is stuck with the headphone jack like @broadkarnage mention. But please give some light on this problem. If there is a part that needs to clean or change. I can take it apart and repair. If it needs $110 to repair, I better buy a new small amp then.
-
@siulunglee
I would try using Contact Cleaner as @broadkarnage suggested if you feel comfortable tearing into the amp. It’s simple to do.Given the timing you’ve mentioned, you may have a thermal issue with one of the board components; it takes about 2-5 minutes to heat up to failure, and 10 minutes to cool down to a functional temperature again. It’s a common infant mortality issue with low cost commercial parts. If you open the back to access the phone jack and have a fan handy, you can try cooling the amp/board to see if it extends the operating time or shortens the down time. It might help identify the scope of your problem.
Hope that helps a little…
-
@dan-lawrence thanks for the suggestion.
Didn't get a chance to try for a while but try again recently. It does has sound in the headphone but not the amp speaker. Originally the sound will come back but after 3 weeks, it doesn't even have sound anymore from output when it first turn on, but headphone still got sound and effect work fine.
That makes me suspect something got loose, burn out (capacitor, or diode??) or broke linkage from the board to the speaker. I think it is time to open up and check it out. It is out of warranty anyway.
-
This post is deleted! -
I have the same issue... playing for a random amount of time and suddenly there is no more sound coming out of the speaker... have to wait 30 to 300 seconds then its back again... anyone found a solution yet?
-
@dan-lawrence My amp has these issues no matter the scenario, even when plugged into headphones. @broadkarnage I did try plugging headphones into both auxiliary ports, but at most, it made some clicking noises but wouldn't return the sound.
-
@paul-perlejewski So after a lot of experimenting, I have found that my first suspect - overheating Amp chip - has not been confirmed. However, I found that a capacitor C114, just behind the Amp chip, was charging up and not discharging correctly. I discharged it manually, (don't try this at home kids!) and the amp immediately recovered and started working normally. I re-seated (re-soldered) the capacitor and since then (touch wood) it has worked perfectly. Hours of testing, including with an audio stream continously, and jamming with my Fender. This seems to have fixed the problem of audio cutting out, but working in the headphones. Happy to give any more detail if anyone needs it. When I have the time, or the problem returns, I will replace the Cap with a better spec (=quality) one. Until then, happy jamming. :-)
-
@kitcarson
I just started having this problem and I would be most grateful if you'd be willing to post a video or some sort of tutorial for fixing this. It absolutely sucks.