Crackling noise when connecting iPad to Audio In and USB on PX-S3000

[riaanpdaddy]

Hi All, 

 

What an excellent forum  👌 I have been lurking here for a while and now I have my very own PX-S3000! We love it.

 

When connecting the iPad to to the Audio In via male-to-male 3.5mm Audio Cable, the sound from the iPad is very crackly and noisy. It's especially noticeable through the headphones. I have tried to follow the audio connection guide and even many other ways of different volume settings and connections at startup but still sit with this crackling noise.

 

I also fiddled with some of the settings - the only one that greatly reduced the noise was cancelling the center channel except then I can't hear the center channel (off course😆)

 

When using Bluetooth connection the sound is perfect, but I prefer to not use Bluetooth and have the sound wired instead.

 

I have tried two different 3.5mm cables to make sure it's not the cable or connectors but to no avail.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated?

 

Here's the setup:

 

iPad with 3.5mm headphone port (older Generation 2 - I am getting a new iPad and will test it when it arrives)

3.5mm Audio cable (male to male)

Casio PX-S3000 Audio in port

 

Cheers!

 

[Brad Saucier]

Welcome to the forums!  Well, have you already tried turning down the volume of the iPad?  If so, and it's still doing it, I can only think of the cable next.  Is it a TRS stereo cable, or a TS mono cable? 

[riaanpdaddy]

4 minutes ago, Brad Saucier said:

Welcome to the forums!  Well, have you already tried turning down the volume of the iPad?  If so, and it's still doing it, I can only think of the cable next.  Is it a TRS stereo cable, or a TS mono cable? 

Thanks Brad, I am not in front of the keyboard at the moment but you have me second guessing myself now... I am sure I turned down the volume on the iPad but then no sound was coming from the iPad - I will try this again and come back. The cable is a TRS stereo cable

[- T -]

Try a different audio source connected to the PX-S3000's Audio In jack from an MP3 player or CD player or phone, etc.  If you still get the crackling sound, you may have a defective Audio In jack on the PX-S3000.  Also, connect your headphones to the iPad's phones out jack.  If you get the crackling sound there, that may indicate a problem with the iPad's phones jack.

 

[riaanpdaddy]

I have done some more troubleshooting.

 

When I unplug the USB A to B cable from either the iPad adapter or the keyboard - the crackling noise stops:

 

I use an adapter on the iPad for power, RJ45 Ethernet (for internet) and USB A to keep it charged, get wired internet and then the USB A to connect to the USB B port at the back of keyboard. Thus there are two cables running from the iPad to the keyboard: The 3.5mm male-to-male Audio cable from the iPad headphone jack to the keyboard Audio In and then the USB A to B cable from iPad adapter to the keyboard's USB B port.

 

 

 

47 minutes ago, - T - said:

Try a different audio source connected to the PX-S3000's Audio In jack from an MP3 player or CD player or phone, etc.  If you still get the crackling sound, you may have a defective Audio In jack on the PX-S3000.  Also, connect your headphones to the iPad's phones out jack.  If you get the crackling sound there, that may indicate a problem with the iPad's phones jack.

 

Thanks -T- , everything works fine if the USB A to B cable is unplugged - I checked both the keyboard Audio In and the iPad headphone jacks with different devices and they work perfect

 

 

[riaanpdaddy]

My initial question should then be rephrased to:

 

How do I stop the crackling noise when both the Audio Cable and the USB A-B cable is connected between the iPad and the S3000?

[Brad Saucier]

USB and audio cables connected to the same device often causes noise of some sort.  USB as a worldwide standard was never designed to play well with analog audio in the loop, unfortunately.  A notice in the manual says not to connect both at the same time.  I'm not sure if noise isolation devices would help here or not.  

 

 

 

[riaanpdaddy]

1 hour ago, Brad Saucier said:

USB and audio cables connected to the same device often causes noise of some sort.  USB as a worldwide standard was never designed to play well with analog audio in the loop, unfortunately.  A notice in the manual says not to connect both at the same time.  I'm not sure if noise isolation devices would help here or not.  

 

 

Ah I see, thanks Brad - that is very helpful - for the most part we can manage with just having one or the other connected. If we then need both at the same time then we will have to use Bluetooth instead of Audio Cable.

 

Much appreciated!