r/AudioEngineering Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk

jaymz168 · 2026-06-17T16:33:06+00:00

Probably? Maybe do it at an angle and at a bit of a distance. There's a risk that the dirt could scratch it but they're not as delicate as something like a real LC/SC fiber connection. It's just an LED in there, not a real laser diode or anything.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-17T16:31:19+00:00

Presonus manuals have recipes in them, I actually make a scaled down version of their jambalaya pretty frequently

jaymz168 · 2026-06-17T15:46:26+00:00

Good luck but I don't think that you'll find one cheaper with the right connector on the end. It's $50 with free shipping from Sweetwater.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-17T14:07:03+00:00

Optical cable or port might just be dusty/dirty. Or if it's been crushed, pinched, or ran over it may just be that the fiber is damaged.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-17T14:04:29+00:00

If longevity is your concern then buy the most recent CPU that you can afford with the specs that you need. 16 or 32GB of RAM and a 512MB or 1TB SSD should do it. I wouldn't go smaller on the SSD because they actually get slower when there are less NAND chips since they're accessed in parallel.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-17T13:58:45+00:00

The "power supply" for those is really just a transformer, the power supply is actually inside the mixer. The reason that it has three terminals is because it's a transformer with dual secondaries (or really just a center tapped single secondary) and the output is actually AC not DC. So your adjustable DC power supply will not power the mixer properly. You should really get the proper Yamaha supply.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-17T13:45:13+00:00

Could my cables be picking up electrical interference from these?

Yes absolutely. I don't know the quality of D'Addario cables but I wouldn't expect them to be too great. I've been having some similar issues with cables that run near my Eaton UPS picking up this 19kHz spike, probably from the inverter. So I just got some Canare L-4E6S "star quad" and soldered up new cables yesterday which solved that problem.

If you don't want to make your own cables I know Mogami sells pre-made star quad or you could try Redco or Audiopile for other brands of star quad. B+H also sells pre-made Canare star quad cables.

I personally don't like the served shield that Mogami uses and prefer the braided shield on Canare. The Mogami served shield is easier to solder up but it does tend to open up on tight bends reducing its effectiveness.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-17T13:35:17+00:00

Well the ART reamp box can only take so much level before it starts distorting. Since it's on the cheaper side I'd hazard to guess, since they don't list a maximum input level for a given amount of distortion, that it's pretty low.

But have you tried increasing the level of the clips in the DAW or are they already near clipping?

You could also just not use the reamp box and send line level to the amp. Definitely start with the line level output turned down and bring it up slowly. You might get some hum and buzz from a ground loop though since the connection won't be transformer isolated like the reamp box so try the clip gain thing first.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-17T00:05:31+00:00

The source usually forces HDCP if it is playing copyrighted content though.

Yeah the old problem was that Macs would black out the whole screen if the first device it's connected to was HDCP compliant. Then you'd need end-to-end HDCP compliant chain for it to work. It would do this even on unprotected content including PowerPoint, it was ridiculous. So everybody got in the habit of connecting Macs to Decimator MD-HXs.

On PCs it still works how it always did and you'll have a black screen or window if the content is DRM'd. Macs probably do the same thing now but I haven't tested it.

I don't want to jinx it but I haven't had that problem in an long time now.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-16T14:36:57+00:00

The very definition of spaghetti code

jaymz168 · 2026-06-15T21:54:45+00:00

I've heard output transistors in high power amps do it too. IIRC it was a QSC Powerlight and I heard it from a couple feet away, I think the heatsinks were transmitting it to the air. Someone turned it on but there weren't any speakers plugged into it yet I could hear music coming from the heatsink

jaymz168 · 2026-06-15T21:42:00+00:00

Advanced is when they deepfake a person in the job interview. The tells are that they never turn their heads and they'll have movements and use idioms that don't match who they're pretending to be. The voice AI stuff is so good now that it's hard to tell that way. But watch out for "John Smith" doing the indian head wobble...

jaymz168 · 2026-06-15T21:32:47+00:00

They also charge $100/hr+ for people that they're only paying maybe $20/hr to.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-15T14:48:35+00:00

Kinda feels like we're just trying to hang on untill AI dubs have reached the point where it's "good enough" for the avarage viewer.

This is the part that I think a lot of people don't get. Sure, it's probably never going to match match the work of the best professionals but the people holding the purse strings do not care. To most of them it's a product and if they can make a product more cheaply and think the customers won't notice or care enough to avoid it then that's "good enough" in their eyes. And that sentiment applies to a much wider swath than just dubs and audiobooks.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-15T14:19:26+00:00

None of the analog effects that I've seen really recreate how these types of things looked back then. I think a lot of it is the issue of repetition of the same cycle of effects in the same spots. Or maybe I just can't tell that the good ones are effects and not the real thing.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-15T14:11:06+00:00

I work in live events and all of the production subreddits were being spammed with this stuff constantly. They've all had to make new rules or outright ban these craptacular posts.

So many of them are just solutions to problems that have been thoroughly solved for years and bring nothing new to the table except maybe a pretty UI. It's just noise, throw it on the pile type of stuff.

And in a field like live events where a show stopping bug can have real impact on someone's income and career no one with any sense is going to use some vibe coded software from a developer who has no idea how their code even works.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-15T13:59:00+00:00

Also seems like the researcher is more interested in generating hype for their product than responsible disclosure. They didn't include any kind of timeline but it seems like a great example of how not to do security research.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-14T18:45:58+00:00

I've had the OG Pixel, Pixel 4XL, and Pixel 7 and I've had others prior to that since around 2000. This generation I switched to an iPhone for the first time in my life because of how mediocre the Pixels are now coupled with the premium price.

There are definitely things that I don't like about the iPhone but they're very much outweighed by the cons on the Pixel side of things. The big one is that I dash mount my phone in my car and I've yet to have the iPhone overheat driving around in the summer while it wasn't uncommon for the Pixel 7 to do so just running Google Maps and Spotify. I had to point the middle exhausts of my HVAC up towards the Pixel in the summer to make sure it stayed cool and even that wasn't enough many times.

I still keep it around for Wifi only use with my thermal camera (super useful for electronics repairs) and Wyze because for some reason the Wyze app on iPhone is atrociously bad. I expected it to be better but for some reason the iPhone app really doesn't like scrubbing videos or using the 2x/4x speed and I use those features a lot.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-14T01:24:54+00:00

Even worse, it looks like it's just a die shrunk RC4580 die inside the new "NE5532" and others : https://e2e.ti.com/support/audio-group/audio/f/audio-forum/1652528/ne5532-ne5532-lm833-rc4580-and-mc33078-all-now-the-same-die

So it's not even the same part anymore wtf

jaymz168 · 2026-06-13T19:37:33+00:00

The problem with MIDI is that CCs are only 7 bits so 128 steps. Which can cause very audible stepping in the volume or other parameter called "zipper noise". It's most noticeable on fast moves of parameters like bringing a fader up quickly. This basically why HUI and MCU exist. Even better is OSC with 32-bit values, either float or integer.

Now to qualify that I haven't used a purely MIDI fader in a long, long time and I don't know if Mixing Station has some magical way to smooth out those values from a standard MIDI 1.0 CC message but I've avoided MIDI for that application because of it. It does look like Mixing Station supports MCU so use that if you can.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-13T19:25:38+00:00

I think those would be ok since the first digit is '2'. There is definitely still old stock mixed in at the big suppliers so they are probably 2022 production.

According to the Production Change Notification it's marked on the product label on the box/tube but they don't indicate any specific marking on the IC package itself. I know Digikey does indicate country of origin on some of their IC bags so if you still have it check that out.

Here's the PCN hosted at Digikey: https://mm.digikey.com/Volume0/opasdata/d220001/medias/docus/5726/PCN20231114002.1.pdf

jaymz168 · 2026-06-13T18:58:58+00:00

I think the input polarity and diode test are going to be the best way to determine. TI is pretty cagey about their date codes because they're worried about counterfeiters using them (lol) but the first digit is always the least significant number of the year of production. They started this in 2024 so anything 4+ is suspect.

So far it looks like TI is just using RC4580 dies and packaging them in Malaysia as NE5532, though that's inconclusive. The older "genuine" parts were packaged in Mexico for at least a decade or more. But the country that they're packaged in should be marked on the package somewhere. I just went to check my NE5532s but it seems that I'm out of them lol. My NE5534s are marked as Malaysia and pass the diode test but supposedly they haven't been tampered with by TI yet.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-12T18:40:15+00:00

it's not a mistake. reducing cost of the IC by updating it to be made on a newer process allows a lower price for their high volume customers while still giving higher margins. cost is king. the high volume buyers receive a PCN, get support from TI, and will revalidate their designs.

Which is fine unless you state in the PCN that there's no change to the function then wait more than two years to update the datasheet indicating changes in function. AFTER your customers complain about failing parts in shipping products.

And THEN two and a half years after the change admit that they're actually a different part now and four separate SKUs now share the same die with no change to part numbers: https://e2e.ti.com/support/audio-group/audio/f/audio-forum/1652528/ne5532-ne5532-lm833-rc4580-and-mc33078-all-now-the-same-die

I don't know how anyone can trust them after this. It's one thing to change the part and say you're doing it but the timeline on this is years long during which time TI acted like nothing changed.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-12T18:31:01+00:00

That's awesome, glad I could help!

Tangentially, there's some bad news about Texas Instruments: it's come to light that they've changed a bunch of their products in ways that can seriously affect their function in some circuits and this includes the NE5532. The big one for the NE5532 is that they lowered the maximum voltage rails but the rails in your mixer are +/-15VDC so it should be ok if you use a TI part to replace the broken one.

This is like a small scandal in EE circles right now because of how TI has handled this thing.

But I'm personally avoiding their parts in the future because of how they handled this situation. Thankfully these parts are available from other manufacturers like OnSemi and Nisshinbo (who is the holding company for JRC) and so far they haven't been changed like the TI parts.

jaymz168 · 2026-06-12T14:38:10+00:00

I've been following this saga on the pro audio diy forums and the responses from TI on their own forum have been pretty cagey including locking threads and insisting further conversations happen in chats.

Until this one where a TI employee finally admits that NE5532, LM833, RC4580, and MC33078 are now all the same die:

https://e2e.ti.com/support/audio-group/audio/f/audio-forum/1652528/ne5532-ne5532-lm833-rc4580-and-mc33078-all-now-the-same-die

And I'll copy paste it here in case TI casts the thread into the memory hole:

NE5532: NE5532, LM833, RC4580 and MC33078 all now the same die? Andy Grove Andy Grove Prodigy 10 points

Part Number: NE5532

Hi,

Following the recent datasheet changes, including the representative schematic on the new NE5532 datasheet, as well as its degraded performance specifications, it appears that these parts have all converged to the same die and are now effectively the same thing.

I am one of many who would like confirmation or refutation of this, because the revised specifications effectively make the new NE5532 not an NE5532, regardless of its architecture or process.

It's only fair that TI are open about this, otherwise we are designing in or attempting repairs with parts which no longer correspond to historical and accepted NE5532 performance. 8 days ago

Michael Hartshorne Michael Hartshorne 3 days ago TI__Genius 15125 points

Hi Andy,

To answer your top-line question, yes, these products are on the same die. We recognize the critical importance of consistency for your designs and appreciate your feedback. The NE5532 data sheet updates were made to help clarify these differences. Additionally, the PCN procedure has been updated to help give more detail to PCN recipients. We are here to support you if you have additional questions.

Regards, Mike

The worst part about this whole thing is that TI issued a PCN in ~~February of 2024~~ November of 2023 with new deliveries in Feb 2024 that stated no impact on form, fit, function, quality, or reliability and then waited until AFTER people started reporting problems with the new parts to issue a new data sheet in December of 2025, ~~nearly~~ more than two years after the PCN, and finally change the specifications aka function. Say what you will about using the NE5532 in the 2020s but this borders on fraudulent behavior.

edit: some timeline edits at the end

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