Noise/sound drop out | Forums

[dee436]

I bought an Xbox on a recent trip to the US just so I could get rocksmith as it didn't play on my UK console.
Played it for a couple of months in the US with a cheap travel guitar and it worked well; now I am back in the UK and was looking forward to playing with some nice guitars but I am noticing that the sound will go off for a fraction of a second every so often, it sounds just like a bad connection or pulling the jack plug just a little; Only seems to happen when the guitar is active, not in any of the menu's where its not.
Sure I didnt notice this in the US, I have tried 3 different guitars(Travel guitar is still in states so cant try that one), 2 power supplies, running sound through TV, running sound through home theater amp, optical and analogue cables, hard drive in console and out of console ( I had no HD in states), tried bending and moving the guitar cable to see if I can replicate the noise, plugged into different usb connector, move console away from any other electrical device.
This only happens with Rocksmith and as I mentioned only when the guitar is live.
Only thing I can think is either the tone cable is bad or the noise was always there but I never noticed, its driving me mad now.
I can replicate it easily by selecting the amp, any tone, hit the open low E and after a second or so of sustain it will skip for a fraction of a second, after that it just does it randomly but frequently.

Anyone else had this or got any ideas?

[WiiDaLoser]

That's very odd. Never had that happen.

Wondering if it's an issue with running a US console on UK power. Like something isn't matching up quite right.

Seem to remember there being differences between US and other countries. Just don't know if that's still an issue where you need some sort of power converter/regulator.

Maybe ask for advice at a local game import shop.

[dee436]

Don't think it is to do with the power, the UK power brick gives out the correct voltage but just a slightly higher amp and wattage, I have also tried powering it with the US power Brick on an adapter that converts UK outlet power to that of the US (I use this on many devices I bought in the US without any issues).
Beginning to wonder if the noise I am hearing is engineered in like some of the other little amp type pops and clicks in the menu's.

I have more of an issue now anyway, when messing about trying to find a loose connection I must have moved the console and now have a very nice large scratch all the way around the disc, it still seems to play ok from the DVD but will not install to the hard drive, it fails to read at about 52%; Just ordered a Skip Doctor to see if I can repair it enough to at least get it installed to the hard drive.
If not I will have to order a new disk from the US, guess at least if I hold off for a bit it will come with Bass content.

[Godfrey1956]

dee436, there is a difference not in voltage but in line frequency. If I remember correctly, the UK is on 50 cycles(Hertz) and the USA is 60 cycles. That variance in frequencies has an effect on the speed at which an electrical motor revolves. I don't know for sure but that difference may cause the platter, (which spins the CD/DVD) in the US X-Box, to revolve at a slightly different speed which, I believe, would then introduce 'read' errors, when the lens/laser scans the disc for the digital info. on it.

Devices which operate on dual frequencies, 50/60 cycles, would not encounter such issues neither would devices that does not have spinning components. I remember that, as a kid living in a British colony and operating on 50 cycles, we had received a beautiful turntable from the USA, (record player for LPs and 45s....,ahhh the Good Ol'Days !!!) but, unfortunately the music played on it was just not right because of the frequency difference; there was a very noticeable change in the tempo and in note pitch. Check your X-Box specs and see if it says 60 cycles or Hertz only, or if it has 50/60 Hertz next to the voltage tag.

[dee436]

Hi

Thanks for the suggestion, however I don't think it applies here, the power brick has an AC input but the output to the Xbox is DC which doesn't have a frequency.
Just for reference the power brick does have a wide hertz range on the input of 47 - 63 hertz from memory, so would be Good US or UK but suprisingly the voltage range does no tcover the required range.

[Godfrey1956]

Hi

Thanks for the suggestion, however I don't think it applies here, the power brick has an AC input but the output to the Xbox is DC which doesn't have a frequency.
Just for reference the power brick does have a wide hertz range on the input of 47 - 63 hertz from memory, so would be Good US or UK but suprisingly the voltage range does no tcover the required range.

Hey mate, well you certainly ruled out the frequency aspect; that's good. I had another idea as I was re-reading your original post. You said that when you started using the X-Box with RS, you used a cheap travel guitar which worked fine. I am assuming that you did the sound-check and config. in game using that guitar originally but, did you redo the sound check in the UK with the better guitar that you are now using ? The problem might just be that the better guitar has a higher output signal from its pickups which might be overdriving the input signal levels you setup with the cheap guitar which, in all probability, has a lower output pickup signal. You also mentioned that this only happens when the guitar is active. Overdriving signal levels can cause 'dropouts and pops'. Redo the sound-check in RS if you haven't already done so and see if that helps. Keep me posted and, Rock On

[dee436]

You might have just hit the nail square on the head there, I forgot all about calibrating the guitar to the game,
I will give that a try when I am home from work.
Got the disk repair tool coming today but will run the calibration ans see how that works out before I use it, just in case it trashes the disk altogether

Thanks

[Godfrey1956]

You are most welcomed, dee436. I trust that all will be well, and that you do not miss out on any enjoyment of this incredibly awesome game/learning tool. Rock On.

[Godfrey1956]

dee436, I hope that the addage 'no news is good news' applies here and that your issues were resolved by running the calibration tool. Rock On !

[dee436]

All seems good, thanks for the help

Ps the Skip Dr disk repair machine arrived and although I had to run the disk through it many many more times than recommended it now reads perfectly and I was able to install to my hard drive.
Looking forward to getting the update next week