There are several perfectly good reasons why you might lose audio or get
some background sound.
A couple examples:
Using two filters in series, one in HP, the other LP, there is an range in
the cutoff frequencies that will cancel most sound. In fact, because filters
alter phase, there many scenarios in which you could phase-cancel what
you're trying to hear.
The ring modulator does have a slight amount of bleedthrough which is
documented in the instructions/theory of operation.
Of course something might be wrong. There are a lot of subtle things that
can go wrong without bringing down the system, so it would be best if you
were more specific about the patch and which modules were used, etc.
I hot-patch all the time, and I have no problems. I still try to understand
exactly which I/O does, and avoid patching input to input, output to output,
etc. Of course, knowing the modules really well (and I'm not suggesting you
don't) helps avoid lost audio--sometimes it's a simple matter of "oops--I
put the audio into the 1v/oct input, not the audio input!"
Good luck,
David.
> -----Original Message-----
>
> Howdy all,
> My MOTM synth is still in a nascent stage, 10-12 modules, and I'm
> attempting a comeback to electronic music after a 25 year or so
> hiatus, but
> the early results are encouraging. I'm at the point where I can do some
> serious monkeying around. Any case, I've been messing w/ this
> one patch, and
> have been getting some funny results. At some point, while twiddling the
> dials, I'll lose audio, or there might be a slight background sound if I
> really crank the amp. I power down the synth, power it up, and
> I'm more or
> less back to where I was. Paul S. has assured me that I can hot
> plug to my
> hearts delight, and not worry about harming anything, the stuff is
> bulletproof. I thought maybe I had screwed the pooch when the
> reverb unit I
> was sending the signal to went dead (was ready to check the
> warranty) - until
> I discovered I had kicked out the power supply. But I really don't think
> it's an electromechanical problem. Probably some pure electronic
> thing (I'm
> on the dark side of the moon on EE stuff) like phase cancellation. I've
> driven a Mac G3 to the state of cold molasses w/ a digital synth
> program, in
> a very roughly similar patch. (Hence analog reaffirmation).
> Just wondering
> if anyone has had similar experiences, or any ideas. Not
> terribly important.
>
> Ernie Steck