Help Needed: Popping and Cracking Sounds on Tsunami Super WAV Trigger

Sensors Sound & Audio
1

Hello everyone,

I’m seeking assistance with my Tsunami Super WAV Trigger (25 Voice model), which is producing unwanted noise despite proper setup conditions. Below are the details of my setup and the issues I’m experiencing.

Equipment Setup:

SD Cards: Two 16GB cards tested, formatted in FAT32, Class 10

Audio Files: Stereo WAV files, 44.1kHz

Power Supply: Multiple units tested, all 5V 2A

Output Devices: Various speakers and headphones

Firmware: Updated to the latest version, 2.03s

Connections:

No connections to serial, MIDI, or Qwiic interfaces.

Playback initiated through buttons connected to the trigger pins.

Audio connections via soldered headers on the board linked to an audio port breakout board with jumper wires.

Audio Outputs: The board has 4 outputs, each tested, and all exhibit the same popping and cracking issues.

Issue Description:

I am encountering persistent popping and cracking noises across all outputs not just during playback:

With ‘Audio IN mixed to OUT’ Enabled: Continuous popping and cracking sounds occur, even with no input connected.

With ‘Audio IN mixed to OUT’ Disabled: The popping ceases, but slight crackling remains as WAV files play.

Troubleshooting Steps Taken:

Ensured SD cards are correctly formatted and WAV files meet the board’s specifications.

Used multiple power supplies to eliminate potential power issues.

Tested various speakers and headphones to dismiss any problems with external audio devices.

Updated the firmware to version 2.03s, hoping to resolve any software-related issues.

Kept connections simple: no serial, MIDI, or Qwiic interfaces used, and playback triggered only via buttons.

Carefully checked soldered connections on audio headers and ensured secure links with the audio port breakout board using jumper wires.

Tested all four audio outputs individually to confirm the issue is consistent across the board.

Despite these detailed troubleshooting steps, the popping and crackling problems persist, suggesting a potential issue with the board’s audio processing or output stages.

If anyone has experienced similar issues or has any insights or fixes, your advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

INI Files used.

INI #1

#TSUS

#TRIG 01, 0, 0, 0, 1, ,

#TRIG 02, 0, 0, 0, 1, ,

#TRIG 03, 0, 0, 0, 1, ,

#TRIG 04, 0, 0, 0, 1, ,

#TRIG 05, 0, 0, 0, 1, ,

AUDIO IN MIXED TO OUTPUT OFF. No popping and cracking sounds.

Popping and cracking on trigger playback only.

INI #2

#TSUS

#IMIX 1

#TRIG 01, 0, 0, 0, 1, ,

#TRIG 02, 0, 0, 0, 1, ,

#TRIG 03, 0, 0, 0, 1, ,

#TRIG 04, 0, 0, 0, 1, ,

#TRIG 05, 0, 0, 0, 1, ,

INPUT MIXED TO OUTPUT ON. Continuous popping and cracking sounds

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HxbBmcfkbAU

2

If I understand correctly that you’re hearing clicks and pops when the input is enabled, with nothing connected to the input and no sounds playing from the microSD card (status LED off, flashing heartbeat), then this is certainly not normal behavior and it’s possible something is wrong with your board. Hopefully, someone from SparkFun tech support will respond.

3

Based on the video I’d say 2 things:

It might be the speaker causing slight brown-out, it looks pretty big…how is it being powered?

A noisy power supply might also be the cause; try using a battery (or a laptop) to power it and see how that goes

4

The OP stated that he tried different power supplies as well as different speakers, including headphones.

Please confirm the following: Enable the input-to-output function, and with only power and headphones attached to the Tsunami, and no sounds being triggered (you should see the LED flash about once every 3 seconds) do you hear the artifacts in the headphones?

5

Correct. As soon as it powers on I hear the noise, and only when Input to output is enabled. Yes, LED flashing every 3 seconds and nothing plugged in to the input. Both on battery powered speaker and apple earphones. Tried 2 different power adapters one being the official raspberry pi 5 power adapter. if input to output is off there is no popping, only a slight crackling during playback, Im guessing that’s the SD card. I ordered the a new SD card. It’ll be here tomorrow.

6

Regarding in the input-to-output crackling, that certainly seems like an issue with your Tsunami. Could you possibly make a short direct recording (no input signal and no tracks playing - supposedly silence) and post a link to it?

As for the microSD card, please review the following recent article and consider running the new test firmware.

https://www.robertsonics.com/blog/micro … audio-2024

7

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aerW6TknQ50

Input on, constant popping and cracking.

No improvement with new SD card. input off, still slight cracking during playback.

I have the original WAV trigger and audio playback is crystal clear with all my SD cards.

8

It would be more helpful if you could record the output audio using a computer / audio interface and post the result as a short uncompressed .wav file.

9

Was it purchased from us? If so head over to www.sparkfun.com/returns (contact vendor if purchased elsewhere) and we’ll get ya squared away

10

robertsonics:
It would be more helpful if you could record the output audio using a computer / audio interface and post the result as a short uncompressed .wav file.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xsl9fyq9 … 7skso&dl=0

11

Certainly looks to me like a hardware issue. I suggest following up with returns.

12

robertsonics:
Certainly looks to me like a hardware issue. I suggest following up with returns.

Sent in a RMA request via the online form a couple of days ago. Still no reply.

13

I have your ticket open and will be replying today. Sorry for the delay.