Freesound Forums

Sometimes I get one or more clicks on a track, while doing the recording, even when the gear isn´t moved. It happens with different microphones, preamps and recorders and I wonder if it has to do anything with mobile phones? Any idea what to do to prevend it happening?

Here are two examples:
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=69532
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=69533

Help!

when using my iRiver I got such clicks quite often (to the point that my first task processing any sample was looking for spikes). I assumed they were caused by a failure in the hard disk, but can't say for sure. They rarely if ever show since I started using the card recorder (R09), so maybe I was right at blaming the HD

About mobiles, the interference they cause is much more invasive than just a click, at least in my experience. They sound more like a rhythmic-electric ta-ta-ta-ta, could record a sample if you wish

D

The strange thing is, that I get them clicks on the R-09 as well. Mind you, not often at all... but sometimes.

I never had the rhythmic sound from mobile phones, one sometimes heres when being near a loudspeaker.

So is it maybe a signal from the aliens? :wink:

It doesn't sound to me like a technical error, a too slow running drive/machine would imo not cause this kind of click (it would just be a spike or simply samples skipped or remaining zero). It actually sounds more like a mechanical glitch, like something happens with the mic standard. However looking at the wave produced, I'd almost say there's an electronic error, some charge building up and when it releases, it clicks. Looks like a very short (one wave) low-frequency glitch.
Why it should happen with different mics on different recorders remains a mystery though.
I've personally never seen this happening or at least so little I'd count it as handling noise.

Does it happen no matter where you record? Maybe it's some cell-phone mast, powerlines, radar or something giving of a weak EMP. The wave looks completely identical to the one in this sample, where the magnetic field caused by a lightning striking 170m away makes the same click.
If possible, try recording at different locations several kilometers from eachother to find out if it only happens in a particular area.
If you're lucky, you might even be able to see an effect on a compass when the click occurs