(Turn off power!  Let the machine discharge! Unplug!  Be careful!  High voltage
inside!)  Open your unit and make sure that all cards are seated properly.  Also do the same with the cables
that connect inbetween the cards.  Then check the audio lines running to the outputs.  If the cards got loose,
they could have tugged a cable and loosened a cold solder joint.  There should be a bar that runs accross the
bottom of both bins that helps to retain the cards in place during transport.  Check to make sure that is in place
to help alleviate this transport problem.  You could have a bad or loose ground inside the unit.  Check your
grounding straps on the back of the bins.  Any time you see a screw holding down a wire, make sure it is
snug.

    Otherwise, make sure you wire the Synclavier to your console as a BALANCED connection with Pin One
"lifted" at the mixer.  When I used any unbalanced connections or did not "lift pin one" I had tons of
processor noise.  You could hear sounds being loaded and screens being redrawn (as semi-loud buzzes and
beeps).  I freaked.  Then I saw it.  It was an unbalanced cable I had connected at the Composite Out.  It made
the FM sound particularly horrible!  Once removed, so was the noise.

On the stupid side:  Have you changed the filter switches so that more signal is getting through and more noise (it is a trade-off)?  Are you playing patches that have multiple partial timbres that drop your total playable polyphony?  Have you used your machine recently or are you powering it up after a long time in storage and playing it with a jaded 1990's ear?  Remember, the FM synthesis is based on 1970's 8 bit technology!  Have to ask....  It shouldn't be THAT noisy, however.

These are the most common and easily correctable problems that come right to my mind.  Even though the
machines are robust, it is Demas' policy to ask users to check their "innards" before powering up after a
move.

Brandon Amison
Yaking Cat Music Studios
and Synclavier Information