Real stories from the frontlines of audio-visual chaos (and how CSD turned it around).
Some audio-visual nightmares don’t show up in the dark—they show up right when it matters most.
The mic that feeds back at the worst time. The LED wall that flickers like a ghost. The sound system that makes
every production feel like it’s underwater.
At CSD, we’ve seen these “haunted systems” up close. But every scary story has a turning point—and we’re
here to make sure yours ends well.
Here are six real-world tech horror stories we’ve encountered—and how we helped turn them into confidencebuilding, dream-level experiences.
1. The Invisible Volume Trap
“It’s loud back here—but quiet up front?”
We walked into a venue where the team swore the sound was cranked… but only from the booth. Turns out, their under-balcony speakers were turned up so loud that the people mixing couldn’t hear that the main front-ofhouse system wasn’t projecting properly for even coverage. The congregation up front? Struggling to hear anything clearly.
We rebalanced the system, adjusted zoning, and gave the team a better monitoring perspective. Instantly, the space came alive. Same system, smarter setup.
Lesson: Your ears will lie to you if you’re sitting in the wrong spot.
2. The LED Wall That Fought Back
“We thought we were saving money…”
A client had installed a beautiful new LED wall… using old infrastructure they thought would “work just fine.” Two weeks later, image distortion started creeping in like static ghosts. They called us in to investigate.
We reworked the cabling and corrected the underlying video path. Crisis averted.
Well, almost.
The next week, the screen started glitching again—only this time, it was intentional. The creative team loved
the glitched look and reprogrammed it as a visual effect during a worship song.
Not a technical issue. Just… art.
Lesson: Not every flicker is a fault—but it pays to be sure.
3. The Phantom Sound System
“It sounds like the old system again…”
OK, this one was a head-scratcher.
We’d just finished upgrading a full PA for a large performance venue. But a few months later, the in-house tech
called us back, frustrated.
“It doesn’t sound right. Can you re-tune it?”
We ran our diagnostics. Everything checked out. The system was clean. Then we looked at the soundboard.
Someone had slowly reshaped the mix to mimic their old system—dragging down all the benefits of the
upgrade. They were so used to the flaws of the past that they recreated them without realizing it.
We zeroed the board, rebuilt the mix, and walked the team through what the new system was actually capable
of.
Lesson: New gear needs new habits—and a fresh set of ears.
4. The Feedback That Wouldn’t Die
“Everything screams. All the time.”
A new client called us in with feedback issues that “no one else could fix.” We walked in and immediately
noticed the speaker placement was… suspicious. The wrong boxes in the wrong orientation, spilling sound
straight onto the stage.
Worse still, these speakers had uncontrolled frequency patterns between 500Hz and 3kHz—exactly the range
that feeds back first.
No amount of re-aiming could fix bad boxes. We helped the team understand the problem, designed a new
system, and replaced the gear.
The result? Clear, punchy sound—and zero howling ghosts.
Lesson: You can’t EQ your way out of a bad audio design.
5. The Plug-In Overdose
“We need a new PA… or do we?”
Another client thought their system needed a full upgrade—but we had a hunch.
When we showed up, we saw every channel stacked with plug-ins. Saturators, compressors, enhancers...
sometimes two or three deep. The sound was murky, slow, and distorted.
So we turned off the plug-ins. All of them.
Then we turned on the high-pass filter. And just like that—clarity returned.
Lesson: Sometimes, the best solution is using the tools you already have, the way they were meant to be used.
6. The Lights That Fought the Power
“We bought cheap lights. Lots of them.”
This one was truly spooky.
A venue decided to order an entire container of lighting fixtures from overseas—house lights, stage fixtures,
everything—based on a few promising samples and too good to be true pricing.
But once installed, the lights started dropping out, tripping breakers, and in one case, literally caught fire. Yikes.
The issue? None of the lights were UL listed or tested to U.S. safety standards.
So when they called us, we helped them source professional-grade replacements and ensured that what looked
good on paper wouldn’t burn the place down in real life.
Lesson: “Too good to be true” gear usually is.
Every Nightmare Has a Solution
We’ve been called into some pretty scary rooms.
But here’s what we’ve learned: the scariest problems are usually the most fixable—with the right team, the right
design, and the right support.
At CSD, we don’t just install AV systems, we restore confidence.
We rescue venues from scary situations, no matter what season of the year it is.
And yeah, sometimes, we must exorcise feedback demons (or at least it feels that way).
Don’t Let Your Tech Haunt You
If your system has quirks, ghosts, or gremlins…
Let’s get it sorted out before the next service becomes a horror show.
Reach out. We’re ready when you are: info@csdus.com
- David McCauley
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