Aspects of the present disclosure describe controlling coherent crosstalk errors in multi-channel acousto-optic modulators (AOMs). A method, an AOM system, and a quantum information processing (QIP) system are described in which a separate radio-frequency (RF) signal is generated and applied to each of multiple channels of a multi-channel AOM using an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) to turn on each of those channels, where each channel that is turned on interacts with one or more of the remaining channels that are not turned on to cause a combined crosstalk effect on those remaining channels. Each channel has a single respective AWG. Moreover, a correcting RF signal is generated and applied to the one or more of the remaining channels using a respective AWG to produce an acoustic wave that corrects for the combined crosstalk effect such that the one or more of the remaining channels are not unintentionally turned on.