Another recording problem/question...

G

ghostred7

New member
Setup in question:

Shure Beta52A for kick drum into Saffire Pro 40 connected via FW into PC running Sonar X1 Producer. Project setup is 24bit/96k

Weird thing #1 - When plugged in, the meter on the front of the Saffire is hitting upwards of about -3 (4/5 on the meter) with the knob turned all the way down. To my knowledge (will check later), this is with phantom pwr off for the channel.

Weird thing #2 - the audio sounds like it's clipped/overloaded big time (distorted/popping sound). This is being recorded with the knobs down or just a little up b/c I don't want to peak meters, etc.

I mean...i'm sure it's possible that how hard the drummer is hitting could be a contributing factor for #2, but it's pretty much doing it with even the slightest hit. This is my last major obstacle before doing our demo aside from figuring out where we're going to record it.

Thx in advance.
 
Ok so, you're clipping but with the gain turned down?

That's not impossible. It's not even unlikely. :)


Unless there's actually something wrong, you just need to use a pad or adjust your mic positioning.

For example, if your mic is right in the middle of a 5/6" hole cut in the reso head, then it's really easy to clip it.
If that was the case, I'd try turning the mic off axis a bit, or moving it into/out of the drum.



If it really is doing it with very light hits, to the point where the mic is unusable, there could be something wrong.
My re20 did that, right before I had the capsule replaced. :facepalm:



Any use?
 
The Phantom power is not needed for a Shure 52, so that will make no difference. I can tell you the almost always on the mixer input you have to pad the kick channel so peaking the input is common. I would buy one of these and pad the channel.

Cheers
Alan.
 
Sorry...been away at Dragoncon :P

I'll definitely look at the in-line pad. The Saffire channels I use (1 & 2) have a -9db (or -10db...depends on where you read) pad. The weirdest thing to me is still getting a signal w/ the channel knob all the way down.
 
ghostred7 said:
Sorry...been away at Dragoncon :P

I'll definitely look at the in-line pad. The Saffire channels I use (1 & 2) have a -9db (or -10db...depends on where you read) pad. The weirdest thing to me is still getting a signal w/ the channel knob all the way down.
Click to expand...

I would have thought the pad on the unit would have been enough, however I have a couple of mic pres that need a larger pad for the kick input, thats why I bought the pad I posted the link for. Some pres don't actually turn off completely with the volume down due to the volume being between a range rather then off and louder, i.e. the gain range is from 10db to 60 db, not 0db to 60db.

Cheers
Alan.
 
witzendoz said:
The Phantom power is not needed for a Shure 52, so that will make no difference. I can tell you the almost always on the mixer input you have to pad the kick channel so peaking the input is common. I would buy one of these and pad the channel.

Cheers
Alan.
Click to expand...

Wow I never seen one of these "Karma's", now that is a very practical solution to solve a few problems for sure and at a very good price at that.....:D
 
OK...even more weirdness. I'm wondering if my mic has gone south or if something else is going on. Presume the mic still works though...i'm going to try a different cable. Instead of peaking/etc....Every hit sounds like a distorted fart. I'm not sure if it's too close to the head or what....something is definitely going on. I'm going to go look at it again...maybe bring it home to test w/ different cables/settings/etc....was really bummed b/c we jammed well last night and the kick sounds like that. If you wanna hear it, I can export later this evening...but it's not pretty.
 
Have you tried just talking into it to see what it sounds like without the kick volume? Have you tried the pad? What are the level meters saying?

Alan.
 
witzendoz said:
Have you tried just talking into it to see what it sounds like without the kick volume? Have you tried the pad? What are the level meters saying?

Alan.
Click to expand...
OK....I think I finally figured out what was going on...total noob mistake.
I went back to the space today and looked inside the kick. Somehow it got moved to ~ 2-3" from the beater so I suspect that it was simply taking too much concussion, won't know until we try again. I took it out, plugged it into the PA, and talked with no issues. Mic health checked out. I have not tried the in-line pad, but it's plugged into the Saffire input that has the -10db pad. Meters aren't peaking at any point, nor are the levels in the software. There are no visual indications that there's too much going on.

Weird thing #1 (in OP) is still there. #2 will be validated next Tuesday
 
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