Oops!

[RockClimber]

So a few days ago, I accidentally unplugged my condenser mic from my M-Audio Fast Track II with the phantom power switched on. Both the mic and the interface still seems to work fine, but whenever I start and end a recording there is a weird sound that almost like a static click. I don't know if it’s been like this all along and I am just now noticing it or if hot plugging could cause this. What else could be going on causing this click noise?

 

[Bobbsy]

It's unlikely that hot plugging could cause a problem like that. It's a bad idea because of the "pop" you usually get which can be nasty for speaker drivers but, barring completely frying something, I don't see the sort of problem you describe as being a result.

You don't mention what software you're using but I'd start there. Generally your DAW just picks up the data stream from you're interface and records it--there's no two way communication to "tell" the interface or mic whether or not they're being recorded so it's highly unlikely any noise when you start or stop record comes from anywhere but in your computer.

If I had to guess (and this is a long shot) it could be that your interface is being grabbed by some other process between recordings and the noise is a quick reset of bit depth, sample rate or whatever.

Bob