Microphone problems with Sonar 2

[Graymalkin2001]

I use a Dell PC with SoundblasterLive! soundcard with Sonar 2 XL. I decided to get a decent microphone and preamp, so I purchased an AKG C-3000 condenser mic, and an ART Tube MP Studio preamp (phantom power for mic). In all settings, I get a lot of hiss. NOT what I expected. Using my trusty Carvin CM68, however, I get clear sound with no hiss, with or without the preamp (although stronger signal with preamp, obviously).
Obviously, the soundcard has 1/8" stereo input, so I've tried the C-3000 in a variety of ways: XLR in, 1/4" transformer in, 1/4" out, transformer out (with 1/4" to 1/8" adapter), and I still get hiss.
I purchased the mic & preamp from Musician's Friend. Judging from the highlighter marks in the owner's manual, it is a return, so I wonder if the previous owner damaged the mic.

If anyone has any advice on correcting the mic problem, please let me know. I expected to be pleased with the AKG/ART combo, but it has been frustrating.

Thanks!

[Paul881]

Usually, I would almost guarantee that it is your soundcard. You don't say which soundblaster card it is but the problem with them is that they have a noisy front end, I could never get my volume knob anywhere near full without all that white noise. Signal to noise ratio is poor. But you seem to have had a decent experience with it in the past so.....I'm somewhat taken aback.

You say you have a Live! card. That has a front panel with a 1/4 input, not a 1/8. Are you using the front panel or the rear connector?

Another area to look at is the quality of the cables being used. These need to be pristine, it is amazing what poor quality cables can do to your signal.

The mic you bought is a great piece of kit, try using it in another sound system to test it.

[williamconifer]

Paul,

I used to use a SBLive card. Remember that card has a mic in and a line in. The mic in has a horrible noisy preamp. The Line in is not so bad. The card itself does not have a line in ( i believe) so you need the daughter card or the Live Drive. If you have a Live Drive (front mount 5.25" ) it has a line in. If you don't then look for one used. OR better yet dump the SBLive card and get a M-Audio or Terratec pro quality card for $160 and never look back. Remember you sound card is the single most important device in your computer DAW.

Oh and I always thought the biggest pro for the SBlive card was the hardware soundfont sampler. I screwed around with that for about a week then went straight to software samplers and (again) never looked back.

good luck
jack

[Paul881]

William, I agree with all you say, I have a delta66+omni set-up for audio with a s/blaster Live which I should ditch cos I only use it for its midi front panel connector. Soundfonts are great but I use Livesynth pro and that handles all my soundfonts now instead of the s/blaster. I am getting a new DAW soon with USB and firewire connections so that will see the end of the s/bLive!

I didn't understand why Graymalkin is using his rear panel connectors when as you say, he has a 1/4 Line in connector on the front panel.

[Graymalkin2001]

Simple. I don't have the front panel! The computer came with a SB with standard 1/8" jacks. Hey, if it had 1/4", believe me, I wouldn't have hooked up to the dinky 1/8"!
I've tried M-Audio, and had terrible experiences. So, I'm looking for a decent soundcard with 1/4", and preferable also XLR and midi.
Any recommendations on a decent recording card would be welcome!

[Graymalkin2001]

Okay, I've stated my experiences with M-Audio. And it may have been the accursed Windows ME that brought on the demon. At any rate, I reconsidered the M-Audio gear, and decided "nope".

So, I am seriously considering buying a Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96 specifically for recording. From what I've read, it has the audio quality I want, and the variety of connections (everything but MIDI, but that's no biggie since I'm primarily an acoustic musician), and the price is appealing.

In one shootout between the DMX and the Audigy, the reviewer mentions the "necessity of investing in a dedicated card" with the DMX. Perhaps I'm missing something, but is this true?? I thought the DMX IS a recording soundcard with essentially a breakout box?! IS an additional soundcard required??

I'm not a real big gamer (and can't currently afford a computer dedicated to recording), but I'm probably keeping the SB Live! for any MIDI apps, soundfonts, and games.

Also, I haven't checked Cakewalk's recommended soundcard listing (yet), but has anyone any experiences with Terratec used with Sonar 2 XL?

Thanks for any response!

[williamconifer]

Originally posted by Graymalkin2001
Also, I haven't checked Cakewalk's recommended soundcard listing (yet), but has anyone any experiences with Terratec used with Sonar 2 XL?

Thanks for any response!

I run the Terratec 2496 EWX card. It runs great with Sonar 2XL. OK latency around 12ms or so with WDM drivers. I run Fruity using the ASIO drivers and get 5ms latency! Keep in mind that Terratec advertises the card as 4 in 4 out. That is 2 analog in/out and 2 digital optical i/o.

I got 3 bones about the 2496EWX.

1) I cannot install Gigastudio on my computer and have Sonar access the Terratec drivers. As I understand there is a multithread problem here. I run Gig samples using Kontak or HALion instead. This bugs me.

2) Fostex is the suporting company. I called them with the above problem and all they could say is call Cakewalk.

3) The spdif in/outs are only optical. I really wanted coax so I could run my digital speakers right out of the card. This is not a major prob for me since I run everything through my Mackie board anyway.

At $160 it's a great value and considering that I can't complain about the GIgastudio problem. It sounds great. I hooked up a Studio Projects B1 condeser mic using an ART studio MP preamp, my Mackie 1402VLZ into my Terratec and was blown away. I had a vocalist in who was wearing nylon running pants and I could hear the "whoosh" the pants made when he moved his legs! I could hear him breathing through his nose between passages. Outstanding sound combo, totally natural. I run Win2k as my OS btw

Good luck
jack

[Paul881]

I've tried M-Audio, and had terrible experiences. So, I'm looking for a decent soundcard with 1/4", and preferable also XLR and midi

Which M-audio and how long ago? I think it is a superb card, it worked for me out of the box alongside my S/b, no IRQ conflicts or anything...and I'm only using win 98!