Can anyone help me with my mic? :-(

[Leena]

Hello guys.

I really hope someone can help me a little bit about a frustating problem im having with my mic.

I've just bought a new computer and with it I changed from sony acid to adobe audition. I don't really know the technical ways to say this so I'll just try to explain it as best as possible.

When I used to record my vocals I always remember seeing two tracks, one on top of the other. Now for some reason I only get one and the sound is very different. My vocals sound less direct and more roomy/spacey ( if that makes sense ).

I opened two tracks up in audacity just to show you what I mean. Im still learning adobe audition so I thought that would be easier for now.


I've also notiiced that my computer wont let me record in mono. I don't know if that has anything to do with it as I think someone told me once that vocals should always be recorded in mono?

I've tried going through my settings but I can't find what might be wrong.

I'll also point out that this actually first happened on my old computer just as I was finishing some harmonies on a vocal track it suddenly went from the two track thing to the one track thing. I couldn't use what I had recorded as it sounded so different to the rest of the vocals so I just left it. I've only just got everything set up again to the new machine only to find im having the same problem.

I've got some vocals I badly need to record so I need to fix this now.

Do you think my mic may be broken?

I use a yoga FX-528 and an alpha lexicon preamp.

Any help will be great so thankyou in advance.


( oh, and I run windows 7 )

 

[Steenamaroo]

You're right, vocals are a mono source and one mic is a mono input. As such you should be recording to a mono track.

I duno if audacity lets you do it (I imagine it does) but you need to set your input device as 'input 1 mono' or whatever, instead of 'inputs 1+2 stereo.

When you're creating a new track, see if there's an option for new mono track and new stereo track.
If so, pick mono.

They way it's set up now, you're probably only hearing your voice through one speaker.

 

[Leena]

You're right, vocals are a mono source and one mic is a mono input. As such you should be recording to a mono track.

I duno if audacity lets you do it (I imagine it does) but you need to set your input device as 'input 1 mono' or whatever, instead of 'inputs 1+2 stereo.

When you're creating a new track, see if there's an option for new mono track and new stereo track.
If so, pick mono.

They way it's set up now, you're probably only hearing your voice through one speaker.

Thankyou so much for the speedy reply.
I think thats my problem with the mono/ stereo thing. My mic literally wont record in mono. Its just silence. Ive tried in both adobe audition and audacity and the only way I can get a recording is if I have it in stereo.

Ive tried the mono/ stereo switch on my alpha/ lexicon both on and off but it doesn't make any difference.

Im just confused as to where the problem is and why it doesnt want to record in mono. :-(

 

[Hakea]

Hi,

That sounds very frustrating.

All the tracks that you've pictured in Audacity are stereo tracks - even if what you actually got was just two copies of the same mono signal. In my (admittedly old copy) version of Audacity, you should be choosing Tracks/Add New/Audio Track (not Stereo Track). What happens if you do that and select a mono track at the setup (i.e. just plain Audio, not Stereo)? In other words, don't try and change the track once it's there, but pick mono right from a blank start. It should say Mono in the grey square on the left.

If you start with a stereo track (as pictured) and then try and change it to mono in the little red box that you've circled all you'll get is half a stereo track (which looks like what you've got in picture 2).

Apologies if you've already tried that.


Chris

 

[bouldersoundguy]

That second waveform is on the right channel, probably from input 2 of your interface. Input 1 likely goes to the left channel. Are you sure you are choosing the input in the DAW that matches the input the mic's connected to?

 

[Hakea]

Im just confused as to where the problem is and why it doesnt want to record in mono. :-(

It is recording in mono, just not the way you want it to.

Assuming that you have a regular type of microphone it will output a mono signal. If that's the case then the double 'stereo' tracks in picture 1 will be the same mono track recorded on both tracks. That is not the same as proper stereo where you want tracks that differ in some way.

So, as I said above, the first thing you need to do is set up a mono track in the first place. The next thing is to make sure that you're plugged into the right socket. I don't know your gear but some kit has two sockets for stereo - often marked L and R - and one may say something like L/Mono which means that if you're recording in stereo it's the left channel, but if you're doing mono then that's the one to use. If you plug into the other one (R in that case) you may get nothing.

As Bouldersoundguy says above, it does look like some version of a mismatch between left and right channels - either in the hardware or in the selection in the software.

Perhaps your problem is some version of that? Might be worth a look anyway.

Good luck with it.

Chris

 

[Bobbsy]

As others have said, your mic is a mono source anyway so just record in mono.

Specific to Audition, the way to tell it whether to give you a mono or stereo tracks varies slightly depending on what version of the software you have and also whether you record in the Waveform (Edit) View or Multitrack view.

Assuming you have the latest CS5.5 version, the first thing to do is go to the Edit/Preferences/Audio Hardware menu and set it to use the Lexicon drivers (hopefully ASIO) and set your sound interface as the default device.

Then go to the Edit/Preferences/Audio Channel Mapping menu and set the appropriate output (1 or 2, Left or Right) from your interface to go to the track you want to record to.

This should be enough for multitrack--if you record in Waveform/Edit view, the pop up menu you get when you hit the record button gives and option to a stereo or mono track--obviously hit mono (and, if you're not getting sound, swap things over in Audio Channel Mapping--or just change to the other input on your Lexicon.

Hope this helps.

 

[Hakea]

Any luck yet?

 

[Steenamaroo]

BSG is right.
The stereo recording you did only had signal on the lower half, which is traditionally right.
Right is usually input two on the interface, so is that where your mic is plugged in?


Either tell your software to record from input 2 mono, or move the mic to input 1.