Hi,
I make music on a home-built PC workstation I put together in 2007. C2D E6600, 3.25GB, 32 bit XP... I'm a piano player and have two keyboards (88 key weighted action + 61 key synth) for generating virtual instruments in Reaper. So, essentially, nothing gets recorded "over the air" except vocals, because everything else is in the FX chain in the DAW, as MIDI running through a MidiSport 4X4.
My sound card is a several year old PCI M-Audio Delta 66 with the (long since discontinued) Omni breakout box, which I got because it has two XLR inputs with preamps, or phantom power for my vox mic (Shure SM58). Here's the problem:
Just recently, the dual preamps have stopped functioning properly. I get an extremely weak signal, perhaps getting to -48 db even with the gain all the way up and screaming into the microphone. I've tried substituting both mic and cable, so I know it's not that. The Omni box still shows a signal, and indicates the red clipping light as it should if I yell into or tap on the mic, but the levels show as really low in Reaper (same in Adobe Audition). It's as though the noise floor level is shot, because if I turn all the knobs up (including the virtual ones) I get weak recorded content smothered in noise.
Is there any way to tell if the problem is in the box vs. the PCI card? All of the other I/Os still seem to be fine. I can record both MIDI and audio from my keyboards as expected. Ideas? Thoughts? Any advice would be appreciated.
TIA, and peace.
I make music on a home-built PC workstation I put together in 2007. C2D E6600, 3.25GB, 32 bit XP... I'm a piano player and have two keyboards (88 key weighted action + 61 key synth) for generating virtual instruments in Reaper. So, essentially, nothing gets recorded "over the air" except vocals, because everything else is in the FX chain in the DAW, as MIDI running through a MidiSport 4X4.
My sound card is a several year old PCI M-Audio Delta 66 with the (long since discontinued) Omni breakout box, which I got because it has two XLR inputs with preamps, or phantom power for my vox mic (Shure SM58). Here's the problem:
Just recently, the dual preamps have stopped functioning properly. I get an extremely weak signal, perhaps getting to -48 db even with the gain all the way up and screaming into the microphone. I've tried substituting both mic and cable, so I know it's not that. The Omni box still shows a signal, and indicates the red clipping light as it should if I yell into or tap on the mic, but the levels show as really low in Reaper (same in Adobe Audition). It's as though the noise floor level is shot, because if I turn all the knobs up (including the virtual ones) I get weak recorded content smothered in noise.
Is there any way to tell if the problem is in the box vs. the PCI card? All of the other I/Os still seem to be fine. I can record both MIDI and audio from my keyboards as expected. Ideas? Thoughts? Any advice would be appreciated.
TIA, and peace.