Meltdown - Please help me! (long thread)

C

chapelhillbilly

New member
First off, here is my setup:

Adobe Audition 1.0 Software

Samson CL7 Condenser Mic>
Behringer Eurorack UB1202 Mixer>
Delta 44 Breakout Box>
Soundcard

Delta 44 Breakout Box (two outs)>
Samson C-que Headphone Amp

============================

The other day I was recording some vocal tracks over a pre-recorded guitar track and all of the sudden the stereo sound drops out of my mic and it goes mono. It does this for a few seconds and then pops back into stereo. It does this quite a bit. I swap out mic cables and it does it again. I try both cables in the other two channels on the mixer, again, it goes out.

At this point, I'm convinced my mic is going out. I order this kit from Sam Ash (MXL2003 & MXL603) to replace the Samson. Out of the box, I hook them up and the issue seemed to repeat itself. I swapped out my balanced cables on the breakout box and that seemed to fix the problem. But then I plugged the Samson mic back in to test it, and it did it again.

I just don't know what to think here as to just what the problem is. The other issue is that the MXL2003 mic in the kit is really bad. It sounds like I was recording vocals in a tin can. I'm just gonna send this things back and try and get another Samson since I need one anyways.

So here's the deal, anyone have any clue where this problem could be? I'm really frustrated and at a loss here. Any help is grately appreciated!

Thanks everyone!
Don
 
tnjazz said:
the likely culprit
Click to expand...

See, I thought this as well but I just now did a full run through of vocal tracks on a song just now with my Shure PG58 and I had not a single dropout or flutter. I'm so confused here, lol.

Is there a way I can take this condensor to the store where I bought it and have them test it or something to see if there is indeed a problem with it?
 
At the heart of your problem seems to be this: "all of the sudden the stereo sound drops out of my mic and it goes mono".

I have some difficulty in figuring out exactly what that means, and it is difficult suggesting a solution.

I understand you have a pre-recorded guitar track. I don't know if this is stereo or mono, nor if you recorded it. If you recorded it, and did so successfully, it sound like your problem is new.

There are many places in the signal path where things can go wrong. If you were talking about a stereo sound disappearing in your headphones while monitoring what you are recording, the problem could be anywhere from mixer to headphone amp, and all stops between.

I find it hard to imagine circumstances that would make it a mike problem. But then again, I may not have grasped the issue.
 
the stereo sound drops out of my mic and it goes mono
Click to expand...

Um, your mic is only mono. If you want to record in stereo, u need two mics. Your problem is else ware in your signal chain
 
What I am assuming he is saying is that he hears the mic coming through his phones and it is intermitantly dropping out on one side.

What kind of headphones do you have? Are they old?
Just a weird thought but could your headphones be the problem?
If they are cheapos they tend to go bad after a while from abuse.
If it was me I would try a diferent pair just to see.

After that I would try a diferent chanel on your headphone amp.

Then I would try moving the breakout box cable on your 44.

Just keep eliminating till you find the culprit.

If given the choice between a Samson or a MXL mic take the MXL! :confused:

They make a better mic in my own opinion, or maybe you got abused 2003.

-Blaze
 
Ok, to be more clear on what I meant about the "drop out".

what will happen is that I will be recording a vocal track and then all of the sudden there's a significant drop in level. I look at the PC screen as this happens and I notice the wave lines drop on one side of the visual track. DOes this make sense?

trying to be clear here. Hope that helps.
 
Ok this is kind of making more sense.

So literaly you dropping out someware.

Have you tried all of the inputs on the 44? Or messed with the 44's breakout cable(Is it old broken ect)? You said you replaced your cables from mixer to sound card?

This is starting to sound like a soundcard issue to me.

You may need to contact M-Audio, if the card is new they will replace it if it has an issue.

If you can test the mixer out someware else, like if you buddy has a recording setup try it there or even try it plugged into a PA or a cassette deck or jsut some way to test the audio. And listen back for the issue.

Just be sensable and try everything to be sure of the cause of the issue.

-Blaze
 
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