Very low direct monitoring levels

M

Mikee3man

New member
Hi everyone,

I am using an Alesis IO2 Express interface with a SAMSON CO3 microphone to record my acoustic guitar. I run the interface into reaper and I use the headphone jack on the alesis as my output.

When I plug it all in and set the knob on the alesis to direct I can barely hear what the microphone is picking up. This is a problem as I cant hear what im playing through my headphones. The playback after recording sounds great (after turning the knob to USB of course). I am just struggling with the monitoring of my set up.

Is there a setting in Reaper that needs to be changed to raise this volume? or is it something to do with the Alesis? If anyone could help me i would highly appreciate it.

Many Thanks,
Mike
 
Can you turn the headphone output up? It's typical to have to run your headphone output higher during production (tracking, mixing) than when listening to finished recordings.

Nothing in Reaper will affect the interface's direct monitoring. That's the point of direct monitoring, to avoid the latency caused by indirect (through the computer) monitoring.

Also, be sure you're tracking at the right level. The average level of a track should be around -18dBFS, with peaks never getting near 0. Impulsive sources like drums may need to be set by peak level, around -12dBFS.
 
Thanks for the quick reply and for the tip! My phones output is as loud as it can go on the interface and it is still very soft. Do i need some sort of headphone amplifier? (I have Audio Technica M40fs headphones) I really hope not. I will try check on the alesis forums as well to see if anyone has had a similar problem.
 
I was thinking that your headphones might have impedance too high for the headphone output, but 60ohms doesn't seem like it should be a problem. I've never had trouble driving my 62ohm Sennheiser HD 280 Pros. How old is the interface? Can you return it for a replacement or get some customer support?
 
Its only about a year old, and i have hardly used it. A friend of mine brought it back from America for me so I cant take it back unfortunately (Im in South Africa)
 
There should be a control that balances the direct sound with the sound from the daw. That is probably set too far towards the daw.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top