Alesis 3632 Buzzing Problem

**Steenamaroo** · 09-21-2012

Originally Posted by bouldersoundguy

Thanks for pointing that out. I don't think it changes the basic idea that unless you have a pretty special compressor you're going to be better off doing it with a plugin.

You're probably right.
I think that's maybe something the OP will consider with time; You know how it is when you buy new gear. You wanna find out for yourself.

That being said, OP, if you're up for being drastic I'd agree with BSG in the long run. Sell everything and buy a simple interface.
A completely straight forward all in one box with a few preamps. It keeps life simple and you aren't committed to any compressor settings.
You can spend time manipulating your sounds at your leisure.

**bouldersoundguy** · 09-21-2012

Originally Posted by Steenamaroo

You're probably right.
I think that's maybe something the OP will consider with time; You know how it is when you buy new gear. You wanna find out for yourself.

On the bright side using a hardware compressor is the best way to learn how they work. There just something about being able to turn a knob with your fingers and hear the effect instantly.

And for guitar there are times when you want the compressor in the chain before other effects. That's a reasonable exception to the habit of avoiding compression on the way in. I like compression to get sustain ahead of a distortion pedal so the distortion tone doesn't drop off as fast. If you compress after distortion it sounds weird because the distorted sound fades faster than the volume. I would use a pedal for that but a rack compressor could also work.

**byrongore** · 09-22-2012

Thanks for all the great input guys!

I've been using plugins for quite a while. I wanted to up it a notch and use a hardware compressor for the simple fact that I am a singer and record a lot of vocals. I have found that it does sound to unnatural with plugins. I want to be able to control the sound on the way in so there are no peaks. A lot of my songs have soft and loud parts in the vocals. I can tell the difference in the recording if I use mic control. When I move away from the mic for the louder parts the tone becomes more mid to high end. As you know the closer you are to the mic the more bass you are going to get. I use a pop shield at about 6 inches away. I've done a lot of studio recording and they always tell me to stay up close to the mic even on the loud parts and to not move away. I want to recreate that at home. (studios are way to costly) When I record my vocals I'm unable to see when I'm clipping. I wanna set up the comp to handle that before hand.

As far as the buzz goes. I have just bought 4 balanced 3 foot cables. Of course there is no point running a balanced into the 1/4" instrument input on the fast track. But I am going to use them to connect the compressor to the mixer. As I have said before I only get the buzz on my 'RAIN' event mini system. The PSU on the computer was dieing so that may have had something to do with the high buzz sound. I sent the computer back to Rain yesterday as it still falls under warranty. So far the customer support from them has been very good. I just hope the new PSU sorts out the problem.

OK I tried selling my Fast Track back to the store.

I phoned up Guitar Center today and asked if they would buy my Fast track as I wanna get a Fast Track Pro (that has the line inputs I need) They told me sure! We just need to see it first. I drove for 1 hour in bad traffic to get there only to be told they don't buy used Fast Tracks. So annoying!!! Anything that comes with software is hard to get rid off. So I ended up just buying more Balanced cables. I will eventually get a new audio interface. But until then I'm stuck with this one. The pro tools 8 that came with the Fast Track is very basic and only lets you add 3 effects. Another reason to have an external compressor. That leaves me with one extra fx option on PT. :P

Anyhow. If the compressor ain't buzzing on the laptop and only the PC doesn't that rule out the compressor as being the problem? I'm kinda wishing I had bought a studio-in-a-box type setup now :S

But it's interesting to hear all the different points of views and options from everyone!

Thanks again

It's pure torture waiting for my PC to be sent back to me lol

**bouldersoundguy** · 09-23-2012

Originally Posted by byrongore

Thanks for all the great input guys!

I've been using plugins for quite a while. I wanted to up it a notch and use a hardware compressor for the simple fact that I am a singer and record a lot of vocals. I have found that it does sound to unnatural with plugins. I want to be able to control the sound on the way in so there are no peaks. A lot of my songs have soft and loud parts in the vocals. I can tell the difference in the recording if I use mic control. When I move away from the mic for the louder parts the tone becomes more mid to high end. As you know the closer you are to the mic the more bass you are going to get.

You should see if you can try an EV RE20 or one of its relatives. They have minimal proximity effect so you can work the mic and not lose the tone.

Originally Posted by byrongore

I use a pop shield at about 6 inches away. I've done a lot of studio recording and they always tell me to stay up close to the mic even on the loud parts and to not move away. I want to recreate that at home. (studios are way to costly)

If they are using a compressor on the signal before it gets recorded there's a good chance it costs more than your whole setup. And there's an experienced engineer there to manage its operation. It's also possible they just set the gain so the signal doesn't clip when you get loud, and then edit/process it to even out the differences.

Originally Posted by byrongore

When I record my vocals I'm unable to see when I'm clipping. I wanna set up the comp to handle that before hand.

If you're clipping it means you have set the gain too high by at least 12dB. Turn it down so your loudest parts don't clip and then edit/process the recording to even out the differences.

**byrongore** · 09-23-2012

Cheers bouldersoundguy

Much appreciated

I will give all that a try.

**Steenamaroo** · 09-23-2012

BSG said most of the things I was thinking.

If you're using a compressor to control peaks (ie. as a limiter), then you're just tracking too hot.
Try to do some test recordings with no compressor, and the computer input meters in your line of sight.
That'll get you familiar with how everything should be set up.

I can pick a mic and preamp and set it up blindly for my vocals out of pure habit; I know exactly where everything needs to be.
You will too, with some practice and repetition.

BSG is right about a mic like an RE20, but I'm not sure I agree with the other guy's advice about always being very close to the mic.
There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to sing quietly outside of proximity effect's reach, and then sing loud even farther away.

If you hear a substantial difference then, it's probably a side effect of your acoustic environment.

Even if you do sing close enough to hear proximity effect kicking in, I find it's an undesirable frequency range anyway.
I would just high pass it right outta the mix and not worry about it.

Either way, If you like the idea of a hardware compressor in the chain, that's fair enough. I can't argue with that.
My plan would be to sell the fast track and the compressor.
Buy an interface with mic preamps built in, and hope that it comes with better equipped software. (I assume you're currently on PTSE?)

If it doesn't come with better software, just use reaper. It's gold for very little money.

We all choose our own paths for our own reasons, though. Best of luck whichever way you go.

**gecko zzed** · 09-23-2012

Originally Posted by byrongore

I appreciate any help you can give me on this as I really want to get a nice clean recording.

The best way to get a good clean recording is to lock the mixer and the compressor away in a cupboard, and record straight through the interface.

Minimising the length of the signal path is usually the best thing to do. Adding stuff (like mixers, compressors and other devices) to the signal path works best when their quality is vastly superior to what is available within your computer. In many home recording studios this is not the case, and all you are doing is adding noise unnecessarily.

Having said that, a compressor is an interruptive effect, not an additive effect. For example, reverb is additive, so you use an FX send to go to a reverb unit, come back from the reverb unit into an FX return or into a spare channel, and control how much you add. With a compressor, you interrupt the signal path. You could go line-out from the mixer to the compressor, line-out from the compressor to line in of the interface.

**byrongore** · 10-06-2012

Hey guys thanks for the added input. My PC is still at the company I bought it from. Hopefully it will come back all nice and fixed. I am going to sell the Fast Track as soon as I get a better interface. Any good suggestions on a budget? I'm trying to record an acoustic singer/songwriter album. Very much in the same field as Damien Rice and his 'O' album. I know he recorded the album on some 8 track in various houses (even on his mums kitchen table) And he sold millions regardless of the recording quality. I don't expect to sell millions (although that would be nice lol) I just wanna produce my own album before I get any older. Do you think a digital multi track would be better? I wanna keep it simple but with good quality. And I wanna keep it sounding like it does when I perform live. So I need to be able to have enough input to do that. Right now I'm stuck with 2 inputs.