Problem recording the right channel with USB Mixer

M

Mic_Duggan

New member
Hopefully this is the right place for a basic question from a newbie.

I am setting up a podcast recording, and I would like to be able to edit my 2 microphone tracks separately after the fact. I have a xenyx Q1202 usb mixer and I am recording into Adobe Audition. My goal was to pan one mic left and the other right, then extract the channels to mono tracks and be able to edit them individually.

The problem is I can't get anything to come out of the mixer when I have either of the channels panned right. When panned center or left, it records just fine, and I have tried switching the microphones, cable, etc, and there is no difference. I believe my settings on the mixer are all correct (I could be wrong) and my lights are showing levels on the mixer itself.

I am hoping someone can help me determine if this is a hardware problem, or a problem with my setup/approach.

Thank you!
Michael
 
Mic_Duggan said:
Hopefully this is the right place for a basic question from a newbie.

I am setting up a podcast recording, and I would like to be able to edit my 2 microphone tracks separately after the fact. I have a xenyx Q1202 usb mixer and I am recording into Adobe Audition. My goal was to pan one mic left and the other right, then extract the channels to mono tracks and be able to edit them individually.

The problem is I can't get anything to come out of the mixer when I have either of the channels panned right. When panned center or left, it records just fine, and I have tried switching the microphones, cable, etc, and there is no difference. I believe my settings on the mixer are all correct (I could be wrong) and my lights are showing levels on the mixer itself.

I am hoping someone can help me determine if this is a hardware problem, or a problem with my setup/approach.

Thank you!
Michael
Click to expand...

Hi Michael and welcome.
You cannot pan to the right hand channel because there is nothing plugged into it! Mixer chnnels should be viewed as pairs, 1/2, 3/4 and so on (if you setup 4 stereo tracks on a DAW they will be numbered the same way).

You need two microphones, ch1 and ch2 to pan between them but that is a bit of an overkill. You could use an XLR 'splitter' cable. One XLR female into the mic out to two XLR males to the mixer.

A word of caution. Very often USB mixers do NOT send the final*, mixed.EQ'ed, panned signal to the USB port. Many take the signal just post mic pre amp. It sounds as though your mixer might send a panned signal out but worth a check before you order the cable?

*That is to say the signal that emerges from the Main Out jacks or XLRs. You would THINK instinctively that is what would go via USB but it don't and I cannot really understand why?

Dave.
 
The problem may lie in Adobe Audition.

The two mikes would be plugged into separate channels of the mixer, one panned left, the other panned right. The mixer would then be sending, via USB, left and right tracks into the computer.

I'm not sure how Audtion works, but I expect two tracks have been set up to record, but both are seeing input 1, i.e. the left channel coming in. So I expect the second track's input in Audition needs to point to input 2, i.e. the right channel.

If it is not this, then we need to rethink.
 
I have had a 'senior moment' there! Of course you can pan ch 1 to the right mix bus! That does NOT mean however that the USB encoder is listening to it!

I have Adobe 1.5 but unfortunately it does not seem to like W7 and will not run in standard mode, I have to 'insert into multitrack' to hear things and therefore I don't use it much at all.

For podcasting I would have thought Audacity would be all you need?

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
I have had a 'senior moment' there! Of course you can pan ch 1 to the right mix bus! That does NOT mean however that the USB encoder is listening to it!

I have Adobe 1.5 but unfortunately it does not seem to like W7 and will not run in standard mode, I have to 'insert into multitrack' to hear things and therefore I don't use it much at all.

For podcasting I would have thought Audacity would be all you need?

Dave.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your response Dave. I tried plugging into audacity as well, but to the same result. Do you know how I would need to set up my recording tracks in order to get the desired result?
 
I don't use audacity much, but do have it on the system - there's an option in the menu bar to select the source device and then mono, or stereo. If I apply a stereo source to the stereo input channel, left is left and right is right. Is this not doing this on yours? If so then it's a mixer issue?
 
After doing some more research, it appears that the xlr inputs on this mixer are mono input, and there are separate channels that have stereo line-in inputs that have L & R options. It seems that while using xlr inputs into this mixer, everything will come out with a mono signal, which is why panning right just causes silence.

Does this make more sense to any of you with more audio experience, or I am completely misunderstanding how different channels on mixers work?
 
Mic_Duggan said:
After doing some more research, it appears that the xlr inputs on this mixer are mono input, and there are separate channels that have stereo line-in inputs that have L & R options. It seems that while using xlr inputs into this mixer, everything will come out with a mono signal, which is why panning right just causes silence.

Does this make more sense to any of you with more audio experience, or I am completely misunderstanding how different channels on mixers work?
Click to expand...

XLR inputs (and outputs) are ALWAYS mono! 3 pole XLR anyway. If you can find one you would do well to study a 'block signal flow diagram' for the mixer. If you cannot find one for that specific mixer (and many companies have stopped putting them in their user manuals) find a mixer closest to yours i.e. with the same number of ins and outs.

No good saying "Oh! I can't cope with diagrams and technical stuff" You HAFF'T unless you can afford to employ a part time sound tech!

'The Naming of The Parts' is often the best first step.

Dave.
 
Mic_Duggan said:
After doing some more research, it appears that the xlr inputs on this mixer are mono input, and there are separate channels that have stereo line-in inputs that have L & R options.
Click to expand...

Most contemporary mixers have a range of mono and stereo inputs.


Mic_Duggan said:
It seems that while using xlr inputs into this mixer, everything will come out with a mono signal, which is why panning right just causes silence.
Click to expand...

If you use an XLR input, it is in fact a mono source. But that source can appear anywhere on the left or right output depending on how you adjust the pan knob.

You can check this with headphones plugged into the mixer.

If, when you pan right, there is silence, it means there is something wrong with the mixer. If you do hear something, it means the problem lies elsewhere, and most likely how you have set up the inputs on the DAW.
 
I found a similar forum post elsewhere for the same mixer, and I am beginning to think it is a hardware problem. I also realize that I don't have the right connectors to monitor with headphones, so when I get that I will be able to confirm.

If I find another solution I will post again, thank you to everyone for chipping in!
 
Mic_Duggan said:
The problem is I can't get anything to come out of the mixer when I have either of the channels panned right.
Click to expand...

You really haven't mentioned WHERE it is coming out of the mixer. USB? Headphones? Main Outs?

I seriously doubt it is a hardware problem. I'm guessing you don't have Adobe Audition set up properly. For what you want to do, you need two mono tracks in Audition. One of the tracks should get its input from Channel 1 or Left Channel. The other should be from Channel 2 or Right Channel. Then, on the mixer, you can pan to the correct side, depending on the channel assignments in Audition.

Let us know if that works or not.
 
Hi!

I have recorded more than 400 weekly broadcast radio shows with 2 mics, a high quality XLR "Y" cable that ends up as a stereo mini plug and a Sony digital recorder with a "line in" setting. Because I am recording talk, not music, automatic volume control is fine.

Not only is it a highly portable rig, it is totally silent (no PC fan noise or HD noise) and the file is safely on an SD card which is then transferred to a PC for editing on Adobe Audition. No "updates are available" to slow you down!

I can tweak the guest track and then mix down to mono later for broadcast.

My approach is pretty foolproof and has the added security that if you or your PC blows up the file, you still have it. Hope this helps.
 
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