MXL 990 Setup Questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ortizme
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Ortizme

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Thank you for taking the time to help, I'll get right to it.

I have an MXL 990 condenser mic wired to a Nady SMPS-USB Microphone Phantom Power Supply w/usb interface. It supposedly provides phantom power, and both the USB connection LED and the Phantom power LED are on. However, when I go to use it on the computer, the input is nowhere to be found (Running Windows 7 on a PC). From my little knowledge everything should be working but alas this is not the case. Any help would be appreciated.

I am using Audacity to record by the by.

This is my view in the sounds window. I have tried all of the devices but none of them seem to be the one.
soundsettings.webp
 
Unless you have another USB microphone, it's the top item in the list.
It'll do no harm to set it as the default device, as shown, but I imagine audacity will want you to specify in it's own menus too.

I see there's no gain control on that NADY which makes me question if it has a preamp built in, although it does say USB interface on the front......

IDK, does that little meter in the pic above move if you gently tap the mic?
Is there any software with this Nady?
 
No when I make sounds nothing happens on the meters and similarly nothing is recorded on any of the mic options that audacity gives me.

The Nady didn't come with any software and the box doesn't say it needs any. One of the reasons I turned to this forum is the lack of information they give about the product as far as setup or FAQ go.
 
Hmm. I'm not really sure.
If you view the properties for the usb device, or the configure tab if it's available, does it give you any sliders or anything like that?

The only other thing I can guess is maybe the USB port is providing enough power.

Are you plugging into a hub or a front port? If so, plug in round the back of the computer.
If it's a laptop, try other ports to see what happens.
 
I am plugging into a rear port and the unit has an AC power attachment that I have plugged into my power strip.
 
Ok, give the complete lack of controls on the unit, I'm gona guess the gain is controlled in windows and turned down by default.

Select the device in the image above and browse through properties/configuration.
You're looking for a mute tick box or some kind of mixer view.
 
This is the best I could find. The mic was initially set to 48% and it wasn't muted so I put it up to 100 for good measure and tried it out but still no response. Very odd.
soundset2.webp
 
Hmm. Sorry man. I'm not really sure what to tell you.
Maybe someone else will chime in.

Just be careful. If/when it does start working you might get crazy feedback with the level at 100.

What's under the 'listen' tab?
 
I have to admit I never much understood this tab haha. Hopefully you can make something of it.
sound3.webp

Also this is a driver/device view. I think it is picking up both the mic and the preamp.
sound4.webp
 
Sorry, I really don't know.
The 'listen to this device' box would make the mic live through the speakers, but whether that's ticked or not you should still get signal into your DAW.

Hold tight. At least all the info is posted. I'm someone will help. :)
 
Thank you for your help its good to know people are out there who know what they are doing haha
 
Ok so I might have found something interesting. Upon using that program I found three USB composite devices (highlighted below).
Only one of them was recieving 100mA of power (also highlighted) and the box says the unit needs "18V AC, 300mA"
I thought all the power would have been taken care of by the AC power adapter but now maybe I'm thinking it relies on some USB power as well.
Could that be one of the problems? Also the other two USB composite devices only received 90mA and 0mA respectively.


sound5.webp
 
Wait turns out each of my hubs are cleared for a 500mA max power draw so that isn't the problem. I am wondering why the 300mA draw isn't appearing on any of the ports though.
sound6.webp
 
On the web site it says the mic/line and the 48v phantom power are switch activated. Make sure those are set to mic and phantom. Also select the usb mic in the windows menu.
 
arcaxis said:
The 18vac wall wart is likely what creates the 48vdc for the phantom mic supply, so if the USB does draw anything off the USB port it's likely well below where it might cause a problem.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's my bad. I set you on the wrong route there, not realising there was a power supply with it.
 
Michael Rogers said:
On the web site it says the mic/line and the 48v phantom power are switch activated. Make sure those are set to mic and phantom. Also select the usb mic in the windows menu.
Click to expand...

The switch is the basic little yellow thing in the picture and I've got it on according to the LED.
sound8.webp

The USB mic is now set as default and when I go to configure speech settings in the windows menus it doesn't pick up sound at all.
 
Have you set the USB Mic in the settings/options/preferences in Audacity for microphone input?
 
Yes here is a glimpse at my audacity screen. I was able to get some static when I tried recording this time as apposed to nothing on other attempts. Not sure if this is progress haha

sound9.webp
 
Click the little arrow next to the microphone in Audacity and it should give you options for microphone inputs. If not, you need to go in to the settings and select the correct input for the USB Mic.
 
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