2 Simple Problems (right?)

  • Thread starter Thread starter JoOWiTHaU
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JoOWiTHaU

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Yes, I am a noobie to recording. I just bought everything I need to record but I'm having some minor problems. First of all, my hardware setup is mic > preamp > box > computer and I'm using Adobe Audition 1.5. Here's my problem(s):


Firstly, now that I have all my new hardware plugged in and all my new drivers installed, I'm not getting any sound on anything. That includes music, instant messenger sounds, etc. The only sound I get is during playback after I record something. Other than that, nothing else works.

Secondly (and lastly), when I record something, I'm only getting sound out of my left headphone. I'm told this has something to do with stereo/mono and it's apparently a software setting, because it's already set to stereo on my box. But I've checked all the settings (I think) on Audition, and the R and L are balanced. Can't seem to figure it out...


Other than that, everything works great and I can't wait to start recording some songs! Any help is appreciated, thanks!

-Chris
 
when you say "mic > preamp > BOX >....what do you mean by box???
 
well...to answer your first question...even without knowing what your "BOX" is.....

if you have purchased an aftermarket soundcard, and installed it, then you may not have it selected to play back system sounds. Go to Control Panel > sound and audio devices and choose the audio tab. Make sure you have the correct output (your new soundcard) selected in your "sound playback" area.
 
sorry, by "box" i meant my USB recording device (m-audio fasttrack usb). i went to the audio controls like u said, and sure enough "sound playback" was set to my usb device, so i changed it back to my soundcard and eureka! sound! however, i'm still experiencing the sound on only one headphone problem. got any ideas for that?

thanks!
 
first, check your headphones on another device and make sure that they do work, second, if you are using an adapter to connect your headphones to your soundcard, make sure it is a stereo adapter and not mono. what are you connecting your phones to?? Soundcard? Mixer?
 
im connecting my headphones directly into my computer speakers. they do work too. it only comes out of the left side on my speakers when i take my headphones out as well.
 
Sounds like a bad connection or a mono cable to me....its not your headphones since you are having the same problem with the speakers. The soundcard could also not be putting any signal to the left side. Is it an onboard soundcard or did you purchase a recording soundcard?
 
hm. its an onboard soundcard, a SoundBlaster LIVE! one thing i forgot to mention is that i CAN get sound out of both speakers if i apply the chorus filter in audition, so thats what ive been doing so far. but by default, when i record, it only comes out of my left speaker.

btw, would upgrading to a newer and better soundcard improve my recording quality?
 
When you playback a track in audition. Does both the left and right meter light up or only one side? You don't have anything panned hard left or right do you?
 
nope, no pan and only one of the meters is moving, unless i apply that filter like i mentioned in my last post.

any suggestions for a good sound card for recording btw? if it comes with an interface like the audigy 2 zs, will i even need my usb device anymore? :confused:
 
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by chance...are you recording a mono signal to a stereo track? click on the input button to the left of the track you are recording. this will pull up a list of possible inputs. choose your soundcards input and to the right of that, choose the left channel. It sounds like you may be only recording to the left side of the track. Maybe applying the stereo chorus puts sound into the right speaker as well....
 
thajeremy... i love u. i had both my soundcard and usb device selected, so i just took out my soundcard and chose the stereo input option and surely enough, i have sound coming out of both speakers now! WOO HOO!

thanks again for ur help. i really appreciate it. :)


NOW... do u have any suggestions for good sound cards for recording? i hear the audigy 2 zs (platinum or not) is a good choice. however, this also comes with an interface, so will that obsolete my usb device and/or preamp that i JUST bought?
 
A USB device will record just as though it were routed through a sound card. I had a Tascam US428 that would record/playback through its USB cable. All that's necessary is to select whatever device you are using for I/O in Options/Device Settings/Wave I/O. Just be sure to designate it for "Play in EV" (Edit View) or you'll go crazy trying to figure out why it plays back in Multitrack View and not in Edit View.
 
ah, so i just need the sound card, correct? im lookin for better quality in my recordings.
 
I have a Terratec EWS88/MT which is a PCI card with an 8 channel breakout box. I have never used a USB recording device but if I were going to make a change to something other than PCI, I would go with a Firewire card instead of USB. Firewire is faster than USB. Thats really about the only thing I would recommend since I dont have any experiance with them.
 
JoOWiTHaU said:
ah, so i just need the sound card, correct? im lookin for better quality in my recordings.
Click to expand...
well...if your USB device has its own mic pre amps, then when you change your soundcard, you either need to make sure it has built-in pres, or you will have to get some pres to put between your mics and soundcard.
 
because of my limited budget (im a college student, duh), im not gonna be able to afford a firewire right now. i have USB 2.0 so its not too bad. the usb device i have now doesnt have a built in preamp, however, thats why i have the separate preamp (probably better than built-in anyway) between my usb device and mic. my setup is mic > preamp > usb device > computer.
 
If you are satisfied with your current number of inputs, then I'd say you are ok for now. Worry about upgrading when you are ready to work on bigger projects that require more inputs.
 
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