AKG Perception 120 Mic not working? Please help!

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Samthesinger

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Ok, I bought a AKG Perception 120 mic with a XLR cable and a stand. I also bought a Behringer XENXY-502 mixer, it has a phantom power 48+. I also bought UCA222 and in/out cables.
I connected the XLR cable to the mic and the mixer, the phantom power is on...i think...(it has no switch) and I connected the cables to the input and output and to my UCA222 which has a USB so I connected that to my computer. I installed all the drivers and everything. I've tried 3 different softwares (Audacity, Acid Pro 7, Cubase) and there's no sound whenever I record. Nothing. I'm very frustrated and I'm such a noobie and I really hope someone will help..
:facepalm:
 
From Behr's website, the phantom power is a recent addition to this model - are you sure you got a real new one? I've never heard of a device with phantom power that didn't have a switch to turn it on.

I won't lecture you about buying a mixer for computer recording, just point you to the sticky at the top of this forum. HERE
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-502-Xenyx-mixer/dp/B000J5UEGQ

That shows a 502 sans a 48V switch (it would be under the red CD out RCA if it were there). Did you buy mic and mixer from the same dealer? If so he should be shot!

Now, I know it is easy to spend other folks money but! I can never see the point of a one mic input mixer or AI? You must be a bit serious about the recordings you want to make else why buy a pretty decent capacitor mic? (I have 2 Perception 150 SDCs and love 'em) .

You have been told you should not have bought a mixer to feed a PC and that is true but you did get a converter as well! The UCA222 is, err,, USEFUL shall we say! It is certainly a big improvement on computer built in sound. So read the sticky and decide which way to jump. At the very least you want the next Berry up, the Xenyx 802 which is in fact pretty good (presently amping up two dynamics on the wildlife in my garden!).

Dave.
 
I always assumed that the perception 120 was as ldc needing 48v. did you buy it new? also does it work independently? this sounds like your cable might have crapped out on you. the akg perception series is a good bargain line of mics.
 
I bought a brand new mixer and on the box it says "With phantom power" the lights on the mixer are turned on are ;
Power
Clip
6
0
20
photo.webp
picture of everything
 
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If it says "phantom power" on the box then you should have it. Page 6 of the manual specifically refers to +48V and cautions about turning it on an off with speaker feeds live. There is no exception give for the 502 as there is about the LF cut firred to larger models.

It would take but a moment to check that there is 48V at the mic plug end of the XLR lead with a digital multimeter, something I believe any aspiring recordist needs, you can get a perfectly adequate meter for about £10.00.

But does any of the metering on the mixer show the mic working? Can you get the channel clip light to blink? If so do the monitor level LEDs show signal? Can you get a signal on headphones?

If all of the above works then it is likely that the 222 converter is not properly installed. Can you play sounds out of it from the laptop? Youtube e.g.

I see from your picture that you are feeding the 222 from the RCA outs. Logical I grant you but it really should be fed from the Main Mix outs. What you have should work but you will get some operational problems with that configuration later on.

Dave.
 
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Samthesinger said:
I can play sounds out of the 222 converter,
Click to expand...
That is very promising!
Now, do you get any of the indications of a microphone signal (DON'T BLOW INTO IT!) I mentioned?

Can you get the use of a voltmeter? Even the 5quid jobbies you get at carparts shops will do to detect spook juice. I have searched long and hard but I cannot get any firm, pictorial evidence that the 502 has 48V. The hookup diagram actually shows a dynamic mic for the 502 but a cap job (C1) for the next sized mixer up.

The hookup D also shows the 222 fed from the RCA outs. This is wrong IMHO as the Main Mix out has a dedicated level control and operating the switch that puts MMix onto the monitoring bus could put clicks onto a recording. In any case, why have a Main mix out?
N.B. this comes from a signal diagram of the 802, I cannot as yet find one for the 502 but the RCA switching regime is pretty universal on all such small mixers.

Dave.
 
How do I get indications of a microphone signal? I'm sorry but I'm such a noob xD
I will try to get a voltmeter tomorrow, as I do not have one.
so do what exactly do I connect to the main mix out?
 
Samthesinger said:
How do I get indications of a microphone signal? I'm sorry but I'm such a noob xD
I will try to get a voltmeter tomorrow, as I do not have one.
so do what exactly do I connect to the main mix out?
Click to expand...

Ok, mic plugged in, set EVERY knob on the mixer to 12o'clock. Tap the mic grill with a fingernail. The clip LED should light or at least the -20dB LED on the signal meter. Do you have headphones? If so plug them in and you should hear the mic quite plainly.

When you get a testmeter plug in mic lead on mixer but not mic. Look at the mic end of the lead and it should be numbered. Connect the negative meter lead to pin 1 and check for 48volts* at both pins 2 and 3. Do not worry! You cannot get a shock and you cannot do any damage to the mixer. Should the plug not be numbered. Hold it like a "smiley face" the extreme bottom pin is 3 and left 2, right 1. (I say "pins" they are of course "sockets").

*Plus or minus 4 volts but I have always found Behringer Ppower to be spot on.
Dave.
 
Ok, i turned all the nobs, I tapped the mic grill with a fingernail and plugged my headphones in, i heard the fingernail but the lights didn't light up..
 
Samthesinger said:
Ok, i turned all the nobs, I tapped the mic grill with a fingernail and plugged my headphones in, i heard the fingernail but the lights didn't light up..
Click to expand...

Crank the gain and level pots up and get a 0VU LED to blink if you can.
Dave.
 
Samthesinger said:
Got the -20- to blink
Click to expand...
Right. Stuff the mic against a radio or get someone to talk at it and you should get a very good level, even to the point of pain, in the headphones. This being the case you now need to look to the recording software if the meters on the laptop are not moving.

Dave.
 
I have an AKG Perception 220 (using XLR), and also use a 502 just like yours (bought for x-mas 2011) and instead of using the output for the CD/Tape section of the mixer back to your audio interface, I just use the "Main Out" (both L & R) back into the sound card's input (both are 1/4" TRS on the mixer, but are 1/8" RCA on the m-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496 soundcard).
I have my bass guitar (mono 1/4" TRS) routed into my GT-10B pedalboard and use both 1/4" outputs to go to the 502's "Line In 1/2" (1/4" TRS).
I then route the sound from the computer into the 502's "CD/Tape Input" and use the button (pressed in) marked "CD/Tape To Mix" so I can monitor the other parts while I play/record my bass part.
Doing this allows me to record the bass parts on a separate channel in my DAW, while allowing me to monitor with headphones or speakers (plugged into the 502's "Headphones" jack), and not have to worry about recording directly over an existing track.

This set up also still gives control over the "Phones" levels, and the "Main Mix" levels separately.
 
Morning Mad Mac.
This is essentially the setup I built for my son a few years ago. The mixer was the X802 and fed 5mtr balanced lines around the room to an "unbal" box containing two very good OEP electronics 10k:10k input traffs and then short leads to (sort of *) a 2496 in each of two computers. This 3.G P4 I type on and an HP 2.7G 2core W7/64 jobbie.

*Because I have two PCs their card connections come out to a breakout(as does MIDI) jack box and this feeds another mixer, a Warfedale 16/2 which does sterling duty as a monitor controller (as well as 2x2496 outs it collects 4 feeds from my NI Ka6 which in turn is fed from a Teac A3440 4track tape machine). The Wdale ultimately feeds two Tannoy 5as.
The only real problem with the setup was no high Z guitar input and Son wanted a simple "plug and play" DI system. I wanted better mic pres (tho' the Berries are remarkably clean!) so I bought an Allen&Heath ZED10FX. Superb! My noise floor is now dictated by the envoirenment even using an SM57.

I always get a bit irritated on forums when "learned" bods dismiss mixers "Ooo! You don't want one of Theeeeem!" For sure the AI route is (generally!) quick and simple for the noob but a mixer and a good soundcard, NOT a Creative S(of a)B! is in fact more flexible and gives vastly lower latency. Mic pres' generally have more gain and are lower noise than most AI to boot.

Dave.
 
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