Clipping at 10%???

[Neeps]

I'm looking for a little help folks...

Could anyone tell me why when I record audio in Cubase I'm getting clipping at volume levels of 10% as shown in the cubase sample editor.

Hope that made sense...

Here's my gear...

Cubase Sx 2.2.0
3.2 Pentium 4
1024 Meg Ram
AKG c3000b mic large capsule condenser
Shure SM 58 mic
4 x M-Audio audiobuddy's
Behringer UB 2442FX - pro mixer
Terratec EWS88MT 8 in 8 out soundcard

Also...

Any ideas what I should be saving up for next... I'm monitoring on hi-fi speakers... so I obviously need proper monitors... but I record acoustic music (guitar, mandolin etc...) so I need good mics right... and more than one of them... what would you buy first? Another good condenser mic, or a pair of small capsule condenser, or monitor speakers?... Are entry level monitor speakers £200 per pair any good?

Also... will the mic preamps on the audio buddies be any better than the built in 'invisable' pre amps that come with the behringer UB 2442... should I off load the audiobuddys and put the money towards something else?

Cheers

Al

 

[johnsuitcase]

Not sure about the clipping, could be your pre amp, or the sound card. If your sound card is expecting a lower level, it could clip there if the mixer is sending a "hotter" signal. What's your recording signal chain?

Also, I would recommend getting some good monitors. I have Event R5's which I think sound great, and they're really affordable ($250 for a pair). Mixing blind through hifi speakers can be done, but good monitors are very important. A pair of Yamaha NS10's is a good place to start, as well.

I think the mics and pre's you have are fine. Getting good tones is largely a matter of experimenting. Different rooms, different mics, different placement, etc all make a big difference.

Also, keep in mind that at least in version 1 of Cubase SX, you can't control the recording levels in Cubase. You have to do it using your pre's or soundcard.

 

[mshilarious]

Wild guess: you are clipping the mixer with the audiobuddy, but then attenuating the clipped signal (with the channel fader or master fader) before it hits the soundcard, so it is quiet in your software.

 

[Neeps]

I'm trying to record a vocal, the AKG is plugged into one of the audiobuddies which is in turn plugged into one of the line inputs of the behringer. The output of the behringer mixer is plugged into the soundcard input.

But i think this is a software issue, if I load another project into cubase it records perfectly without touching a single piece of hardware. It's only the one project all the other ones seem fine. The EWS 88 MT comes with a seperate piece of mixer software that allows you to set input levels but i don't touch that between switching projects either.

I've been messing about trying to fix this... it seems that it only happens when I record using a mono track... stereo tracks are ok. This is the first project that I have used stereo recording in and all my previous tracks are all mono.

I loaded up an old project (mono) only and attempted stereo recording and it worked fine. So both stereo and mono work in old projects.

I'm a bit lost on this one...

How would i go about creating a new project and getting all my old waves and midi tracks into it?

 

[Carter]

I'm trying to record a vocal, the AKG is plugged into one of the audiobuddies which is in turn plugged into one of the line inputs of the behringer. The output of the behringer mixer is plugged into the soundcard input.

But i think this is a software issue, if I load another project into cubase it records perfectly without touching a single piece of hardware. It's only the one project all the other ones seem fine. The EWS 88 MT comes with a seperate piece of mixer software that allows you to set input levels but i don't touch that between switching projects either.

I've been messing about trying to fix this... it seems that it only happens when I record using a mono track... stereo tracks are ok. This is the first project that I have used stereo recording in and all my previous tracks are all mono.

I loaded up an old project (mono) only and attempted stereo recording and it worked fine. So both stereo and mono work in old projects.

I'm a bit lost on this one...

How would i go about creating a new project and getting all my old waves and midi tracks into it?

Do you have the trim for the pre amp in the mixer turned all the way down?

 

[Neeps]

Do you have the trim for the pre amp in the mixer turned all the way down?

Yep... I believe I do... it's got to be a software thing has it not?

 

[mcolling]

sounds to me like what mshilarious said could still be true.

 

[Neeps]

sounds to me like what mshilarious said could still be true.

I don't think mshilarious got it... althought the suggestion was appreciated... the audiobuddy is turned down at 30% so it shouldn't be clipping the mixer. Also even if i turn up both the audiobuddy and the mixer full I still don't go above 10%. Remember it only happens with this one project. The other projects I have are fine....

I'm leaning towards creating a new project altogether and transfering the events I need from the old project. Hopefully the problem won't be transfered as well. I know how to transfer audio but how do I move the midi tracks to a new project?

 

[amra]

I am a noob at recording. I don't get this 10%, 30% etc. I thought you were supposed to watch your db's - your db's at the mixer and then your dbs coming into your app...?


Amra

 

[mcolling]

well, i still don't quite get it. it clips when you record, right? and it doesn't clip when you record in other projects? if that's the case, maybe you've just accidentally got some wierd setting activated in that project.

why not just take the tracks you've done already and throw them in another project and go from there?

 

[Neeps]

yeah that was my next plan... does anyone know how to move midi tracks across projects.... i'm using cubase sx 2.2.0

 

[mattamatta]

If it comes to it, you could probably just export each of the midi tracks as a midi file (make sure you're gonna be able to line it up if they're small parts that dont start or end in sync with anything else) and import them in.... same with audio, but with the appropriate changes.

I'm not too knowlegeable about the midi stuff, as I only use midi when I'm working with VSTi's or sequencing drums (all done manually in cubase, and I dont do either of those things very often), but I'd think it would just be a matter of exporting a midi file and importing, and I'm sure there's also a way to just grab what's already written to a file in the project area (whatever the midi equivilent of the audio pool is), but I'd most likely end up just exporting and importing into a new file if I tried to do it.

 

[baumer]

Have you looked in the Cubase's "Mixer" window and checked the trim on your VST "Stereo input" (or whatever your calling your software stereo input)? it could be higher than you thought.

 

[Neeps]

Thanks to all who responded. I fixed this by simply copying all the events in cubase and pasting them into a new project. Don't really know what was wong but it's better now.

Cheers
Ally