Dead art MPA or computer?

T

The549

a hack
Here's the quick run down:

I was recording (and....overdriving) my Art MPA Gold for 3 days, and while doing vocal tracks got sporadic major digital sounding distortion on playback only, and my guitarist claimed to feel a hot mic cable that was running through the right channel of the MPA (I and another person wondered whether or not the 'shorting' was real -- it didn't feel like much sensation if anything. Tested all cables and they checked out + looked good).

I connected the MPA through the balanced cable to my Alesis io|26 balanced input, and same sporadic problem. Using reaper. Set the clock back to the Alesis.

Shut off the MPA, things went fine....mostly. I did get a few tracks of distortion, but far far less. And I noticed a distortion on playback in Reaper often - remedied by stopping, waiting a few seconds, and hitting play again.

I know this is very little info to go on. I'm hoping it's something such as an alesis buffer size, or some computer issue. My project was lagging noticeably towards the end. Have 4 gigs ram, using a fresh xp pro install, latest reaper, latest drivers, althlon x2 4600.

Any suggestions for what i should check?
 
Sounds like you need to start with basic troubleshooting.

Test the MPA alone, just plug in both a mic and instrument and test thru your mixer.

If it checks out good, NO issues then move onto the next device.

Same for the PC, but it starts getting complicated, because it could be software related or hardware.

To me it sounds like something drivers and or settings. So I'm leaning towards software related.

If in doubt reinstall everything start fresh and go from there, then move onto the hardware if issues continue.

When troubleshooting make a list and dont skimp on checking the obvious first. In other words please check all the connections and cables!

Good luck
 
Thanks. Checked the cables already, am looking forward to being able to test the preamp alone later this week. It's all a fresh install. It also sounded like it could be software - sounded almost like playing a 48khz sample rate on a 44.1 project.
 
Here's a pic of what the audio looks like. It's stuttery with digital distortion. I wonder if it was a buffer size problem...
 

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Why don't you check all your buffer and bit rate settings and all that?

ps....do you like your Gold? I have one too.
 
I did, made playback MUCH smoother. Set buffer to 512. I just haven't had the time to test yet since the session is over.

The DMPA: GREAT upgrade from my prosumer/lowend digital pres (Alesis io|26). I did measure the tube voltage at one point 1.5 years ago, I remember it being either in the 90's or higher, so I think it is truly a tube preamp. I don't use low plate voltage anymore, after reading and listening to this thing in different scenarios I agree that it's simply a good sounding tube pre on high.

In the last session the thing that sounded the best to me were punk vocals that I thought were only slightly overdriven, but ended up being quite overdriven and clipped. From the visual examination and the sound I got through a cheap mic, I'm impressed.

I stopped using it halfway through b/c I thought it may have been the problem, and the vocals through an Alesis io|26, same setup, just sound terribly harsh, echoey, and thin. I may have been running that pre too hot however (though of course not clipping).

At my lowly equipment level it's my nicest single piece of gear, and I can't see not keeping it into the long term future.
 
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