Emu 0404 usb audio interface

J

jaz49

New member
here's a copy of the e-mail I just sent to emu concerning their 0404 usb recording interface. Has anyone had any experience with one of these?

Hello,
I've been struggling to record decent quality vocal tracks with my 0404usb since day one. I've tried two different mics from respected manufacturers (a sennheiser e835 dynamic and an Audio Technica AT3035 condenser), and with both mics I get very harsh and extremely sibilant recordings. I've tried various mic placements and gain settings, but nothing works. All the consonant sounds (the t's, and c's and k's...and especially the s's) are incredibly harsh with both mics. The AT3035 is only two months old and never sounded good, even though it supposedly has a fairly flat freq. response. I tried some suggestions offered by the support person at Audio Technica, but nothing helped. He suggested I contact E-mu for product support...so I am doing so. I purchased this product new for around $200.00, and I have yet to make a quality vocal track. The sound when direct monitoring is also harsh, so it's not my software that's the problem. I hope you can help me with this, because I am very displeased with this device. :(

Any, comments/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks
 
did you try that thing that goes between the vocalist and the mic?

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i saw youtube musicians use this a lot to fix that hard vocal issue.

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Yes, I do use a pop screen. Doesn't help. The harshness is too severe! Maybe I need an attenuator. I know AT sells them, but never heard of anybody using one. Anybody heard of these?
 
Is there a mixer with the EMU? You could have those channels turned up too hot and you're overloading the signal.
 
Yeah, it sounds like your gain is too high. Are you seeing the red LED light up when you're talking into the mic? You shouldn't be. Turn the gain knob all the way down then turn it up slowly while talking normally. Stop before you get to the yellow LED. While singing you might see the yellow flicker, but should not see the red LED flicker. Turn it back down a little if you do.

Also check your phantom power is on for the condensor. Although I don't think that's the problem because you used a dynamic mic also.

Good luck,
 
@Xeries -

No, no mixer. I have the gain usually set at about 35-40dB on the emu preamp. If I go much lower than that I don't have a strong enough signal in my DAW(Acid)...even with 12dB of additional gain in the DAW. It may be overloading the inputs at that level, I don't know. :confused:
 
jaz, man I'm sorry to see you're back. I remember trying to troubleshoot your vocals when you got the AT3035. I also remember listening to your music and thinking that there was something "not quite right". Something in your signal chain is messed up and I doubt it is the mic or the 0404.

Is there any way you can get someone to check out your set up. Might just pay someone to take a look. Who knows, you could just have bad cables, but until someone checks it all out, you're just shooting in the dark.

Just my02c
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I am definitely NOT in the red...I'm nowhere near clipping...that's why I can't figure out the harshness. I used to use a lot of gain on the 0404 pre, but I never was in the red. If I even get close the soft limiter cuts in. But I have since turned the gain way down to below 40dB and don't even need the soft limiter because I have such a weak signal. The harshness is not quite so bad when I record this way. GZ, the tracks you heard were recorded with a lot of gain on the pre. and most with the senn. e835...and probably too much compression. It's getting somewhat better using less gain and extremely light compression(2-3dB threshold), but if you heard the tracks dry, they sound pretty bad. Where the hell is all this sibilance coming from? It's not from me. If I spoke with such harsh consonants and hissing sss's I think people would be laughing at me every time I spoke. And my mic cable is a new mogami. I also have another cable that yields the same results. No other cables are involved except the usb....but the harshness is there with direct monitoring! :confused:I may upload some dry vocal samples when I have the time. I have a dial up connection so it's time consuming.

thanks again for the suggestions
http://www.soundclick.com/lejaz
 
AT3035 - mogami XLR cable - emu0404usb interface/preamp - Sony mdr v6 headphones. Maybe it IS the AT3035. It sounds harsh even with direct monitoring with the headphones. My commercial CD's(Beatles...whatever) sound fine with the mdr v6's. I've read a lot of posts lately about budget condensers that have sibilance issues with certain vocalists. Well that's certainly the case with mine! The AT3035 usually sells for around $199.00 with shock mount, so I guess that places it in the budget category. Still a friend of mine had a no. 1 on the SoundClick rock charts for quite a while, and the vocals were done with a Rat Shack mic and a behringer mixer! So there you go...it's a very unpredictable business. And I thought you could spend 200 bucks for a mic and pop filter, and 200 bucks for an audio interface, and just plug everything in and boom....nice clear vocals! Live and learn, eh?
 
I listened to a couple of your tracks. It sounds like you are singing very softly then using your compressor to bring up the level. If indeed this is the case, you will be bringing up the extraneous noises that goes along with singing. You want to set your gain so the yellow LED is flickering when you sing.

How close are you to your mic? For a condensor, you want to be back a bit; like 8 - 12 inches. I don't think your gear is the cause of your woes. You already said you have the same problem with both mics.

The other thing you can do is take your mics over to your friend's place and plug into his mixer to see if you have two bad mics. I doubt it.

Lastly, lots of experimenting. I have the EMU 0404 pci version and it comes with an app called PatchMix DSP or something. There was a steep learning curve when I first go it, but evntually figured it out. Does the 0404 usb come with the same software? It might be affecting your the levels of your direct monitor mix. You should investigate that also.

Sorry can't be of more help....
 
Thanks chili, but if I set the gain high enough to trigger the yellow light the harshness is horrible even with NO compression at all. And it's there whether I'm 3" away or 12". That's why I think it's the gear. I don't know the software you refer to. I'll check into it. I doubt the 0404 usb has anything like that, though...just a simple control panel where you set the sample rate and turn on/off the soft limiter. The e835 is a dynamic mic with a presence boost in the upper midrange...plus the output is very low so I have to set the gain on the 0404 real high. That would naturally lead to more sibilance. I purchased the AT3035 because I thought it would solve both those problems with it's higher output and supposedly flat freq. response...but obviously I was wrong. Unfortunately my friend with the berry mixer is in the Netherlands and I'm in Springsteen country, U.S.A. I'm about to buy another mic on ebay, and if it's any better, I'll try to sell the AT3035. Anyone wanna buy?..."like new, lightly used in smoke free home studio" ;)
 
This is the kind of comment I've been reading lately about inexpensive LDC mics...from the Gearslutz forum: "I have the Studio Projects B1 which I have used on various vocals, guitars and upright bass. As with all mics it depends on the source that you're recording. On some vocals it sounded superb and on others harsh and siblant." So even though I started this thread asking about the emu 0404 preamps, I've since come to the conclusion that it's most likely the mics that are causing the harshnss and sibilance. There's a Kel mic that I am considering that is supposed to remedy this particular problem.... HM-2D I think it is. Anyone use this on vocals?...supposed to be a LDC that sounds like an SM7b dynamic. It can't possibly be any worse than what I've got now.
 
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