Help needed with RODE NT-1A

[joycelim26]

Hello all, I've recently bought a RODE NT1A and I've connected it to my laptop.

Power source
--> Phantom power P48 --> (XLR-XLR cable) Mic & (XLR - 3.5mm cable) Laptop.

The phantom power is on and the laptop detected my microphone as "stereo mix" but I'm unable to record anything with it.
I tried recording using audacity and I'm not getting any recording signals from my NT1A. I set it the microphone to default device and nothing seems to be working.

Is there anyone who knows what's wrong? I doubt the problem's with the mic or cables because they're all brand new :/

 

[PDP]

Are you able to record anything else in Audacity, like a guitar ?

I assume your using the onboard sound card? and you have that all configured properly?

Its always better to have a separate interface.

 

[joycelim26]

I used to be able to record in audacity (vocals) with another cheap mic. I never tried it with other instruments though.

Umm.. I'm really new to this so...could you explain what you mean by configured properly?

 

[Bobbsy]

Well, a first thought is that "Stereo Mix" is generally not the 3.5mm socket on your laptop--it's normally a way of recording what you're hearing, for example Youtube playback. (Many people will be very jealous...the Stereo Mix feature has been removed from a lot of computers/Windows versions because the RIAA thought it was being used for piracy.)

Normally the socket will be labelled as Microphone or "Front Microphone" on systems where there's a built in mic for Skype calls etc. I'd open up the Recording Devices tab in your Sound Control panel and see what other options there are to set as the default. If you don't see anything called Microphone, right click on the white part of the menu and make sure there are ticks beside "Show disconnected devices" and "Show Disabled Devices".

If that doesn't do it, my next theory for the culprit would be the XLR to 3.5mm adaptor cable. An XLR is a balanced audio connector (well, usually!) but the 3.5 mm jack can be used for unbalanced stereo or to provide bias voltage to an electret mic. There's room for that cable to be wrong. For example, if your input is wired for stereo but your adaptor is feeding balanced, the two legs will completely cancel each other out.

Before anyone else jumps in, really you shouldn't be using the 3.5mm socket (even with the phantom power supply) anyway. The basic inputs to pretty well every laptop go to a 39 cent chip that is really only suitable for things like Skype calls, not serious recording. Besides problems like this, you find the input is noisy, lacking in headroom and restricted to MME drivers (as opposed to ASIO) so latency will be an issue. Even an inexpensive USB external interface will be exponentially better than the built in.

 

[PDP]

If your using the onboard sound card, make sure all your sound card settings are correct. Make sure your mic input is enabled in your software. If you' were able to get sound before you should get it now. Can you try the new mic through something else, like a small amplifier to make sure the mic is working with that phantom power? Sorry I cant be of more help.

 

[joycelim26]

Is this what I'm supposed to do?

Sigh, so does that mean that my NT1A is incompatible with my laptop?

 

[joycelim26]

Hello, I was trying out again with my old mic and the old mic automatically takes over the function of the laptop mic. But it doesn't work the same with NT1A? I've tried setting the default back to "Microphone" but it still doesn't work.

 

[Bobbsy]

Go back and read my post about right clicking on the right area of that screen and making sure there are ticks on Display Disabled Items and Display Disconnected items. If not, tick them then see if a second microphone icon (for the socket) pops up. If so, select that.

If not, all I can think is that the 3.5mm adaptor is wired in a way to be incompatible with the sensor in your laptop that switches over the inputs.

To answer your question, no the NT1A (or any other decent mic) is NOT really compatible with your laptop. Laptop inputs are designed for cheapie dynamic mics as used for gaming or Skype--although you can generally get a proper mic to work with some fiddling, it's always a not-very-satisfactory bodge. Buy a basic USB interface.

 

[DM60]

What is the make and model of your laptop? Expanding on what Bobbsy said, some newer laptops have a "combo" jack that accepts both a mic and headset into the one jack, such as for a headset mic setup for Skype or similar. Perhaps if your jack is a "combo" jack then maybe the XLR to 3.5mm adapter just won't be compatible. Someone on another forum board had a similar situation with a new laptop and this turned out to be the issue after we found out the laptop specs. Basic USB interface is the way to go and it will have the phantom power included for the mic, so you won't need the extra phantom power box.

^^^^^^This^^^^^

Even if you do get it to work, the sound is not going to be up to level the mic is capable of delivering. Look for a nice two channel USB audio interface, lots to choose from, Focusrite, M-Audio, Tascam, Presonus. Make sure it has MIDI in and out in case you want to add MIDI to your setup, Phantom Power. Other can recommend, but if you are going down the path to do this, you might as well get a good recording interface.

 

[TimOBrien]

You are plugging a $200 microphone into a soundcard with 40 cents worth of chips.

Onboard soundcards are NOT made for music production.

Get yourself a real asio usb audio interface.

 

[Bobbsy]

The sad truth is the $200 microphone likely has only a $1 worth of "chips"

Lately I've noticed a good number of posters not using mics for music production, but other purposes such as game narration or VO for Youtube type stuff. Probably be good to know what a posters intended use will be.

Good point...but plugging a phantom powered LDC mic with balanced XLR out into the 3.5mm socket on any laptop will never be more than a fairly unsatisfactory kludge. Even if the needs are not music production, my advice would be to either get the USB interface or just swap back to a cheap "laptop oriented" dynamic if that's what the application calls for.