just starting out, hitting a few problems

[Willyc510]

HI, My Names Will. I'm 16 and after buying a tascam audio interface and figuring out the cubase 4 software, i'm hitting a few problems


1. Are there Preamps in the Tascam, and if so why are the vocals i'm recording coming out so weak and soft?- (I'm assuming it's my mic, i just ordered a better one)

2. I tried changing the latency in oreder to get rid of the delay, unfortunatly there is still a delay. (the Input latency only goes down to 82 ms and output 11 ms). what should i do?

3. I'm using a midi keyboard to do drum beats. When i try and mute the keyboard on my cubase 4 it still plays? -i mute it because there is delay and when i'm trying to recored over something i have to mute the intsrument i'm playing.

4. Any websites that can help me out in learning what all the buttons in cubase do?



Thanks!

 

[mattr]

HI, My Names Will. I'm 16 and after buying a tascam audio interface and figuring out the cubase 4 software, i'm hitting a few problems

Welcome

1. Are there Preamps in the Tascam, and if so why are the vocals i'm recording coming out so weak and soft?- (I'm assuming it's my mic, i just ordered a better one)

Which Tascam unit are we talking about? It probably does have preamps. What mic are you using? Can you elaborate on 'weak and soft' - is it just the level of the signal, or is it muffled or noisy too? How high do you have the preamp gain set? What kind of levels are your meters showing?

2. I tried changing the latency in oreder to get rid of the delay, unfortunatly there is still a delay. (the Input latency only goes down to 82 ms and output 11 ms). what should i do?

The delay is latency! Are you talking about changing the buffers? A smaller buffer size will relate to a lower latency, but requires more work from your computer and setting it too low can result in dropouts / pops and clicks. For tracking, set the buffers as low as they will go whilst remaining stable. Also check that you are using ASIO drivers (if available).

3. I'm using a midi keyboard to do drum beats. When i try and mute the keyboard on my cubase 4 it still plays? -i mute it because there is delay and when i'm trying to recored over something i have to mute the intsrument i'm playing.

Sorry, I'm not a MIDI guy so I can't help you with this one

4. Any websites that can help me out in learning what all the buttons in cubase do?

The manual is usually a good place to start. Also, simply hovering the cursor over a button normally brings up a tooltip which says what the icon represents (or you could just click it and find out...).

 

[Willyc510]

Welcome


Which Tascam unit are we talking about? It probably does have preamps. What mic are you using? Can you elaborate on 'weak and soft' - is it just the level of the signal, or is it muffled or noisy too? How high do you have the preamp gain set? What kind of levels are your meters showing?
QUOTE]

It's the Tascam US-122L. I'm using like a 10 dollar memorex mic (try not to laugh ) When i say "weak and soft" i'm pretty much talking about the level of signal. There is no preamp gain thing or meter that shows the levels on my Tascam, that's kinda why i'm so stumped. There is really only 1 nob that goes between mic and line, so i put it all the way on mic.



P.S. I got rid of the delay by changing drivers

 

[mjbphotos]

Get rid of the $10 mic!! Work a few hours somewhere, find a used SM57 or something similar. You get what you pay for ...

 

[GuptRX]

nowhere on the tascam site does it say that the US-122L has mic pres, only "2 high quality XLR mic inputs with phantom power." so that might be your problem.

cheers

GuptRX