Need urgent help! Please!

  • Thread starter Thread starter SEEntertainment
  • Start date Start date
S

SEEntertainment

New member
HI,

I have a simple studio setup with a Macbook mid 2010 - 2.4GHz - 4GB, M-Audio Mobile Pre USB sound card, Behringer Xenyx 802 mixer, Rode NT2 microphone and Behringer MS20 monitors to record vocals. I just started using Pro Tools M-Powered 8 and everything are setup correctly, updated, drivers installed, signals are coming in when I am recording my vocals, it also playback well too.

However, there's like some noise feedback, with low frequency from the signal. When I enable record in a stereo/mono track, the signal will be hitting -32 on the signal indicator already without any background noises. Also these noises are not from the background, even when playing back you can hear it while the vocals are still sounding fine, just that there is that same noise there. You can see the waveform of the feedback noise when recording without singing or making any other noises, all in complete silent.

When I take the XLR cable that connects my microphone to mixer's input 1 and plug it in my sound card, there will be no noise, just clean vocals. I can record this way, straight to the sound card but I think I can't record it in stereo, I don't know if the sound card support stereo through XLR connections, they have 2 XLR channels, Channel 1 and Channel 2 but I only receive one side of the signal when recording in a stereo track in Pro Tools. If I plug it in channel 1 the vocals would be all in the left, if i plug it in channel 2 the vocals would be all in the right. There might be a way to record in stereo through those inputs, maybe you might know. But the main problem is that every time I plug my mic in to the mixer it will create that noise. So if you think you can help or not please still let me know. I really want this studio to work, I been trying for so long.

Do you think my mixer is damaged?
Is it Pro Tools?
Mixer is too close to the monitor? (I have my mixer right in front of my monitor)

Please help me to resolve this problem so I can start working with my studio.

Thank you so much.
 
I have pro-tools 8 M-powered and a fast track pro aswell as rode nt1-a. first u cant record in stereo in pro tools and your sound card has no stereo XLR input. i think the problem might be with the mixer or try using different cables and if your sound card has a pad try using it and see if u can solve the problem. hope it helps
 
A couple of things...

Single voices, guitars, basses and such are not intrinsically stereo. You should record them to mono tracks in Pro Tools. You would then pan the track during mixdown to place it where you want it in the stereo field.

Unless there is some specific reason for doing so, you really don't need to use your mixer for what you are doing. Just plug your microphone directly into one of the XLR inputs on your M-Audio Mobile Pre.

If you are going to use your mixer, you need to plug it into the two "Line Inputs" on the back of the M-Audio Mobile Pre (Input 1 is normally the left input; Input 2 is the right input). If you plug your mixer into the jacks on the front of the M-Audio Mobile Pre, you are effectively plugging a preamp into a preamp, which can give you a lot of problems.

One final thing, make sure your monitors are muted when you are recording with a microphone or you will probably get feedback.

Hope this helps...
 
Wow, thank you for the answers. Yh you are right bdenton that I don't need a mixer for what I'm doing, i researched after giving up on the feedback and realised that vocal is from one source which mean its mono and its better to record mono for vocals in pro tools. Sometimes in the future, I might want to use a mixer so if you think the mixer is the problem then Im probably gonna buy one later on so if you can help me more on this just let me know. Do you think M audio mobile pre and rode nt1 would be good for vocals? Is there anything else that I should get? headphones amplifier or a separate mic preamp? would my macbook be good enough for pro tools?
 
if its for your own use its well a good start of a set-up u go on upgrading once u feel u need to not want to... but for the starter i would prety much say its a good setup.
 
Another thought is that you might be getting a ground loop. Make sure you have the proper power supplies and that everything is properly grounded. For $5 at Home Depot you can get a device that plugs into your 110AC outlet and will let you know if it is wired correctly.
 
Is there anyway i can get that in the uk my mixer's plu used to have 3 pins goin to the mixer but now theres only 2 left because someone broke it but it never used to give me any feedback noise just recently wen i set it up again u think thats the problem would ground loop damage my equipment
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top