New interface + mic, extremely low volume

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sLeMtheLoaner

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I just bought a Scarlett 2i4 audio interface and an AKG C2000 microphone and when I plug it all in, I barely receive any signal from the microphone, from either of the mic inputs. I basically have to set the gain level to maximum before the LEDs even light up as green when I say something into the mic. At the moment I don't have access to any monitor speakers, so I can't find out if it actually registers anything and the LED just doesn't light up, but when it actually does light up it seems to respond correctly.

For the record, I'm an absolute beginner and I don't know the first thing about home recording. I've read the manuals and everything and everything seems to be correctly set up (48V phantom power activated, the PAD button inactive, and LINE mode selected).

I hope any of this makes sense. :)


Thanks in advance,

sLeMtheLoaner
 
Thank you for your replies!

arcaxis said:
On the side of the mic there is a switch that shows "0" and "-10". Make sure the switch is set to "0". This is a 10 db pad that will reduce the sensitivity/output of the mic for loud sources. Similar to the PAD on your interface.

Not familiar with your interface, but perhaps the gain may need to be up near max for certain mics. Someone that has a Focusrite might chime in and comment.

The other switch on the mic is a "Low Cut Filter" which reduces the sensitivity of lower frequencies. This can be left set flat until you have a better understanding of what it can do.
Click to expand...

Yup, I know about that setting and it's set to 0. :)
I suppose I have no way to know about the microphone needing a lot of gain to register sound, but I hope that's not the case. I googled my issue, but people seemed to have problems the other way around with insruments registering way too loud, but that was with electric guitars.

moresound said:
You want Microphone input not line in mode.
Click to expand...

Perhaps I should've been more clear. There's a setting on the front panel enabling me to choose between LINE and INST (and the manual says that INST should be used for instruments and LINE for voice.
 
Are you using a mic cable?

MALE XLR > FEMALE XLR? Is it fully seated into the XLR jack on both ends?

The Focusrite won't send phantom power across a TRS > XLR cable.

You can test the mic and pre by recording a short take in whatever software you are using. Check the metering in the software.
 
The source of sound going into the microphone isn't what determines line/mic levels...the input does. If the mic signal was to run through a preamp before it hit the interface then the signal would be up to line level because it's already amplified up to a pretty high voltage, where as a mic or instrument level would require a lot more gain or amplification to reach a ideal output level
 
c7sus said:
Are you using a mic cable?

MALE XLR > FEMALE XLR? Is it fully seated into the XLR jack on both ends?

The Focusrite won't send phantom power across a TRS > XLR cable.

You can test the mic and pre by recording a short take in whatever software you are using. Check the metering in the software.
Click to expand...

XLR on both ends, and I tried reconnecting it several times, making sure it was properly connected. I tried testing it in REAPER, but I couldn't get it to work because I have no idea about how to do it and I didn't find any tutorials (probably because I didn't look hard enough as I thought that the LED lights on the audio interface would be enough). Do you think it would help if I got it to work through the computer first?

2infamouz said:
The source of sound going into the microphone isn't what determines line/mic levels...the input does. If the mic signal was to run through a preamp before it hit the interface then the signal would be up to line level because it's already amplified up to a pretty high voltage, where as a mic or instrument level would require a lot more gain or amplification to reach a ideal output level
Click to expand...

So you're saying it's behaving as normal? Isn't the audio interface itself amplifying the signal (before the gain kicks in)? I'm not claiming to know anything here, but what I read in other places suggested that you could plug, for instance, your guitar directly into the audio interface without any pre-amp and it would be extremely loud, even with the gain turned almost all the way to the bottom and the volume knob on the guitar set very low. But then again, it's probably not perfect comparison.
 
In Reaper, open a new project. Insert an audio track. Assign the input of the Scarlett to the track. Arm the track for recording. You should see the meters in Reaper bouncing up and down. Speak or sing into the mic and the meters should go up. Sing into the front of the mic, the side with "AKG" printed on it. The manual says you are clocking -24dBFS when the halo light is green. Adjust the gain knob so you are peaking at about -18 to -12dBFS in Reaper. There is no good reason to record all the way up to 0 or even -3dBFS.

You shouldn't need to dime the input gain on the Scarlett with that mic.

You also might try using a different USB port on your computer, and don't try to power the Scarlett off a USB hub. If you are using a laptop you may have to connect the power cord to it. Some USB-powered interfaces have a problem supplying sufficient phantom power.

The other thing you could try is unscrew the connectors on the mic cable and make sure the wires are solidly connected to the 3 points on the XLR plugs.

The other thing you should check is that the computer is recognizing the Scarlett. If you're on a PC use the device manager to check that. The phantom power is derived from the USB port so if that is jiggy you won't get enough power to the Scarlett to properly power the mic.

Also, use the ASIO drivers even if you are on a Windows machine. ASIO is faster than WDM in most cases.

Isn't computer-based audio fun?
 
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I've got the 2i2 which is very similar. Condenser mic plugged in and 48v turned on. I get the green LED with the Input Gain almost to zero, but don't hear anything in the headphones. I get a comfortable level in the phones at about 50% on the Input Channel. All the way up and the red clip LED lights.

Maybe you've got a bad mic or cable. Hopefully, you didn't plug the mic in with the 48v turned on. That could ruin a mic.

Do you have headphones plugged in?
 
sLeMtheLoaner said:
So you're saying it's behaving as normal? Isn't the audio interface itself amplifying the signal (before the gain kicks in)? I'm not claiming to know anything here, but what I read in other places suggested that you could plug, for instance, your guitar directly into the audio interface without any pre-amp and it would be extremely loud, even with the gain turned almost all the way to the bottom and the volume knob on the guitar set very low. But then again, it's probably not perfect comparison.
Click to expand...

Well to my understanding if it was set to Line it would assume the signal is already "loud" so to speak, so this would require less amplification from the interfaces own preamp. I haven't used a Scarlett 2i4 but I'd assume you'd want to set it to "instrument" even for your mic as it isn't a Line level signal coming from your microphone when it's plugged directly into the interface. The preamps on the scarlett should be capable of bringing the signal up to a loud enough level, I've heard pretty good stuff about it...

Here's some good advice I found on 'harmonycentral':
"DAW meters lie quite often. They can miss inter-sample peaks and not always accurately reflect when clipping occurs. For this reason, you should always leave at least a dB or so of headroom below clipping. I typically get uncomfortable if I see my meters peaking past -3dB, and I never want to see the red CLIP meter illuminate. But you really don't need to have your levels that hot. In fact, most DAW software is calibrated so that the equivalent of "0 dB" on analog VU meters correlates with anywhere between -20 dBFS and -15 dBFS on the DAW's meters. Yup - that's right - the level you're shooting for should be in the -15dB range on average, not up in the -3dB range. If your DAW meters don't have calibration marks, -15 dBFS is normally somewhere in the middle of the meter's range on most DAW programs, not up near the top of it. I can't emphasize this strongly enough - if you've been slamming those levels and pushing those meters to the top when you record, switching to -15 dBFS as your target recording level will make a huge improvement to the sound of your DAW recordings and mixes!"
Click to expand...
Also how close are you to the mic when you're saying stuff? Condensers can often be real sensitive to differing distances, so you could get a really weak signal from one distance and slightly move forward and start clipping, gotta find a nice balance. I'm not real familiar with the AKG C2000 but I've run into this with numerous condensers. If you aren't actually listening to the signal it could also be an issue with the LED's rather than the signal itself...
 
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The Line/Instrument switch is not used when an XLR cable is plugged in. Not a factor with the OP's problem.
 
We don't know if he's on a laptop yet. I just threw that out there because it has been a widely reported issue with USB interfaces.
 
2infamouz said:
Well to my understanding if it was set to Line it would assume the signal is already "loud" so to speak, so this would require less amplification from the interfaces own preamp. I haven't used a Scarlett 2i4 but I'd assume you'd want to set it to "instrument" even for your mic as it isn't a Line level signal coming from your microphone when it's plugged directly into the interface. The preamps on the scarlett should be capable of bringing the signal up to a loud enough level, I've heard pretty good stuff about it...

I'd have it configured like this initially:
"instrument" rather than Line, with the pad off and phantom power activated. Use the dB meters in your DAW or a plugin that monitors signal levels like some of the free VU meters to gain stage and reach the maximum level you can without clipping ...And the pad off on the mic, with the highpass filter on or off doesn't really matter at this point...if you're experiencing some issues with too much low end you can throw the highpass filter on (on the mic)...

Also how close are you to the mic when you're saying stuff? Condensers can often be real sensitive to differing distances, so you could get a really weak signal from one distance and slightly move forward and start clipping, gotta find a nice balance. I'm not real familiar with the AKG C2000 but I've run into this with numerous condensers. If you aren't actually listening to the signal it could also be an issue with the LED's rather than the signal itself...
Click to expand...

The manual says when you plug an XLR into the Scarlett it automatically reverts to "mic" level.

Also, tracking at "the maximum level you can without clipping" is simply bad practice. Peak anywhere from -18 to -12dBFS to preserve headroom. In the US the broadcast standard of -20dBFS is the same as 0dBVU.
 
I'm in bed at the moment. I did plug it in to the laptop, will check if the USB port is providing enough power tomorrow. Thanks for all the great help so far!
 
sLeMtheLoaner said:
I'm in bed at the moment. I did plug it in to the laptop, will check if the USB port is providing enough power tomorrow. Thanks for all the great help so far!
Click to expand...

'In bed posting', is usually an offense that results in banning. You might want to be less descriptive of your location.


lol. I'm just kidding/trolling... :)


I am curious to hear what the solution is myself.
 
Check that you do in fact have +48volts at the mic end of the cable with a cheap Digital Multimeter.

Don't HAVE a DMM? Get one! No aspiring audioist should be without a test meter.

Dave.
 
2infamouz said:
reach the maximum level you can without clipping
Click to expand...

This is bad advice. Do not do this. There's no reason for you to be anywhere near clipping. Get your levels down so that they're peaking at something like -12 or even lower. Not that there's anything wrong with being up at -3 or even -1 for that matter. But there is no good reason to be up there in 24 bit recording, so why take the chance and get that close to clipping?

Even if we went by the rules of "proper" gain staing, you wouldn't end up "as loud as possible without clipping". You'd end up at around -15 to -18.
 
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c7sus said:
... Sing into the front of the mic, the side with "AKG" printed on it. The manual says you are clocking -24dBFS when the halo light is green. Adjust the gain knob so you are peaking at about -18 to -12dBFS in Reaper. There is no good reason to record all the way up to 0 or even -3dBFS.

You shouldn't need to dime the input gain on the Scarlett with that mic.

You also might try using a different USB port on your computer, and don't try to power the Scarlett off a USB hub. If you are using a laptop you may have to connect the power cord to it. Some USB-powered interfaces have a problem supplying sufficient phantom power.

The other thing you could try is unscrew the connectors on the mic cable and make sure the wires are solidly connected to the 3 points on the XLR plugs.

The other thing you should check is that the computer is recognizing the Scarlett. If you're on a PC use the device manager to check that. The phantom power is derived from the USB port so if that is jiggy you won't get enough power to the Scarlett to properly power the mic.

Also, use the ASIO drivers even if you are on a Windows machine. ASIO is faster than WDM in most cases.

Isn't computer-based audio fun?
Click to expand...

I got Reaper to work. There doesn't seem to be a problem with the LEDs anyway, as the volume is the same in Reaper. I checked everything else you told me to and I rendered a test recording with the levels peaking at about -14dBFS and I get pretty horrible noise in the background. Don't know what causes it though, but the gain knob is turned almost all the way up. If I lower it, the noise, as well as my voice, fades away.

By the way, I don't have a set of headphones at the moment to plug directly into the audio interface, and I didn't find an obvious way to have my laptop speakers output the sound.

2infamouz said:
... Also how close are you to the mic when you're saying stuff? Condensers can often be real sensitive to differing distances, so you could get a really weak signal from one distance and slightly move forward and start clipping ...
Click to expand...

I tried with my lips pretty much touching the housing, or whatever it's called, without much difference.

Chili said:
... Some laptops do not have enough current for the USB ports. It's suppose to be 500ma, but not all meet that spec. ...
Click to expand...

Don't know how to test it, but in the device manager it says that it's at 500 mA and that less than 100% of the total power available is being used.

arcaxis said:
I have two older (2004 vintage) desktops don't have adequate power for a Tascam US-144mkII when a condenser mic is plugged in and the mic signal ends up being low and noisy. To use that interface I either need to use a preamp to supply phantom power, use an axillary phantom supply, or a powered USB hub. A dynamic works fine with the interface without anything additional.
Click to expand...

I guess it's the most reasonable cause. Sounds pretty much exactly what's happening, anyway. I'm going to contact the store where I bought it and ask if I may go back there and have them try the mic and the audio interface in one of their set-ups. If there aren't any problems there, the cause is obvious.
 
c7sus said:
The manual says when you plug an XLR into the Scarlett it automatically reverts to "mic" level.

Also, tracking at "the maximum level you can without clipping" is simply bad practice. Peak anywhere from -18 to -12dBFS to preserve headroom. In the US the broadcast standard of -20dBFS is the same as 0dBVU.
Click to expand...
I'll correct the post to be more accurate / better advice. I personally record pretty hot for vocals
 
sLeMtheLoaner said:
By the way, I don't have a set of headphones at the moment to plug directly into the audio interface, and I didn't find an obvious way to have my laptop speakers output the sound.
Click to expand...

Nor will you be able to. Most DAW's allow only one interface at a time. You need to plug monitors or headphones into your interface. Can't use the computer speakers.

sLeMtheLoaner said:
I'm going to contact the store where I bought it and ask if I may go back there and have them try the mic and the audio interface in one of their set-ups. If there aren't any problems there, the cause is obvious.
Click to expand...

This is your best option. Take your cable and mic with you.

Just as a sanity check, you do have the drivers loaded, right?? It won't work until you load the drivers.
 
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