Preamp not picking up microphone? & Other problems.

[kyriekins]

The Story:

A long time ago when I first bought my mic (Marshall MXL 2003) & preamp (Tube MP project series), they worked perfectly. I can't remember why, but a year later some problem stopped me from recording. Since then I've never used my mic.​

Recently I tried to figure out what the problem was because I wanted to start recording again. At first the computer wouldn't recognize that my mic was making any sound. I figured it was because I was using a laptop. But I tried my old desktop (where it used to work) & no sound was recognized. I gave up with my mic again.​

So here I am, today, trying to figure out this once again. I'm not able to tell if the computer's picking up any sound because my preamp's not picking up any sound. & I JUST bought a new microphone (Audio Technica AT2020) bc I thought maybe I just broke the last one.​

The Problem:

• Both of my microphones (AT2020 & MXL2003) won't show that any sound's being picked up on my preamp (TubeMP Project Series).

• I've tried messing with all of the settings & none of the LED lights show that the mic's making sound. Yes I have phantom power on.

• My laptop only has a place to put a "microphone" or headphones. Is this anything similar to "line-in"?

 

[c7sus]

Bad mic cable.

No, the "mic" in isn't the same as a line input.

 

[ranjam]

Unless you're using the USB input or a $$$$$ sound card, it will be horrible, if it works at all. The latency will be atrocious. And with a laptop, there ain't no $$$$$ sound card. But I'll repeat what I said to a similar post in the Digital Recording/Computers area. Divide and conquer. Think of your signal chain as A-B-C-D and you up til now have stopped at A or the microphone. Look past the end of your nose. Plug the mic into the ART, and be sure the phantom power is on. Set the impedance and pad switches 'properly' so you get at least the two green LED's lit up, and maybe the yellow LED as well. Now you know you have A-B working. Move on to C; and this is where grown men have been reduced to whimpering cowards. Make sure the computer's internal sound card is disabled, and the ART is the default input and output device. How you do this will depend on the recording software you are using. But on the computer, go into device manager and see if this is how it is. The internal card will be disabled, and the ART will show up, and be enabled.
If you can get that far, D is the home stretch. Open your software, and in say Cubase, drop the Devices menu, and be sure the ART is there as the input and output device. If there is a step E, it's record and have fun. Go slow, and if you tell me where it screws up, maybe I can tell you how to fix it. Believe me, I've made 1,001 mistakes, so I've seen them all, and I still managed to record.