Presonus TUBEPRE question

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TroyHutson

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Just bought a used Presonus TubePre from guitar center. I'm running an MXL 990 through the intstrument input, and an unbalanced cord to the soundcard. It's not picking up any sound. Also, When i take a dynamic mic and plug it straight into the card, it's picking up sound from the mic. Why is it not working? what am i doing wrong?
 
yes phantom power is on and drive and gain are also up about 50%
 
Is the VU meter moving?
If not try a different mic cable.

Are you using an XLR to XLR cable?
If you are using an XLR to 1/4 cable it wont work.
 
timboZ said:
If you are using an XLR to 1/4 cable it wont work.
Click to expand...

yep, that must be the problem. zooom we're off to guitar center
 
ooook that didnt work. it still isn't picking up anything. also, no the needle is not moving
 
not going to insult your intelligence, these are just common mistakes, please don't be offended.

is the TubePre turned on?

is the input cable plugged into the input jack on the TubePre and not the output jack?

make sure the -20dB button isn't engaged.

i've been known to do some silly things.
 
little guy said:
not going to insult your intelligence, these are just common mistakes, please don't be offended.

is the TubePre turned on?

is the input cable plugged into the input jack on the TubePre and not the output jack?

make sure the -20dB button isn't engaged.

i've been known to do some silly things.
Click to expand...

there isn't an on/off switch. But the buttons are lighting up. Haha I have indeed checked to make sure they are going into the right connection, and yeah the -20db button is off.
 
Do you know that your mic is good?
What is the input on your audio interface?

-You should be running the mic into the XLR in, not the instrument.
- You should be running the unbalanced out to your audio interface input (unless it has XLR, which it doesn't sound like is the situation in your case)
 
amra said:
Do you know that your mic is good?
What is the input on your audio interface?

-You should be running the mic into the XLR in, not the instrument.
- You should be running the unbalanced out to your audio interface input (unless it has XLR, which it doesn't sound like is the situation in your case)
Click to expand...

Yeah my friend brought over a mic cable so the mics are now going into the XLR instead of the instrument. I was running an unbalanced out into an 1/8" converter jack, but the volume levels still arn't moving on the pre amp. And i know for a fact the dynamic mic works, because when i plug it straight into the sound card it picks up sound, but when it goes through the unit, it's not.

Also, isn't the tube supposed to glow or something? because it's not. Also, it was on for about 30 minutes and the actual metal on the case didn't get any warmer. My friend said it might have a bad tube in it.
 
Yes, the tube should "appear" to be glowing red as soon as you turn it on. The reason I say "appear" is because I read somewhere that there is actually a red LED under the tube which makes it appear to glow.

I have one of these units and loved it when I first got it, but I outgrew it quickly and don't really use it now.

Sounds like your unit is faulty... zooom back to GC and ask them to test it.
 
I believe that those things will run without a tube in them, because the tube in that circuit does practically nothing. I don't think that the tube is your problem. I could be wrong, though. It has happened WAY more times than I'm willing to admit.
 
tourettes5139 said:
I believe that those things will run without a tube in them, because the tube in that circuit does practically nothing. I don't think that the tube is your problem. Nothing original to say here, but it sounds like you got a bad pre.
Click to expand...

hmm interesting. I'm going to take it back to guitar center in the morning and see if they can either fix it or replace it with another... too bad it was the only used one :( maybe if i complain enough they'll give me a new one. It is kind of bogus that they sold something that was used and doesn't work.
 
Why dont you take it to GC with your own mic and make them prove to you that it works?? Watch what they do and see if they do something different than you did, something that makes it work for them but not you.....

The tubes in these things are low voltage, they will not glow very bright, so dont expect it to light up the desk if you turn all the lights off in the room. That also means it will not get very hot, it's probably a 12AX7 tube.

It probably would work without the tube, since they are usually designed to act as a sort of mixer to blend a solid state signal with a tube signal, like "dry" would be all solid state, and adding in the tube signal would make it more "wet".

Make GC prove to you that it works.......if you didn't already do that before you bought it. Could be some reason why it's "used" and back in the store for sale.


TroyHutson said:
And i know for a fact the dynamic mic works, because when i plug it straight into the sound card it picks up sound, but when it goes through the unit, it's not.
Click to expand...
You did make reference to your "dynamic" mic.......hence, phantom power will have nothing to do with it.
 
If the mic is good and the mic cable is good and everything is plugged in properly and the 48V button is on and "GREEN". You should be able to turn both knobs full clock wise and watch the front meters dancing when you yack into the mic. If not, take it back.
 
The Tubepre is not a bad unit for the money....Click Here to listen to an example of a track I did using the TubePre on Bass and Guitar.
 
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