Recording issues. Don't know what I'm doing. Please, Help!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Shimada
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Shimada

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Hi everyone! I'm very new at this, so if I get some of the terminology or jargon wrong, please forgive me.

I've recently started to set up a very rudementary home studio. I bought an Asus Xonar Essence STX sound cart which received great reviews, but to my dismay, it does not have a digital input. I also have a Behringer Xenyx 802 mixer which I hook up to the sound cart's line in jack.

The thing is that I'm getting really bad buzzing and hissing sound while recording (using Sonar X1 btw). Seems that even when I don't hook up anything to the cart, Sonar registers a hiss. When I hook up the mixer, I also get a buzzing sound as a bonus.

I know I'm probably doing something wrong, and I'm hoping for a practical solution, so if anyone could help, it will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Regards,
Shimada
 
Shimada said:
Hi everyone! I'm very new at this, so if I get some of the terminology or jargon wrong, please forgive me.

I've recently started to set up a very rudementary home studio. I bought an Asus Xonar Essence STX sound cart which received great reviews, but to my dismay, it does not have a digital input. I also have a Behringer Xenyx 802 mixer which I hook up to the sound cart's line in jack.

The thing is that I'm getting really bad buzzing and hissing sound while recording (using Sonar X1 btw). Seems that even when I don't hook up anything to the cart, Sonar registers a hiss. When I hook up the mixer, I also get a buzzing sound as a bonus.

I know I'm probably doing something wrong, and I'm hoping for a practical solution, so if anyone could help, it will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Regards,
Shimada
Click to expand...

My gosh that's an amazingly... eh... 'affordable' mixer.

Anything I throw out here is wholly speculative, this is just what I would do. I'd reseat the soundcard, and secondly... if that didn't work... move it to different slot. If you have a dynamic microphone I'd plug that directly into the line in port just to see what happens. Provided that you are able to eliminate the hum I'd then return the Behringer XENYX 802 for a refund, go to a movie and buy lunch with the proceeds, then save up enough money to buy a mixer that costs a wee bit more then a tank of gas.

Luck.
 
The card could be picking up EMI noise from the computer.
Using those types of sound cards for recording is not the best way to go.
They may be OK for playback and basic audio...but for the $175 you spent on the card, you would have done better to just spend a couple of more bucks and get an external digital interface, and simply connect it to you computer via USB or Firewire...some of the basic M-Audio digital interfaces wouldn't cost any more than that card, plus you get better I/O options/connections...etc...and even something with a couple of preamps...you might not even need that mixer, which isn't going to help with the noise/buzz issues as you have already found out.
 
Hi,

I'm not familiar with your gear but unfortunately I think that, as Miroslav said, you have probably bought a card that is primarily designed for playing audio out - as in gaming, home theatre, etc - rather than recording in. A quick Google told me that it could also handle karaoke, which is not really much of a pointer to it being optimised for multitrack recording to a Digital Audio Workstation. Do they actually claim that it's good for use with a DAW? You may also have bought a mixer when you really needed an audio interface - they can look pretty similar. As I say, I don't know your gear but the way you're trying to hook it up doesn't sound ideal. But all is not lost. If the re-seating and general troubleshooting doesn't give any improvement, then the card should still be able to do a good job of playing your stuff out, once you've got the right setup up to get it in first. Does the card do a good job playing other music like your mp3s, CDs, video games, or whatever? I'd also second M's suggestion that it might be worth checking out some basic audio interfaces too, you won't have to spend a fortune to get started.

Good luck with it.

Chris
 
I bought a Xenyx USB mixer. returned it the next day - POS. Preamps were crappy and the output was unusable. Some folks like Behringers, though.
Before buying anything more, read the stickies at the top of this section of the forum about digital recording.
 
First of all, thanks for the feedback! Miroslav and Hakea, you guys have a point. I'll definitely be looking into an interface.

Unfortunately for me, due to abusive import tariffs, we in Brazil usually have to pay twice even 3x the price for imported gear (vs. US prices). So I'm looking to keep cost relatively low. But I don't want to give up quality. Thinking maybe the M-Audio Fast Track Pro Recording Interface. Would it do the trick? Just bought an AKG 120 Perception condeser mic (btw).

Gentlemen, in your opinion, what would be an 'honest' choice for an interface?
 
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