Recording trouble...

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butlerc777

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Hey all! I am a noob at recording and am having some problems. I am using Cubase LE 5 on Windows 7, with a Lexicon Alpha interface. Using a Behringer C-1 mic. I have gone through a lot of forums, read the manual, watched videos...and I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed at this point. I just don't know enough about what I'm doing.

Here's the trouble I'm having. I will set up Cubase to record an audio track, following all the instructions on how to do so. New project, empty template, choose a file location...anyway, when I try to record, I get one of two issues (depending on what driver/VST settings I've fiddled with for an hour...).

The most frequent issue is that there will be only one bar (instead of two together, which most videos show there should be) showing any audio activity in the 'Default Input Channel' box of the little control panel (I hardly know the names for anything, so please bear with me), and it seems like the gain is too high or something...it just shows a constant stream of audio which changes accordingly when I manually adjust the mic volume on the Lexicon. It picks up audio on top of that, but obviously I can't have a bunch of background buzz on a recording! Plus, when I click the record button, it doesn't really show anything being recorded anyway.

The second issue I've had is sort of similar. I messed with the settings enough today so that it would actually show full audio activity in both the 'Default Input Channel' and the 'Main Mix Output Channel' boxes of the control panel, but the levels are incredibly low! I've tried turning the volume up on anything I can find, but it is still very low. Also, like before, when I record it still doesn't show anything recorded for playback.

I'm sure this is a user error (possibly a handful of errors!), but I just don't know what I'm doing! I appreciate any help you can offer. Thank you!
 
First thing that is the biggest cause of your issue: You have a condenser mic that needs 'Phantom Power' in order to get enough signal. Your Lexicon Alpha does not supply this.

You will need to use a dynamic mic, add an external phantom power supply, or buy a different interface with phantom power to use your C-1.
 
Sorry I should have said that, I am using phantom power, a Behringer MicroPower PS400. The equipment itself seems to all be functioning fine.
 
Let's make sure you are setting up correctly. I pasted my own from previous post below:

You must first select the Lexicon Alpha in Cubase. Devices>Device Setup...VST Audio System. In the drop down menu at top, select Alpha. While on that page, check the 'Release Driver' box. This will allow the Alpha to play WMP, Youtube, whatever, while Cubase is open.

Now, go to Devices>VST Connections (F4 shortcut). Add a mono input bus. You will need to create a input bus for each input needed from the Alpha. For each input bus created, you will left click on the 'Device Port' column (highlighted in yellow), and select the input channel of the Alpha that you wish to use. Leave the default Stereo output bus.

Now, create a track to record to. Project>Add Track>Audio>Mono.

In the 'Inspector' window at the left of the main project window, look for a symbol that looks kinda like this: >] SEE ATTACHMENT

This is where you select the bus you created in VST Connections. You will change this on each track that is using a different input channel on the Alpha.

If you don't see the symbol, click on the track name at the top of the Inspector window to pull to the main Inspector screen.

You will need to also toggle the monitor button on the track to hear the input (it looks like a side view of a speaker). SEE ATTACHMENT. Toggle it back off to hear playback.
--to make this toggle automatically; File>Preferences>VST. In the Auto Monitoring drop down menu, select Tapemachine Style.


Let me know if this gets you up and running.
 

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have you set the routing for both connection input and output properly?
 
Alright, sorry it took awhile, I just moved and life got crazy for a bit. Anyways, I followed your suggestions, which moved things in the right direction (I also realised I didn't have my phantom power set to give the mic enough juice!), and now I can hear myself fine when I talk into the mic. However, I'm still having an issue with getting it to record anything. The clicks go off, and a track gets recorded, but no audio is actually recorded onto the track. I did get a warning message when I started Cubase today saying that I needed to check the input and output settings for the Alpha or else it would be impossible to record anything, and I THINK I fixed that, but here are a couple of screenshots to show you what some of my current settings are:

LE5 help 1.webp

LE5 help 2.webp
 

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Not sure if anyone else can see the excess of screenshots, but the first two are the only relevant ones.
 
What's showing up in VST connections? Are the ins and outs selected there? Also, a 36ms latency is huge. Check the buffer settings on you interface.
 
Deactivate 'VST System Link'!!!! That has nothing to do with what you are trying to accomplish. Both ASIO input and output should be inactive. Stick to the instructions man. You are messing with things you should not be. :)

After that, show your 'VST Connections' screen (F4) and post a snapshot of that. Then click on that 'Control Panel' button and post a screenshot of that also.
 
Also, on 'VST Connections' I have tested with using both 'Stereo In' and 'Mono In' as the default.
 
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