Stupid Mbox, Protools, Mic Question

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Purpleb

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Sorry this might be a double post, when I posted the first time the page could not be displayed.
Hello I have an Mbox with a AT3035 mic. I like really have to kick up the gain on the Mbox to get any volume coming from the mic. I do have the phanton power on. I have the input set to mic/line 1 which the mic is plugged into source 1. The out put is set to Analog 1 and 2. I know it is probably something really stupid, sorry about this. Thanks in advance for the help
 
Purpleb said:
I like really have to kick up the gain on the Mbox to get any volume coming from the mic.
Click to expand...
MBoxes have weak mic preamps. You can either buy an external mic preamplifier and send it in thru the line input or, if it's not too noisy, just crank it up and live with it...
 
Check the source switch. also go into I/O setup and make sure the input levels are set
 
Hey guys still having the problem, I looked over all my intruction booklets and everything I cannot figure it out. I know there is a solution for it, I think it is really simple. I had this problem like a year and a half ago when I first purchased my mbox with the levels being so low when recording with the mic. I asked this same question on a forum (don't remember which one) and they gave me a simple answer I think it is about the inputs I want to say and it fixed the problem (i should of wrote it down somewhere) I haven't used the mbox in over a year now so this kinda sucks. I am trying everything I don't know what it is. Any help is appreciated
 
Purpleb said:
I have the input set to mic/line 1 which the mic is plugged into source 1.
Click to expand...

There are three LED's on the top of each gain knob that say "mic", "line", and "inst," push the source button until the "mic" light is on.
 
Yep it is already on the mic led light - still having the problem
 
take a look at Setups-->hardware setup-->input level

if it's set to +4dBu you will get a quieter input signal. if set at -10dBV you will get a louder input signal
 
When I go to setups, hardware setups I do not have a input level option. Just Peripherals the only option is Mbox in there, Ch 1-2 the options in there are analog and s/pdif, Clock which is internal or spdif and Sample rate which is 44.1 and 48khz no input levels I cannot see, is this the right place
 
Just a thought....have you tried plugging in a dynamic mic like a sm57 and seeing what happens?

H2H
 
Purpleb said:
When I go to setups, hardware setups I do not have a input level option. Just Peripherals the only option is Mbox in there, Ch 1-2 the options in there are analog and s/pdif, Clock which is internal or spdif and Sample rate which is 44.1 and 48khz no input levels I cannot see, is this the right place
Click to expand...

yeah, i wasn't sure if this was in the LE version or not. although, might just not be an option for the Mbox...sorry, worth a try though.

what are the levels at if you turn the mic trim all the way up? are they not even close to yellow?
 
Yeah the input level thing is TDM only.

I'm probably reaching here... but the Mbox is a little screwy in that the top gain knob/controls are for channel 1, but the BOTTOM jack the channel 1 input. Maybe you have those switched up? Also, are you using a laptop or USB hub? sometimes they can't provide enough current to generate a proper phantom power signal (48V). Are you sure that you have the right input selected on you record enabled track in PT too?
 
I have the right input selected I turned the gain to like the highest position on the mbox and I can get my level to like the middle of the yellow and that is when I am kinda screaming into the mic. I am using a usb hub.
 
Try pluging the Mbox directly into a USB port on a computer (you really shouldn't be using the hub anyway according to the manual). What kind of cable are you using? XLR to XLR right? Is the +48V light on?
 
Sorry about that I am using the usb port on the back of the comp. The 48v light is on. I have to xlr cables i am pretty sure they are both balanced.
 
also, there is a 10dB pad on the microphone too, right?

check to make sure you don't have that on
 
the 10db is off. I am going to go to my buddies house tonight to check out the mic there he is also going to let borrow a couple of his mic's so i can test them out here. I am going to also pick up a new mic cable.
 
The pres on the Mbox aren't that weak. There is a problem somewhere else- bad cable or fried mic. I had this happen with a 57 at work not too long ago. I hope its the cable, though, and not a fried mBox. :eek:

Chris
 
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