weird noise showing up with top gear ??

Crackling could be a few different sources. Bad cables. Dodgy phantom power. If you are in a humid environment it could be tiny amounts of condensation on the capsule. You can dry the capsule out by putting the mic in close proximity to a 100-watt incandescent light bulb for 5-10 minutes.
 
could it have to do with the order with witch I turn on my pre-amp, phantom power, ableton live ?? All gear is new and the studio is pretty dry. It's coming from both mics, so it can't be the mic, and therefore the cable.. something odd is going on.
 
Well, sometimes extraneous pops like that can be caused by problems with the synchronization. Do try different cables with both mics to make sure (borrow some from a friend), and (even though the interface is new) make sure that theres no dust or dirt in it and that the thing wasn't a return and they just sold it you without telling you. (some of those guys can be pretty sneaky like that) ((heres hoping its not a lemon))

if you know someone with a different pre-amp/interface, try to grab it from them for a day or weekend or however long it would take you to test everything out.

i agree with moresound on the phantom power deal, too. they could be cutting out intermittently because of a lack of sufficient power. do you always record with both mics active? if so, try just 1 and see if you get the same problem. plus, if i remember correctly those ensembles are 75dB tops on the gain... but how clean are they? youre pushing it pretty close to the limit there. make sure that you arent getting in the reds. getting in the reds in software (especially nitpicking software like ableton) can really mess your sound up. remember, its better to record too low than too hot.

also, id say stop using ableton live to record with. id switch to reaper or something similar until you can afford logic or adobe audition or protools or the like. (reaper is a fairly cheap and fairly powerful program)

good luck with the problem, i hope you can fix it. i know how much of a pain in the ass something can be when you dont know what it is.
 
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Can the problem be duplicated with a mic from another manufacturer?
Are you just recording to two audio channels no digital?
What model of mac are you using?
Is everything running through a UPS or good power conditioner?
Are you using a external clock?
I've seen some flaky stuff go on with the duet's phantom power
but not with ensembles.
About the only thing I noticed with the ensemble is it needs to be restarted
after adding digital devices.
If you hear this static in your headphone out jacks just checking levels
and mic position it isn't going to be your software.
 
Also, grab an SM57 or the like from someone you know if you can. Try a mic that doesn't require any phantom power (usually any dynamic mic) and see if you still get the weird pops. Try a power conditioner as well. Most people and studios tend to grab Furmans (the studio I work at, Patchwerk in Atlanta, GA uses the Furmans at the top of every rack, usually the PL8 for the patchbays and associated equipment)

Again, good luck!
 
Try unplugging your laptop power supply and run on batteries. Solved both mine and my friends noise issue when recording to a laptop.
 
If you think the phantom power is the source of the problem, what does using some other software beside Ableton have to do with the solution???

:confused:
 
Absolutely nothing. :) Just throwing in my $0.02 on software. You never know, it could be a driver dispute between Ableton and the Ensemble.

There are so many damn causes of pops like that that it's hard to narrow it down, so I was listing possible solutions. Hopefully you read my 2 posts in this thread outlining several possible causes for his problem. Anyway, isn't this thread about his popping problem?

Again OP, best of luck on resolving this issue.
 
I have several pieces of gear that can be set at different sampling rates, and if I don't have those in agreement it will make pops.
 
Another oddity I've noticed on MBP and IMACs when attempting to run a Glymph FW800 straight to the computer and chaining either the duet and ensemble off one of the Glymphs FW400 ports is, lots of noise when the
drive is writing data. The only way around this is run your ensemble
straight to the mac and chain the Glymph off the ensemble.
I recentley bought a used mac pro and now I can run every thing straight
to the mac. I was never able to find a FW800 hub I'm still not sure they
even exist.
 
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