Presonus Audiobox USB with Sonar X1 Producer

aceteleman

New member
Ok I have a question that I can't seem to get an answer for anywhere else so maybe somebody here will know. I'll try to explain the issue as briefly as possible.

First, I bought this from a friend who had had it for only a month (I was with him when he bought it) and he upgraded to a bigger rackmount unit. So I know the unit wasn't abused and I saw with my own eyes/ears that it worked properly when it was hooked to his system.

Here's the deal. I've been trying to record some acoustic guitar tracks but when I plug my guitar into either channel, the gain controls do absolutely nothing to change the input level. It's like plugging an instrument into the input bypasses the gain control on the interface itself. I can have it completely turned off and get the same volume level as if it was wide open, which being wide open changes nothing either. I have to control the input level with the volume control on the preamp of the guitar. The only 2 controls that change the levels are the 'mix' and the 'main'. The mix knob seems to be very touchy and there's a thin line between too much and not enough. If I get the guitar at a decent sounding level so I can hear it in my headphones the playback of the rest of the song is so low I can barely hear it.

I've uninstalled and re-installed the software, been to Presonus web site and downloaded the latest ASIO drivers and all that. I'm a member of the Cakewalk Forum and I've posed the question there also but the only response so far wasn't any help. All he did was explain to me how it's supposed to work, which I already know.

So hopefully somebody here will have an answer for me and tell me if I'm doing something wrong between the interface and the DAW. I really need to get this figured out soon as I have a demo project for a local band booked for next month.

One other thing, not that it's a major issue, but when I go to set the input on the track it's always defaulted to the stereo input and I have to manually change it to 1L or 2R, whichever the case may be.

Thanks in advance for any useful advise.

The Teleman
 
About Sonar: When I add a new audio track in Sonar the little "input" box at the bottom always reads "none" and I have to manually select the input track for each individual track. There may be a setting in the Audiobox software that is over-riding Sonar and defaulting to a stereo input. Change that Audiobox setting to mono and see if that doesn't help.

According to the manual plugging an instrument into the inst input should give you up to 35dB of gain. There is also a warning about running a line-level signal could result in distortion or possibly damage the input. Maybe your buddy fried the instrument amps by running line level from a keyboard or an active bass through those inputs. Depending on the preamp you are using you may have fried the internal amp. They very specifically recommend using a line input for active and line-level sources. It's odd the Audiobox doesn't offer line input. IF that was the case though I doubt the Audiobox would pass ANY signal through the input, or it would be very weak indeed. Another issue could be a bad battery in the guitar preamp so your signal is so low there isn't enough there for the Audiobox to work with without cranking up the mix and master. I'd start with a new battery in the preamp. Be careful how much level you put through that input.

A workaround would be to get a DI and use the mic input. BTW you would probably get better results using a passive DI and the mic amp anyway. Radial makes some nice ones. I use the JDI and it sounds great with FRAP piezo pickups, bass, Moog synths, anything you throw at it.

http://www.presonus.com/media/manuals/AudioBox USB v2-web.pdf
 
Ok I have a question that I can't seem to get an answer for anywhere else so maybe somebody here will know. I'll try to explain the issue as briefly as possible.

First, I bought this from a friend who had had it for only a month (I was with him when he bought it) and he upgraded to a bigger rackmount unit. So I know the unit wasn't abused and I saw with my own eyes/ears that it worked properly when it was hooked to his system.

Here's the deal. I've been trying to record some acoustic guitar tracks but when I plug my guitar into either channel, the gain controls do absolutely nothing to change the input level. It's like plugging an instrument into the input bypasses the gain control on the interface itself. I can have it completely turned off and get the same volume level as if it was wide open, which being wide open changes nothing either. I have to control the input level with the volume control on the preamp of the guitar. The only 2 controls that change the levels are the 'mix' and the 'main'. The mix knob seems to be very touchy and there's a thin line between too much and not enough. If I get the guitar at a decent sounding level so I can hear it in my headphones the playback of the rest of the song is so low I can barely hear it.

I've uninstalled and re-installed the software, been to Presonus web site and downloaded the latest ASIO drivers and all that. I'm a member of the Cakewalk Forum and I've posed the question there also but the only response so far wasn't any help. All he did was explain to me how it's supposed to work, which I already know.

So hopefully somebody here will have an answer for me and tell me if I'm doing something wrong between the interface and the DAW. I really need to get this figured out soon as I have a demo project for a local band booked for next month.

One other thing, not that it's a major issue, but when I go to set the input on the track it's always defaulted to the stereo input and I have to manually change it to 1L or 2R, whichever the case may be.

Thanks in advance for any useful advise.

The Teleman

Thanks for that info c7sus. I'm sure my friend didn't fry anything because it was working the night I picked it up from him, was still hooked to his system when I got there. Now I, on the other hand could have, but when I first plugged my guitar into it, I had the volume on the preamp off and slowly brought it up until I had signal and when I tried to adjust the level with the audiobox, from 0 to wide open, no change at all.

I will look into the settings for the audiobox and see what I can find there. And I agree with you comment abouit not getting any signal if the the unit was fried, I get plenty of signal but have to control it all with the guitar volume.

If I'm going to end up investing more money I'll probably just get a better audio interface. I'm limited on space in my studio so I really don't need more gadgets, know what I mean??? lol
 
What I meant to say in this statement:

when I first plugged my guitar into it, I had the volume on the preamp off and slowly brought it up until I had signal and when I tried to adjust the level with the audiobox, from 0 to wide open, no change at all.
 
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