Need Studio Help

[Enatic1213]

Okay i'm new and i bought a recording studio bundle with a MXL 990 Condenser Mic, a Digidesign minibox2 and protools. My first problem was pro tools it would begin loading up then just freeze. I upgraded to 3 MB of Memory and it was working fine then it started freezing again.

But my bigger question is this my MXL mic, i plugged it into the minibox and when i sing into it i get nothing. But when i touch the mic i get this vibration thump sound. On protools i see the yellow,green,red levels moving as i touch the mic, and when i record i can hear the thumps being recorded. But when it comes to vocals or instruments i get nothing.

Ive been looking everywhere online to see if thiers a solution but havnt found anything, i'm running windows vista on my computer, if you need anymore information let me know ... any advice is appreciated .... my passion is music and this is really all thats stopping me.

[john]

Hey

For protools (I'm no expert on protools) I'm guessing you need to change the size of the cache size used when recording. Should be in your audio options somewhere.

On your mic a couple of things... when singing do you hear nothing at all? Not even very quiet? Are you adjusting the input gain control to set the input level appropriately? i also assume you have turned on the phantom power?

Cheers

John

[Nightwolf]

it does sound like the phantom power is not on. Also check the output to make sure it is aimed correctly.

You hear the "thumps" from your speakers or headphones, but not singing?

Pro-tools is finicky as far as loading up, make sure you follow (RTFM) the instructions word for word...

More info would help troubleshoot, where does the loading stall out? I assume it is not stalling everytime. What is running in the background?

[Enatic1213]

Hey

For protools (I'm no expert on protools) I'm guessing you need to change the size of the cache size used when recording. Should be in your audio options somewhere.

On your mic a couple of things... when singing do you hear nothing at all? Not even very quiet? Are you adjusting the input gain control to set the input level appropriately? i also assume you have turned on the phantom power?

Cheers

John

Okay i'm try that in protools if i every get it to run... yes when singing i hear nothing at all, not even quiet, i have turned on the phantom power. But input level controls is something i have to make sure where do i check these in protools or the interface and how to i make sure is done correctly.

[Enatic1213]

it does sound like the phantom power is not on. Also check the output to make sure it is aimed correctly.

You hear the "thumps" from your speakers or headphones, but not singing?

Pro-tools is finicky as far as loading up, make sure you follow (RTFM) the instructions word for word...

More info would help troubleshoot, where does the loading stall out? I assume it is not stalling everytime. What is running in the background?

The back of my interface the V48 which i'm guessing is phantom power is turned on. Yes i hear the thumps from my speakers and headphones but not singing? I'm not sure about output that make be the problem one my interface i have 4 knobs, one for the headphone/speaker volume, then a mix knob which i'm not sure what it's for then two knobs for input 1 and input 2. Or is the outputs in protools?

[Nightwolf]

You say the meters bounce when you sing, that means the input is correct and you are getting signal. Make sure your monitor set up is plugged to monitor out or sumping like that. What are you using as a monitor?

The output is controlled in pro-tools and looks like this:

[Enatic1213]

You say the meters bounce when you sing, that means the input is correct and you are getting signal. Make sure your monitor set up is plugged to monitor out or sumping like that. What are you using as a monitor?

The output is controlled in pro-tools and looks like this:

Not quite the meters dont bounce at all when i sing, just when i touch the microphone monitors are maudiopro studio 3, thanks for the output thing.

[Nightwolf]

If the meters do not bounce that points to the inputs which are above the outputs in the pic above. The noise from scratching could very well bleed across even if the input is wrong. Step one is to get the meters responding to sound...

[Nightwolf]

after that, try another mic and cable

[Steve]

after that, try another mic and cable

Or, switch the phantom power off and plug in a guitar. If you still get no sound, come back.

[Roflcopter]

Did you check all the micophone volume settings in Windows itself - sometimes they are nearly shut by default, can be a real bugger.

[Enatic1213]

I'm using windows vista, i tried to get to the master sound thing but vista is weird and i'm not sure where it is.

Unfortunately i don't have a guitar or anything but thanxs.

I'm not sure if the inputs/outputs are rite, in protools i chose In 1 - Out 1-2 and still when i touch the microphone i get the thump reaction, even when i record and playback i can hear the thumps. But still when i sing into the mic i get nothing.

I'm thinking of just getting another mic, but if i get another mic and it still doesn't work i mite just send everything back.

[Nightwolf]

do try another mic, but don't give up so fast. Once it gets straightened out, you'll bee happy

[Enatic1213]

I think maybe somethings loose in my microphone, i remenber when i first got it something was rattaling around inside, but after a while it stopped so i must have forgot about it.

[Nightwolf]

My guess at this point is a broken mic as well... Let us know what you find out

[john]

try taking it to a local music shop to try. If in doubt, isolate a component as much as possible or plug it into a completely separate system.

[Roflcopter]

I'm using windows vista, i tried to get to the master sound thing but vista is weird and i'm not sure where it is.

Don't use vista, but I thought I'd give that a google - and guess what: there isn't any. Vista does everything per application these days.

I found one little program that does output volume system wide on vista, but not mike levels. That should be done by your application, anyway - there is no systemwide microphone setting in Vista anymore.

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/vista/CoreAudio.aspx

[Enatic1213]

Thank you everyone for your help, it was the mic, it was broken and i got a new and better one that records really well, and everything is working fine.

[Steve]

Excellent! I'm looking forward to your first song post!