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canned_fruit posted:My second minor gripe is that the gain from the mic isn't loud enough for monitoring. When I set the phones to full and gain 1 to a good level for recording so that it rarely reaches red on the display the mic is a decent level but only when phones is maxed. The input knob however gets tons of amplification which means that I can never set the input to max and then just reduce the level of the phones output because my microphone won't be loud enough compared to the song from the computer. One way to get around it would be to run my DAW (Ableton) and monitor from there and but I'd much prefer not to because of latency etc. The knob under the "reverb" knob says "input" on the left and "daw" on the right. Set your mic gain so that you're getting a good strong signal, set input monitoring on your ableton channel to "off", and then adjust the input/daw knob as needed to monitor the mic.
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| # ? Dec 27, 2010 21:33 |
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| # ? May 18, 2013 18:07 |
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If I was to get a dedicated PC for audio recording could I get away with this comp or is it not worth going so cheap? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+La...39#BVRRWidgetID Ideally I'd get some sort of Mbox so I can continue using Pro Tools LE which is what I started learning on in class. Everyone says to go Mac but even going used on a Macbook my entire budget gets eaten up.
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| # ? Dec 28, 2010 02:25 |
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muckswirler posted:Try turning off your wifi and see if the problem with dropouts goes away. I've had wifi adapters cause problems in the past. Cheers, it's stopped for today, I think my external hard drive may have been giving it hassles, but I'll remember that. RivensBitch posted:The knob under the "reverb" knob says "input" on the left and "daw" on the right. Set your mic gain so that you're getting a good strong signal, set input monitoring on your ableton channel to "off", and then adjust the input/daw knob as needed to monitor the mic. Ahk thanks. That's alright but it doesn't really fix the problem since when I pass 12 o'clock (turning counter-clockwise) it stops increasing (just as well otherwise it would affect input and vice versa) so it was already maxed in that regard. For reference my mic gain is almost maxed, sitting just before the last line indicator and my phones knob is maxed. I can hear myself fine, I'd just prefer if I could turn it up a little. It's kind of weird since when it gets a signal from the computer it will say it's at like -40 dB and when I sing at about the same level as the song it will get up to -3 sometimes. Conversely when I turn the input up, turn the phones knob down and sing at the level the input is getting to (like -6 dB and the gain 1 LED goes red) I can't hear myself at all. I guess it's just a weird design thing, not really a problem for recording but it's a pain when practicing and you want to listen closely. The whole Scene 1 | Scene 2 | Scene 3 thing is a bit weird too considering they don't actually match up to anything, whereas input 1 and 2 do.
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| # ? Dec 28, 2010 09:14 |
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Epi Lepi posted:If I was to get a dedicated PC for audio recording could I get away with this comp or is it not worth going so cheap? HP laptops (HP consumer hardware in general) do not have a good reputation for reliability. I'd look at something like a Lenovo Thinkpad http://bit.ly/ehfJNq -- newegg has a bunch of other good laptop deals going on this week.
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| # ? Dec 28, 2010 16:36 |
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h_double posted:HP laptops (HP consumer hardware in general) do not have a good reputation for reliability. And going off of this, whats really the most you need out of a laptop to do home recording? Lets say that doing a 6-8 mic setup to record some drums.
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| # ? Dec 28, 2010 17:21 |
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canned_fruit posted:Ahk thanks. That's alright but it doesn't really fix the problem since when I pass 12 o'clock (turning counter-clockwise) it stops increasing (just as well otherwise it would affect input and vice versa) so it was already maxed in that regard. You're doing something wrong. When you turn the knob all the way to "DAW" you should not hear ANY of the mic input. If you do, then you are monitoring the mic through your DAW, which would be your problem. Make sure that input monitoring is turned off in Ableton. Once it is, turning the Input/Daw knob past 12 o'clock should make either the DAW or the Input quieter until it becomes silent.
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| # ? Dec 28, 2010 20:21 |
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Thirst for Savings posted:And going off of this, whats really the most you need out of a laptop to do home recording? Lets say that doing a 6-8 mic setup to record some drums. Firewire and something like a Core2Duo or greater processor (no Celerons or Atoms). Some extra RAM and a 7200 RPM hard drive will help too, but decent specced laptops of four-five years ago could handle that kind of task, so you won't need anything crazy like a Core i7 with 8GB of RAM.
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| # ? Dec 29, 2010 00:21 |
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RivensBitch posted:You're doing something wrong. When you turn the knob all the way to "DAW" you should not hear ANY of the mic input. If you do, then you are monitoring the mic through your DAW, which would be your problem. Make sure that input monitoring is turned off in Ableton. Once it is, turning the Input/Daw knob past 12 o'clock should make either the DAW or the Input quieter until it becomes silent. Yeah I know, I was turning counter-clockwise from DAW. When you pass 12 o'clock clockwise the input is maxed and it reduces the level of your mic monitored directly, when you pass it counter-clockwise your mic is maxed and the input is reduced (or mic monitored through Ableton which is the same thing). Since I had the knob at around 9 my mic was maxed for direct monitoring and input was like almost halfway. Here's a test to see if it's just me or the machine: Set the "input DAW" knob to 12 (so both mic and input are maxed), max your input from the computer and in iTunes or Ableton or whatever, set your gain 1 to a good level and reduce your phones so you're not getting blasted by music. Look at the level on the display of the Konnekt 6 while playing some music (should hopefully be sitting around -6 dB), then pause the music and sing/talk into the mic so that you reach the same level of like -6 dB. Can you hear yourself? Hypothetically you should be able to because logically the level from the input should match up with the level of the mic. If you can that means there's something wrong on my end because I can't. If that's the case the only thing I can think of is either the Konnekt 6 is faulty or the mic is. It's an SM58 so it's not like it needs phantom power or anything. Thanks for the help.
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| # ? Dec 29, 2010 03:36 |
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DrChu posted:Firewire and something like a Core2Duo or greater processor (no Celerons or Atoms). Some extra RAM and a 7200 RPM hard drive will help too, but decent specced laptops of four-five years ago could handle that kind of task, so you won't need anything crazy like a Core i7 with 8GB of RAM. And generally would you want on-board firewire or use one through the expansion port (expansion slot?)
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| # ? Dec 29, 2010 06:02 |
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canned_fruit posted:Yeah I know, I was turning counter-clockwise from DAW. When you pass 12 o'clock clockwise the input is maxed and it reduces the level of your mic monitored directly, when you pass it counter-clockwise your mic is maxed and the input is reduced (or mic monitored through Ableton which is the same thing). Since I had the knob at around 9 my mic was maxed for direct monitoring and input was like almost halfway. You keep mixing up terms which is making your instructions confusing. Saying "input" when referring to the daw makes your post hard to follow. The daw is creating playback, so please refer to it as output FROM the daw. Your mic is the only source of input. When the input/daw knob is centered at 12, the signals aren't maxed, they're at unity. They both have 0 attenuation. Turning the knob towards daw attenuates the input channels. Turning the knob towards input attenuates the daw output. As for gain staging, try this. Create a new ableton set with a single audio channel. Set it's input to ch 1, and turn input monitoring on. Now turn the monitoring knob on the konnekt all the way to input. Turn ch1 gain up until you have a very strong signal on your mic, in the yellow but just shy of clipping red. Double check visually in ableton that you have plenty of gain, use the "boost" button on the konnekt if you need more gain. Now set your headphone level so that it's comfortable. Now turn the monitoring knob all the way to daw. How does this compare to monitoring the input directly without the daw output? Is it louder or quieter? Theoretically they should be the same, just with latency in the daw side. Setting the knob to 12 should have both signals at the same level. edit: Ok I did some actual experimentation and I've confirmed that there's no volume difference, so you're doing something wrong or your konnekt is broken. However here's an important question, have you checked your levels in the control panel? I have the input monitoring faders in the konnekt control panel set full up. RivensBitch fucked around with this message at Dec 29, 2010 around 08:21 |
| # ? Dec 29, 2010 06:59 |
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RivensBitch posted:As for gain staging, try this. Create a new ableton set with a single audio channel. Set it's input to ch 1, and turn input monitoring on. Now turn the monitoring knob on the konnekt all the way to input. Turn ch1 gain up until you have a very strong signal on your mic, in the yellow but just shy of clipping red. Double check visually in ableton that you have plenty of gain, use the "boost" button on the konnekt if you need more gain. Now set your headphone level so that it's comfortable. OK did the test and you're right it's about the same level direct monitoring and monitoring through Ableton. I did a couple more tests myself and I've decided there's no discrepancy between output from DAW and the input mic level at least when monitoring from Ableton. Direct monitoring I still can't hear myself but that might be because I can "hear myself in my head" as well if you know what I mean and maybe because there's no latency there seems to be no change. Try my test out I described earlier if you want a better idea of what I'm saying. I don't know, I guess I'd just prefer if there was a bit more room to play with the phones level like with my mixer. Not a problem with the unit just makes it better for recording than practicing I guess.
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| # ? Dec 29, 2010 09:08 |
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canned_fruit posted:OK did the test and you're right it's about the same level direct monitoring and monitoring through Ableton. I did a couple more tests myself and I've decided there's no discrepancy between output from DAW and the input mic level at least when monitoring from Ableton. Direct monitoring I still can't hear myself but that might be because I can "hear myself in my head" as well if you know what I mean and maybe because there's no latency there seems to be no change. Try my test out I described earlier if you want a better idea of what I'm saying. I think you just need to practice more working in headphones with the tools you have, I've used dozens of interfaces in hundreds of different configurations before and IMO the Konnekt6 has a very robust monitoring section compared to most, especially when you factor in the software control panel and mixer. What you describe with the "hear myself in the head" concept is something that becomes easier with lots of practice and all around experience. Listening is a very hard skill, listening to yourself and something else at the same time actually takes a level of mental coordination that might seem counter intuitive at first. Doing all of this in headphones with microphones instead of with your ears in a room is another level of complexity. You also might consider getting earphones instead of headphones, they provide a different level of isolation. Something like the Shure SE115 or SE210.
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| # ? Dec 29, 2010 16:57 |
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Be careful turning your headphones all the way up like that. You can trash your ears pretty quickly if you aren't careful. If I crank mine I get angry emails from astronauts.
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| # ? Dec 29, 2010 18:22 |
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Thirst for Savings posted:And generally would you want on-board firewire or use one through the expansion port (expansion slot?)
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| # ? Dec 30, 2010 00:03 |
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Get a firewire controller with a TI chipset (it will say in the description); firewire can be sort of finnicky about low-latency communication, and audio interface manufacturers generally recommend the TI chipset on a PC controller.
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| # ? Dec 31, 2010 16:54 |
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Hey audio interface dudes, I'm selling an E-MU 0404 in SA-Mart. http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=3379426
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| # ? Jan 7, 2011 04:14 |
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I'm selling a Desktop Konnekt, a firewire card, and a few lower end mics in the SAMart if anyone's interested.
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| # ? Jan 27, 2011 03:17 |
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Looking for a little help on a mid range interface. It's for my PC, I don't need it to be portable, I'm only looking for 2 ins, I don't want any DSP effects and my budget is $500. Any recommendations? I'm thinking of sticking with PCI as I don't need portability. I'm leaning towards the Echo Audiofire series, but that's really because it's all I've found in my search so far that seems suitable. edit: I'm currently running some lovely behringer preamps into a 2496, so I'm also trying to weigh the benefits of just keeping the 2496, and getting a better pre. Any recommendations? pennywisdom fucked around with this message at Feb 9, 2011 around 09:28 |
| # ? Feb 9, 2011 03:26 |
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Someone on Gearslutz mentioned he would stay away from PCI as it's "old tech" and has the potential to be phased out. This sounds weird to me, does it hold any value?
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| # ? Feb 9, 2011 17:32 |
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Yeah, most stuff uses firewire or USB. PCI is kinda unnecessary. You can grab a saffire 6 USB. 2 ins, plenty of outs, nice pres and costs like $200. I've got one and I love it. Completely USB powered too, so it's extremely portable!
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| # ? Feb 9, 2011 18:54 |
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cat doter posted:Yeah, most stuff uses firewire or USB. PCI is kinda unnecessary. You can grab a saffire 6 USB. 2 ins, plenty of outs, nice pres and costs like $200. I've got one and I love it. Completely USB powered too, so it's extremely portable! I'll be getting my Saffire 6 USB on Monday, according to FedEx. I'll be sure to post my thoughts.
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| # ? Feb 9, 2011 21:03 |
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I'm going to stay away from USB due to the sheer amount of stuff I have plugged into my USB ports.
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| # ? Feb 9, 2011 21:10 |
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I heard that brother. I have the saffire 24 and I'd recommend it. The pre's are really neutral. You could get a preamp instead, but that's a tough price range to find something flattering. Unless you build one yourself!
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| # ? Feb 9, 2011 23:13 |
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pennywisdom posted:I'm going to stay away from USB due to the sheer amount of stuff I have plugged into my USB ports. Can't just buy a USB hub or something? It's a pretty good interface.
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| # ? Feb 9, 2011 23:17 |
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Onyx Blackjacks are now only $149 through March 31st You really can't beat that...
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| # ? Feb 9, 2011 23:33 |
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cat doter posted:Can't just buy a USB hub or something? It's a pretty good interface. The more crap I have plugged in via USB, the worse the USB interface is going to perform though.
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| # ? Feb 10, 2011 00:01 |
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RivensBitch posted:Onyx Blackjacks are now only $149 through March 31st drat that's a good price. It's the USB thing that's killing me though. Anyone have any thoughts on the Echo Gina? http://www.guitarcenter.com/Echo-Gi...314-i1153937.gc
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| # ? Feb 10, 2011 00:15 |
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pennywisdom posted:Someone on Gearslutz mentioned he would stay away from PCI as it's "old tech" and has the potential to be phased out. This sounds weird to me, does it hold any value? Are all your USB devices really necessary while recording? A keyboard/mouse/MIDI controller isn't going to saturate your USB bus and I run a hard drive and my Fireface UC on my USB bus with 4-6 separate playback outputs and 2-4 inputs recording all the time with no issues on my Lenovo X200t. If you shop for one that has an external power adapter I think you'd be fine (and if you weren't for some reason you could always add a USB PCIe card for $50 or so, although I know nothing about pointing you to which one you'd want).
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| # ? Feb 10, 2011 01:02 |
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I've got my keyboard, mouse (via a bluetooth tongle), external hard drive, APC40 and MIDI controller plugged in right now. I think I'm just used to my PCI card at this point and am just being habitual. I think I'm going to grab that Echo interface.
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| # ? Feb 10, 2011 01:36 |
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You could buy a PCI USB hub. More power for the interface, and it'll sate your PCI expansion card lust. More USB ports is always a big bonus too.
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| # ? Feb 10, 2011 02:40 |
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pennywisdom posted:I've got my keyboard, mouse (via a bluetooth tongle), external hard drive, APC40 and MIDI controller plugged in right now. I think I'm just used to my PCI card at this point and am just being habitual. I think I'm going to grab that Echo interface. Everything you just mentioned (except the hard drive if it's bus powered) can be plugged into this: http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/usb-gadgets/e051/ My macbook pro only has 2 usb ports, so I use this with everything except things that are bus powered.
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| # ? Feb 10, 2011 17:07 |
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After further review on everything, I've decided that the Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 would be better suited to my needs. Thing is, I'll have to buy a firewire card for my PC. So my next question is what should I look out for when getting a firewire card when the primary use is going to be handling this interface?
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| # ? Feb 11, 2011 01:59 |
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I don't have the super knowledge to do a really quality review of it, but I got an MBox 3 Mini for Christmas and I'm loving it for beginner recording. It's really easy to set up and use, it's pretty low noise, and ProTools owns. Also, it's relatively cheap for a good interface + ProTools LE.
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| # ? Feb 11, 2011 02:36 |
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pennywisdom posted:After further review on everything, I've decided that the Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 would be better suited to my needs. Thing is, I'll have to buy a firewire card for my PC. Quite a good choice there. I don't think you'd really need to worry about buying the wrong firewire card, just grab a decently priced one from a store you like and off you go.
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| # ? Feb 11, 2011 02:37 |
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pennywisdom posted:So my next question is what should I look out for when getting a firewire card when the primary use is going to be handling this interface? http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase...mpatibility.pdf
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| # ? Feb 11, 2011 03:00 |
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Oh perfect thanks. I was reading around and the consensus seemed to be to grab a card with a TI chipset, looks like the one I ended up getting is on their recommended list too, bonus!
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| # ? Feb 11, 2011 07:57 |
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pennywisdom posted:Oh perfect thanks. I was reading around and the consensus seemed to be to grab a card with a TI chipset, looks like the one I ended up getting is on their recommended list too, bonus! Yeah, for anything firewire related, the answer is always "something with a TI chipset". Same thing we used to recommend to people working with Premiere when I worked at Adobe.
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| # ? Feb 11, 2011 09:38 |
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Can anybody tell me about a Mackie - Onyx 400F? I've seen one listed somewhere for about 300 bucks and that seems amazingly cheap. Would it be an upgrade from a Focusrite Saffire 24?
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| # ? Feb 13, 2011 21:03 |
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How important is future driver support to you? The 400f has been discontinued, make certain you know what OSes and DAWs are currently supported. You could very well be stuck at that level, and when it comes time to upgrade in a few years the resale value will have diminished significantly. That doesn't mean $300 might not be a good deal, but an onyx blackbird brand new costs $500 and has 8 onyx pres, direct monitoring from all inputs to outputs, and current driver support.
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| # ? Feb 13, 2011 21:17 |
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| # ? May 18, 2013 18:07 |
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RivensBitch posted:How important is future driver support to you? The 400f has been discontinued, make certain you know what OSes and DAWs are currently supported. You could very well be stuck at that level, and when it comes time to upgrade in a few years the resale value will have diminished significantly. The thing is that this is 300 Australian without shipping or anything like that. The 500 US would be the equivilant of about 650 Australian once you factor in shipping and everything else. I'll double-check to see if you can get it working with Windows 7. Seems to be a few issues with W7 but now there's a few solutions. Would you say that it would provide better quality than a Focusrite Saffire 24?
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| # ? Feb 14, 2011 05:36 |
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