HELP - cannot record
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Posted on Jan 02, 2009 01:39 pm
flipazn65
Member Since: Jan 02, 2009
Please keep in mind that I am really REALLY new to recording and I really don't know what I'm doing.
I have:
Rode NT1-A Microphone
Behringer Xenyx 1204FX Mixer
U-Control UCA200 USB Codec thingie
I use Sony ACID Pro 6.
At first, all of the above were set up on a desktop PC running Windows XP and I was able to use them all with no problems.
Recently I had to reformat the computer. When I tried to set up the mic, mixer, and UCA200 thing again, they were not working.
I went through the windows sound hardware test wizard and it was unable to get a signal. Even if I screamed into the microphone, the green bar that displays input from the mic refused to show anything working.
I plugged in the USB UCA200 thing to another computer -- a laptop running Vista, and i WAS able to get some audio recorded, HOWEVER the only way I was able to do it was by raising the gain on my mixer and setting pretty much everything to max AND screaming at the top of my lungs into the microphone. The resulting recorded audio on my computer however was very very soft and i had to turn up my speaker's volume to max in order to hear the words i spoke. Not only that, but the sound was distorted and whacky.
I updated the drivers for the UCA200 thing but this didn't solve anything.
Does anyone have any ideas on what to do?
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Jan 02, 2009 04:05 pm I'll start off with the simple stuff.
1: After redoing the set up, did you make sure your gain was up on the mixer?
2: You had the phantom power turned on at the mixer for the Rode mic?
3: You don't have any other programs running in the background at all? The UCA is not keen on sharing resources at all.
4: You have checked all the cables to be sure they are all good? It doesn't matter if they were good when you unhooked them. Things can happen to wreck or corrupt a cable when removing them.
5: Are you able to get an mp3 to play properly at a good level from the Windows Media Player?
Lastly, you are lucky you had the UCA working at all. 90% of the users who get it do not get it to work at all. Most used gear stores won't even give you $1 for it in trade. They simply toss it in the trash.
I would suggest possibly re-doing the driver set up, although I believe it is supposed to simply be plug and play. However there are drivers on the Behringer website for it so I suggest using them.
Jan 03, 2009 12:37 am Thanks for the reply, Noize2u
1. The gain was up to max on the mixer.
2. Phantom power was definitely on.
3. The desktop has been reformatted and its pretty much fresh. There are very few programs even installed on it. The only thing I had running was Sony ACID Pro 6.
4. I've double checked and even switched out the wires for different ones that work elsewhere with other things.
5. Yes, sounds work just fine from the Windows Media Player.
I've already tried installing the drivers for this thing, but to no avail.
I'm guessing it might be the UCA... but is there any other options I can try before I decide to pay for a replacement?
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Jan 03, 2009 05:41 pm Well it sounds as though you have covered all the bases then.
The only thing I can think of is if there is an input level adjustment in Acid. I haven't used Acid in a while and don't honestly remember there being say a track adjustment for input level in Acid.
You can look at the Acid audio options or preferences to see if there is an input setting there but I don't think there is.
Only adjustments I can recall are in the track itself, then of coarse the output level of the main.
I'll ask this as I forgot earlier. Can you see a wav file in the track at all? Is it full like it used to be or is it very small looking compared to what it used to look like?
Also, have you tried loading a previous project you know worked before in Acid to see if the output level is OK on that?
