Apr 01, 2011 06:38 am Does it sound like the noise is external or internal? Do you still get it if you mute the mics?
Behringer XENYX 1204usb mixer to M-Audio Fast Track interface...
Posted on Apr 01, 2011 01:18 am
skinnysoup
Member Since: Apr 01, 2011
first off, i would like to say that i am new to this forum, and recording/mixing in general. by the way, hello.
about six months ago, i got an m-audio fast track usb interface. it has one xlr input and one 1/4" input, a puny little thing. but it came with pro tools le, and pro tools was recommended to me. so i had been messing around with just the interface, recording everything directly into it.
but i wanted to record REAL drums on a nice drum mic set. so i got 4 mics and a behringer xenyx 1204usb to mix it all together, with the intention of adapting the speaker outputs on the mixer to one of the inputs on the m-audio interface, because i rather like pro tools and can't use the software without the m-audio deal.
when i got the mixer, i had not yet received the adapter, but i was still eager to try it out. so i used a regular 1/4" cable from the phones output on the mixer to the input on the interface, opened pro tools, and messed around. the mics came in fine, and sounded pretty sweet, but there was this annoying noise very prevalent in the backgroud-- i'm too much of an amateur to know exactly what to call it, not exactly a hiss, more high-pitched....
regardless, i tried to get rid of the sound by adjusting the gain on either the mixer or the interface, but it was always there.
so, i guess my options are:
A) use the no-name music software that came with the behringer instead of pro tools to see if that gets rid of the noise, even though i like pro tools
B) get the "proper" adapter and see if that somehow helps
C) see if maybe i ruined a brand new mixer by jerry-rigging the audio jacks.
i apologize for the tl;dr, but i'm unsure about all of this. i hope you'll be more help to me than /mu/ at least. :)
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Apr 01, 2011 06:38 am Does it sound like the noise is external or internal? Do you still get it if you mute the mics?
Apr 01, 2011 04:51 pm no, it's definitely coming from the mixer. i've switched all the mics around and muted all the channels, and it's still there.
i'm going to check to see if the noise is still there when i connect the mixer directly to the computer instead of running it through the interface, but as of now i have to go to work.....
Apr 01, 2011 05:23 pm If you used the output of your headphones to go to the inputs of your interface, did you use some sort of splitter? The headphone out would be stereo and the input on the soundcard would be mono.
I'm not sure how you are doing your routing. Can't you just use the main outputs of the mixer and go into the inputs of your soundcard? Assuming it is not a powered mixer.
Apr 02, 2011 01:36 am the input on the interface i was using was a generic 1/4" stereo input, meant for guitar. the only other input on the interface is an xlr; there isn't a dual mono input. (its a fast track MKII)
Apr 02, 2011 11:37 am The M-audio can record two simultaneous inputs, can it not? That is, can't you send in two signals at once? Through the mic inputs? I'm seeing two inputs, each with their own gain control--these should accept a TRS cable (tip-ring-sleeve--1/4 inch). The other end of the TRS cable will come out of the 1204's MAIN outs. This gives you more control, and is the proper set-up. The headphone jack thing you got goin' on may be introducing the noise--don't use it except for phones; use the CONTROL ROOM outs for monitoring.
It's difficult to believe that the M-Audio will not have the ability to at least record in stereo--two in, two out. That high-pitched sound is probably feedback, a ground issue, or you're double-auditioning something--one signal is slightly behind the other due to latency, and your getting a phasey effect. My former main card, an 0404 E-Mu, was a cheap thing, not as good as the thing you've got (probably!), and it could certainly record in stereo--in fact (and I can see that you've got it too), it could take in four signals at once, two through the S/PDIF in, or ADAT.
The reason for the TRS cables? They're balanced, as I'm sure the inputs on the M-Audio are.
Apr 02, 2011 12:03 pm Well, I got gamed a little bit--I thought the picture above was the item, but no! Still M-Audio claims that there are two simul. ins, and there are--one is XLR, the other a 1/4 inch TS (I'm guessing). It would be difficult indeed to balance these inputs from the outs of the 1204. The only work around would be to take one CONTROL room out and one MAIN out and send them to the M-Audio--the CONTROL room out to the XLR, the MAIN out to the 1/4 inch input (two TS cables). Adjust the volume from CONTROL room out via the headphones control. (Do NOT have the phantom power on the M-Audio on!) Turn it all the way down, and then ease it up (with the M-Audio's gain ALL the way down). Experiment with the other as well--that won't be as much of an issue.
This is NOT the best way to do things, of course. (And yes, I've done this--it's tricky to get the CONTROL room out level right, because it's not really designed for this, and the device is cheap.) If you dont mind going in in mono, then by all means get a 1/4" cable going from the 1204's MAIN out (left or right) to the M-Audio's instrument in. Pan the 1204's input channels to the side you're using, and you should be in business.
Perhaps you can shop around for a card that will give you a bona-fide two in--they're pretty cheap nowadays. I hope this helped, and please correct me if I've erred somewhere in my screed.
Apr 03, 2011 10:55 pm thanks for the wealth of info, Tim!
yeah, the 1/4" input is TS only... unfortunately.
i won't be in the market for another interface until i get paid next. and i suppose i COULD do the drums in mono, since we're kind of going for a surf rock wall-of-sound vibe. but i dig stereo...
i think i'll get an xlr-to-1/4" adapter and run both left and right out of the MAIN outputs, see how that works out for me. i really hope that feedback is just from the PHONES output. if not, i'm not sure what to do. send it back for another one?
Apr 04, 2011 11:35 pm It's unlikely the unit is bad (even for Behringer!)--keep the mixer, lose the interface, or better yet, keep it and get a soundcard that takes two in, two out (or more). For the record: I went into Sam Ash a few years ago and scored a Line 6 Tone Port UX2 for about $129.00. ( Out the door. Seriously.) I got lucky: The salesman wanted to move the thing, I told him I had a card already, and wanted something a step up (the 0404 E-mu), and he surprisingly said "take this UX2."
At any rate, there are scads fo interfaces out there, on E-Bay and elsewhere, that can help you. And go online and start buying cables--lots of them. You're going to need them. Try this place:
www.seismicaudiospeakers.com/
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