V8 Sound Card Not Recording
Leda Billock
The inexpensive Behriger UCA 202 will do the job quite nicely, as will many other more expensive devices. For a bit more flexibility it could be useful to have a sound card that also has playback and/or record level controls (Edirol and M-audio make suitable devices, as do many other manufacturers.
So the setup that I have is that I have a device that traditionally outputs sound from a speaker but also includes a single headphone output via 1/4" jack that, when plugged in, turns off the speaker. I have been able to use a simple 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter to plug that output into the microphone input of a Syba USB sound card. The problem is that in this configuration I get a significantly loud hum which spectrum analysis of the recorded sound reveals to be 60Hz and harmonics. This hum is not audible from the speaker.
Circuit diagram of the device shows that the only difference between its native speaker output and the headphone output is that when outputting to the headphone output the signal passes through a 150 Ohm resistor. A quick test using a jumper wire to short across the 150 Ohm resistor reveals that sound recordings without it no longer have the hum. My problem is I cannot simply leave it at that, as I cannot modify anything inside the device. So, how can I achieve the same affect by only affecting things after the headphone output?
I thought to try using an op-amp (LM471CN) configured as a simple voltage follower on the signal to provide the microphone with a fresh signal with no impedance. On the oscilloscope this seems to work, until I plug the output end into the microphone input. It turns out the microphone input applies a 4.5V DC voltage (bias voltage to power a microphone I believe) and this seems to be messing everything up. Trying to record audio confirms that nothing really gets recorded. I am using Syba USB sound card with the C-media chipset and the cables I am using are three-ringed.
One more thing, I don't believe it is a matter of simply lowering the output because I wasn't getting clipping of the audio signal before, just the noise hum. And also, strangely enough, I haven't been able to get the headphone output to work using simple headphones through a 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter (the white apple headphones kind the old ones before they added volume controls and mic.).
There are a few things that are causing problems for you here. Mainly that your source is designed to drive a set of headphones and your load (sound card) is designed to accept an electret microphone at its input.
First confirm that your source is working properly. Depending on what it is, you might be able to plug it into a line in on a different USB interface. That'll work fine for iPhones/iPods and things like that.
You don't want to plug a headphone amp into a microphone input on a sound card like that. They are not designed for each other. The headphone amp could clip the input of the sound card and you will have noise issues because neither device is seeing the impedance it expects.
Everything works fine but I was wondering if the onboard sound processing is used by Cakewalk for anything other than playback, ie is it used for rendering/exporting, and if so, would a dedicated sound card be of any significant benefit?
It is not used for rendering/exporting, only used for playback (and input for recording if you use it).
Having said that, high-quality audio interface and speakers will result in good playback and recording quality.
Some interesting replies, thanks everyone. I've posted lots of songs on here and no one has ever commented on inferior sound quality, and I have to say, if it sounded inferior then I'd be the first to notice ? but there is certainly a slight latency issue.
That said, I'm always keen to learn from the experiences of more qualified people, and I wondered what an "ideal" setup might comprise. One caveat: I have a Focusrite Platinum Penta compressor that I use for my vocal mic (has phantom voltage), and that has a simple mono line output.
Keith , you do a Great job with your present set up and have a good ear for mixing. But .. you really can't understand just how much Better it "could" sound , until you become comfortable with a decent interface and monitoring. ms
Hi Mark, thanks for your response, good to hear from you as always. I'd like to focus, if I may, on the input interface for now. Given that I have a "line in" from the Penta, what would you suggest to get the sound from that onto Cakewalk? I know Focusrite now do interface units so would you recommend one of those? Also, what pedigree of sound card are we looking at? I'm guessing a full on gaming sound card would be a bit over the top but I don't know really.
Keith , I guess the 1st thing to consider is the amount and type of inputs you need now , and possibly in the future. The second would be of course how much you want to spend. My really old Roland/Cakewalk interface that I Loved finally fried the preamps last month and I Had to replace it. I had an older cheap m-audio unit I used until I got a new one. Giant difference in sound between the 2. I researched for 2 weeks and checked out Everything in the Focusrite price range. I settled on a Tascam US 2x2 hr. The sound is good and the pre amps are super clean with a Lot of boost. 2 inputs used with either mic/instrument or line level and midi I'll never use. l I had also considered a Universal Audio Volt 2, but for now I'm satisfied with the Tascam. Another thing to consider is the free software that is bundled with whatever interface you purchase. There are tons of videos comparing different units in a price range. Enough to confuse you. Good Luck .. mark
Hi Keith. I upgraded my interface last year from an old M Audio Fast track pro (W10 borked it) and ater much reserach bought the Presonus Studio 26c USB interface. Advantages to me were it has midi ports, metering on the front, higher specs than the old one. And included Studio One Artist. Plus a host of other freebies such as Arturia Analog Lab, Output Movement, Ujam, And many others. Plus like you I use a seperate voice channel (Joe Meek) to put vocals in. It is easy just to set the mic in to the Joe Meek (phantom powered) and run a line out into the Presonus (I bypass the Presonus phanton power as prefer the sound and compression of the Joe meek). It cost me 160 in the UK. And has been solid so far. And works well with CWB and clean outs to my powered monitors.
Interfaces make no difference whatsoever in the rendered audio that Cakewalk produces, it's only in the quality of recording and playback on your system. That said, the better monitoring you can do, obviously, the better you can mix. But there are many EDM artists who use nothing but the onboard chip for playback on their laptops.
I appreciate all of the suggestions but what worries me is that, if I get another box to plug my mic into, then I can no longer use my Penta compressor, and that's a vital piece of kit for me. If Focusrite made a USB version of it then that would be great, but they seem to have abandoned compression.
Hello, I am the owner of the steinberg ur22c product. I connected a speaker to the headphone output of the product and sang live. Then I quit and opened the daw program, opened the vocal recording channel and got the recording, the entire sound of the music was heard on my vocal channel. I formatted it to the computer, the problem has not been fixed, please help . Thanks
The beat is in one channel and the recording channel is not picking only my vocals but somehow the beat too, when i plug out the headphones and connect them via Bluetooth dircet to the conputer then i can record only vocal but then i dont hear myself speaking into the mic can anyone help
He started doing it today. I downloaded a loop-back program yesterday, and I thought it was because of him. I formatted the computer, I just installed the audio driver, the problem has not been fixed. Would you please help me.
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