Need Help: Cracking sound when recording

[jswee_911]

Hi there. I'm very new to recording so pardon my language. Have read through most of the post including DIY for recording before setting out to get my gears. Ended up with a very basic setup of AT2020 & Presonus Audio Box USB and simple mic stand + pop filter. Was looking to record an acoustic guitar and vocal, and not exactly looking for 'studio' or 'pro' recording, just wanted to get some simple records.

1) I've downloaded and used the latest software for the PreSonus Audiobox.

2) Phantom Power is working well (ie, no flicking lights) power seems constant. All volumes left unchanged (ie, at the 12 o'clock mark)

3) Installed StudioOne which came with the AI. Also using Audacity.

4) PC is 2.6Ghz Quad Core with 8gig ram.

I first started doing Mic Test with Audacity and realised that somehow that are freq cracking sound when i'm recording. This sound a bit like static interferance. I then used StudioOne to record, the cracking sound was less obvious, and in fact there are no interference when i'm not speaking into the mic, in fact i can hear some background noise in my room but recording was 'clean', when i start speaking again, the 'crack' or 'slight thumping' began again.

Am i doing something wrong (ie, settings?) or can anyone advice how i should resolve this?
I've tried both channels on the Audiobox but both had the same issues.

 

[soft]

Could the 'craking' sound be due to you speaking too close/loud to the microphone? The 2020 is a condenser afterall.

 

[kongwee]

If you use pop filer, look at two thing. Your capture vocal got any peak? If so, then lower mic input, and put track volume up to listen to your voice. So it is adjusting the mic volume, and track volume.

 

[jswee_911]

Seems to be the case !! The cracking seems to have almost gone completely (crack maybe once or twice in the while recording now) when i reduced the mic input all the way down to the minimum input (ie 7o'clock) and the recording on StudioOne finally sound audiable!! But the same could not be said for Audacity . (still crack & frizzles) Which i was hoping to use on my laptop when recording at my friend's place. Any advice? Would using Garage band solve the problem, cos my friend has a MacBook.


On a totally separate note, I was able to set audio device to the 'Audiobox USB ASIO Driver' in StudioOne when recording but need to switch this back to 'Windows Audio' if i wanted to listen to the recording on my com speakers, is this normal ? I reckon if i could leave the settings at 'Audiobox USB ASIO Driver' but will need a separate monitor speaker of earphones to listen, is that right ??

 

[kongwee]

Note that it is important to lower mic gain to record without clips or peak. It is very hard to correct it by any mean.You can see the waveform for it too during recording. Normally I record in quite low volume for vocal and use a gain plug-in to control loudness for monitoring.

For the audio driver, if every work, don't touch anything, until you encounter problem.

 

[jswee_911]

Got it.. The inital mic gain set at default 12 o'clock is way too high. Reducing that to the min has helped.
Trying to figure out how to monitor the mic gain from the software now. The waveform seems to small to be monitored, trying to figure out how to expand that as well !

 

[kongwee]

Depending on the quality of the mic preamp, don't try to record at high level. It is faster to play with loudest passage and dial in the mic volume. Normally the highest amplitude of the recorded waveform keep at ~70% is good already.

 

[blueprintstudios]

hi jswee911, thank you for reading the DIY Recording FAQ first and post detailed info (though you missed out OS version at first but i figured you're probably using XP/Vista or 7 after you said windows audio)

so let me rephrase your situation hopefully to be of help over here..

you > at2020 > xlr > presonus audiobox > usb > desktop pc > DAW (StudioOne / Audacity)

your stuff is brand new, pass... for now.

phantom power check is very diligent, pass.

USB = ! check make sure it's plugged into the back of the desktop PC. sometimes plugging it infront panel works and detects but may not fully function cos it doesn't draw enough power.

XLR = ! your XLR cable should be ok right ?
desktop pc is powerful, pass.

Drivers = ! initially I'd say pass, but after a little googling...
http://forums.presonus.com/posts/list/2839.page
http://forums.presonus.com/posts/list/4896.page
http://forums.presonus.com/posts/list/4030.page
try www.asio4all.com and let us know. or install the drivers on the CD instead. maybe the one online has issues.

DAW = StudioOne (I never used it before but watching on youtube on tutorials etc, it does look impressive! you can ditch audacity totally for it!) but I hope you didn't load 100 plugins at once before recording. I know 8 gig ram does get a little tempting to go nuts.

12 O clock gain = !maybe no go. click on the Monitor, and start soft first then adjust the gain level so your loudest point of singing / guitar playing does not exceed 0db.

the crackling can only mean either grounding issues (buzz/hums) , your gain is overloaded, or something is not connected properly via cable, or asio driver problemo like poor buffer settings or too many plugins loaded at once.

qn #1 : "I was able to set audio device to the 'Audiobox USB ASIO Driver' in StudioOne when recording but need to switch this back to 'Windows Audio' if i wanted to listen to the recording on my com speakers, is this normal ?" yes , because AudioBox is your "USB Soundcard" from now on. so what happens is , if you disabled your onboard desktop soundcard fully from windows device manager, and just leave your presonus in throughout, you'll be playing EVERYTHING through there. but take note, MOST likely when your DAW is running, you're not able to play any mp3s because ASIO locks up and focuses all the processing power to your DAW. until you close it. the other issue is, if you have iTunes, iTunes may LOCK UP your ASIO soundcard, then your DAW can't use it until you close itunes. get it?

qn #2 : "Trying to figure out how to monitor the mic gain from the software now. The waveform seems to small to be monitored, trying to figure out how to expand that as well ! "
a basic procedure on what recording engineers do is, after you set your recording levels so your loudest doesn't exceed 0db (clip) , then turn/jack up your headphones! so you hear what the mic hears louder.

the other basic trick I do is, I would (not sure if studioone can do, i'm using cubase) have 2 "Vocal tracks" both monitoring turned ON. so the "mic-captured volume" is twice as loud, but I only enable recording on ONE of them. you get what I mean?
#1=listening at -3db level
PLUS ANOTHER
#2=listening at -3db level and on STANDBY to RECORD.

so your recording doesn't clip even if the captured monitoring volume is loud as hell but please take care of your ears and don't over do it =)

hope my answer helps.

 

[kongwee]

Any advice? Would using Garage band solve the problem, cos my friend has a MacBook.

You are welcome to jump on board. Maybe I should start a fanwar again. However, if you are learning to record and produce demo. Do what you have now. Since the studioone work fine, you need to know how to set mic/input gain, track volume even the master volume properly. To make thing more fun. You may able to route your input direct to your output in your audio interface. Meaning you can speak through your mic and hear it. It is a form of monitoring too. This function is to bypass software monitor in DAW, which alway has a lack, which you may perceived as echo. I think it is time for you to read help manual from studioone. A lot of DAW do very detail explanation on how to do audio recording. Many will explain it very well. I have seen Sonar, Protools and Logic explanation and it is easy for starter. Don't need to apply 101 courses or SAE course. You will be sure why you got into the mess earlier(if studioone manual is detail enough).

 

[kongwee]

Note, it is bad to peak at recording, it is not just sound bad(or good maybe). It may damage your input overtime. Mostly I record at low level, but not too low till I can hear background noise when I need to put on compression with it.

 

[jswee_911]

Thanks much for the advice !!!

To share my errors -
1) Initially using front USB ports which obviously were not as stable as the ones at the back of PC. Causing static noises while recording.

2) Using the drivers from CD which I guess was outdated? Went to website to download the latest ASIO Driver and that worked like a charm.

3) Not adjusting the gain setting on the Audiobox itself, leaving it at the default setting which was too loud. Hence causing the cracking sound.

4) Going to Control Panel -> Sounds And Audio Device -> Under 'Audio' and 'Voice' Tabs -> Enable device to Presonus Audio under 'Sound Recording'.

At the end of the day, i was able to record cleanly by setting the audio device setting to 'Presonus Audiobox' when using StudioOne as DAW, and to listen to recording, i would switch back audio device to 'Windows Audio' to enable the PC Soundcard so audio can come through the com speakers.

Not sure what i did but i was also able to record cleanly with Audacity for the rest of the day yesterday, and with no changes made, i was unable to do so again this morning. (ie, cracking sound when recording with Audacity, Clean sound with StudioOne) For now i am happy with the settings, just need to get a pair of headphones to pair up with the Audiobox and everything's good !

BTW, if i have 2 ppl recording and would like to use 2 pairs of headphones, looking at the output section of the audiobox (L & R Main Out + 1 Phones) how should i plug 2 headphone in this case?

Again, thanks much for the time taken to help out a newbie !! Appreciate that.

 

[blueprintstudios]

jswee911:
2) I have experienced old drivers working better than new ones before so glad the asio driver wasn't an issue anyways for yours.
3) glad to hear your crackle issue is fixed and it's a minor one.
4) yes that can be done chosen as default audio device under that section. however, if you're gonna leave your audiobox in for long term you might as well just use it for everything and disable your onboard soundcard

my only remaining suggestion is :
- ditch audacity. because that's only for people with no other DAWs and need a free one. and you already got StudioOne which looks pretty much full fledged DAW
- disable all your onboard soundcards so you don't have to keep changing settings, go buy 2 of 1/4" male to RCA female adapter

+ male RCA > 1/8" earphone jack male

+ female 1/8" to female 1/8"

connect them all together with your L and R main outs, then plug your speaker in. (assuming they're 1/8" stereo) or plug the headphones in but I'm assuming it'll be "soft"
- go buy any cheap behringer headphone amp for the L and R mainouts so you can have more outputs with gain control.