12056 Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 im trying to record with my mic onto a computer. it has to run through 2 different converters (XLR-1/4", and 1/4"-1/8") to hook up to the computer properly. ive tested all of the components, they work perfectly, but the mic will not pick up any sound at all. alot of the time, the diaphram of the mic itself will make one of those computer-static noises, without picking up any tone. my mic book says that you have to run the mic through a mixer, then the mixer to the comp. do you have to do this? i just dont want to have to spend 40-50 bucks if i dont have to. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoughtless 7 Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 I don't use a mixer at all...well not a hardware one. Have you tried your sound settings incase its disabled the mic input? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 What kind of microphone is it? It might require phantom power, which your soundcard won't provide. Also, you might need to enable the mic input of your soundcard. Some can only use line-in or mic-in, but not have both enabled at the same time. Still others have the same jack handle line-level and mic-level signals, so you have to switch those into "mic" mode, which enables the preamp. Once you get up and going, you can get reasonable performance from today's soundcards. I still recommend getting something to bypass all this headache. If you get something like the TonePort UX1, you get a dedicated mic input, and guitar amp modeling, all in one. Get the UX2, and you add phantom power and extra connectivity to the mix. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12056 Posted March 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 its a shure pg57, and i dont thknk it requires phantom power. nothing is said about it in the manuals. as for the min and line-in being selected, i only have one, like you said, and it still is not working. my computer is a 2002, so it might be incompatible with what im using, but probably not. (i dont know, im computer stupid) thhe diaphram has stopped making that wird staticy noise, but still fails to pickup sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 pg57 is definitely a dynamic mic-- does NOT require phantom power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 More likely that you have an impedance mismatch if it's a line-in jack. Get an active DI box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryema22 Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 If the mic doesn't require phantom power then you don't need a mixer or a DI box. 2 quick thoughts you might have missed: Open volume control (double click speaker icon in the lower right hand tray) Click "options" click "properties" make sure adjust volume for recording is selected and click ok now make sure the mic input isn't muted and the volume is at a good level what software are you using to record with? Make sure that you've selected the proper sound card input (ie Mic L, Mic Stereo, Line in, etc.) on the track you're attempting to record to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 (edited) Another thing to try, as it's sometimes the simple things at the beginning that sometimes cause hangups. Have you actually tried recording with it, or have you just plugged the mic in, started talking to it, and noticed that no sound came out of the speakers? Many/most computer sound cards, even with the mic/line-in enabled, are not set up by themselves to send the mic/line-in signal to the speaker output. Edited March 26, 2007 by jnewman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12056 Posted March 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 thanks for all the help, but ive tried all those things. making sure the mic input volume is up, looking at sound level bars, but it still continues to have the same problems. im using a demo version of Mackie Traktion, and a free program called Audacity. neither work. as for the mic input, i know it works, because for testing i plugged in a guitar directly to it. i think my comp just cant record with a mic. thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmarlin Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 I havent used those programs( I use Cubase) but in the program did you direct it to use the soundcard? http://www.mackie.com/products/tracktion2/...acktion2_ug.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 (edited) What exactly is your XLR-1/4" converter? Is it something like THIS with a transformer? Or is it a simple XLR-1/4"mono cable? Or is it an XLR-1/4"TRS cable. And is your 1/4"-1/8" adapter mono or stereo (TRS)? Whatever components you're using and how you combine them can make or break your signal. My choice of all of those would be the XLR-1/4" adapter with transformer through a mono 1/4"-1/8" adapter. Edited March 26, 2007 by Saber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12056 Posted March 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 What exactly is your XLR-1/4" converter? Is it something like THIS with a transformer? Or is it a simple XLR-1/4"mono cable? Or is it an XLR-1/4"TRS cable. And is your 1/4"-1/8" adapter mono or stereo (TRS)? Whatever components you're using and how you combine them can make or break your signal. My choice of all of those would be the XLR-1/4" adapter with transformer through a mono 1/4"-1/8" adapter. yeah, thats exactly it. the XLR-1/4 is stereo, and the 1/4-1/8 is mono. thats the problem. thank you very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 Glad to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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