problems
So… I lost my “mixer” that I used to have, and now all I have are my mic, my ART Tube MP, and my SB live 5.1 soundcard. What I used to do was go from mic into mixer into tube MP into soundcard, but… now that I lost the mixer I’m not getting any signal. I thought that the tube MP would supply the necessary power to record, but n-track/windows won’t pick up any signal coming in. I must be mistaken, but I thought the tube amp supplied the power to my mic… I guess not. Can you guys recommend what I need to buy to make it work?
Wow… this was written horribly… sorry I just woke up…
Brian
You should be able to go Mic > Art TubeMP with an XLR cable. You did not mention whether your mic is a condenser mic or dynamic. If it’s a condenser mic, you need to turn ON the Phantom power switch on the ART. Go from the ART to your soundcard LINE input with a 1/4" TS cable. Be aware that the SB LINE input is STEREO, so you will need a “Y” cable to get a separate Left and Right signal into your card.
TG
that’s the thing… I have a VXL V67g condensor mic… It should work with the phantom on and stuff, but it doesn’t… I found it kinda odd that’s why I asked. Before, when I had a seperate power source (like a second “amp”), it worked fine going through that first, but with JUST the tube amp it doesn’t work… strange huh?
Brian
I have one of those mics as well and they are plenty hot with very low self noise.
Assuming the mic is ok, sounds like a bad cable. You need proof of concept for each link in the signal chain though, to find the bad 'un.
Start with the mic cable. A volt ohm meter on the hot pin of the cable (phantom powered at the board or pre) should show a voltage in the neighborhood of 48v. When you know the phantom power is ok, attach any old mic (even a 57 - condensor or dynamic doesn’t even matter) to it to test that the other pins are transmitting ok with no breaks there.
With that known good cable plug the v67 into the pre and see if you can get the clip lights on the pre to flicker from mic signal. Success there would prove the signal is at least going so far.Next step is the cable between the pre and sound card.
One of these steps will isolate the flaw. Signal flows from the mic (assuming its powered) so start checking out that XLR cable first.
Hey tom, nice to see you again… the strange thing is that if I just plug in the other mixer it works FINE… without it it won’t work… so strange… I don’t htink it’s a cable problem
Brian
Hey LT
Maybe your Art pre is not delivering phantom power? A way to test that would be if it works ok with dynamic mics, but not condensors. That would assure you of signal flow through the pre and kinda isolate the phantom as the culprit. Do you have a dynamic mic you could hook up to the art as a control?
I have the same v67G as you and really like its warm low-mids. Another condensor Harvey recommended was the Behringer ECM3000 omni “reference” mics. I use a pair for drum overheads Omnis have no proximity effect, so are also good whenever extreme close-micing is required. PZM “boundry layer” mics are also omnis I think and make killer room mics.