Mic Inputs Very Low (AGAIN WTF!!!) w/ Mbox 3

[ianbee]

I ordered an mbox w/ pro tools 9 that came with a free upgrade to pt10 a while ago. I recieved it and when I would record stuff within PT, the volume levels were extermely low... id be singing at a very high level and wouldn't even get into the yellow region. No, the 20db pad was not active either... I phoned avid and talked to a worker there... he shared his screen with mine and went through a lot of different testing operations... and nothing worked!!! The mic volume levels still remained very low (the instrument input levels were fine though and by that I mean when I plugged in my guitar and recorded the levels were fine)... he came to the conclusion that it was a faulty mbox and said I could either a) send it to avid and they will fix / replace it or b) get it returned for a new one from where I originally bough the item. I went with option b because the avid person I talked to over the phone said it would be quicker that way.

Fast foward a few months... I finally recieve my new mbox w/ pro tools. I tested the mic out today and I'm having the EXACT same problem. The mic levels are extremely low.. I even hooked up another microphone to the second input.. and the problem still remains. Why is this? I have no idea and it deeply saddens me since recording is my passion and life... without this working correctly, I can't record music... which sucks!!! I went through all this trouble to recieve a new mbox because an avid worker said mine was "faulty"... then the same issue exsists when I get my new mbox.... WTF!!!!

So why are my mic levels extremely low on my mbox 3? I truely do not understand. If anyone could help me with this extremely puzzling issue, it would mean so... so much to me. Seriously.

I'm thinking it has to do with my computer itself and not the mbox, there is no way that they would send me two faulty mbox's. But the crazy thing is... is that my computer is actually a pretty good computer.. 8gb of ram 3.4 ghz processor, 1gb graphics card.. windows pc.... I honestly am in shock right now guys... sorry for any typos... I'm currently running pt 10.3.2, maybe if I uninstall PT and download the newest version of PT... it will fix the issue... I highly doubt it though, anyways... if anyone could help me out with this issue it would mean a lot to me.

[albee1952]

Tough to help on the computer with no details. Check this link:Help us Help You - READ THIS Before Posting! and post a Sandra report on the PC. Then, what exact microphone? Does it need phantom power? Are you using a standard mic cable with XLR at both ends? Have you tested it to make sure all 3 pins are working(losing pin 2 or 3 can cut volume in half. Losing pin 1 will cause phantom powered mics to not work correctly if at all). Having a fast cpu and 8GB of RAM won't help if the motherboard has the wrong chipset

[ianbee]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Tough to help on the computer with no details. Check this link:Help us Help You - READ THIS Before Posting! and post a Sandra report on the PC. Then, what exact microphone? Does it need phantom power? Are you using a standard mic cable with XLR at both ends? Have you tested it to make sure all 3 pins are working(losing pin 2 or 3 can cut volume in half. Losing pin 1 will cause phantom powered mics to not work correctly if at all). Having a fast cpu and 8GB of RAM won't help if the motherboard has the wrong chipset

Thanks for the reply and help. I do not think a sandra report will be completly helpful at this point. I downloaded the software and found it very confusing to use... and it is also filt with unnecesary addons and toolbars. But, here is the PC I am using... http://www.laclefdesol.com/en/catalo...y-DX4860-EF32P

I am also using a TLM 102 mic with Mogami XLR cables. I am also using phantom power. I hope this helps.

[ianbee]

Update:

I installed PT 10 on my moms Windows 7 computer and the same issue still remained... the volume levels for my mic were way to low... I even tried recording in Adobe Audition and the same problem still exsisted... here is a pic to illustrate the levels, the first are my vocals and the second is my guitar which is being plugged in thru my mbox... both at the same gain level, which is turned 3/4 to the right.

Here it is:


So I ruled out the computer aspect for this issue, I honestly have no idea what else it could be maybe a setting I have to change within the mbox control panel? I really don't know. Any help would truly be appreciated guys.

[Darryl Ramm]

This is a standard Mbox 3 right (not a Mini or Pro)?

Your XLR cable is XLR at both ends -- right? Connected to the XLRs on the rear panel of the Mbox.

Does this happen on all Mic inputs? (If a Pro you have nothing plugged into the insert jacks?) Remove every cable besides the data cable to the computer, monitors out and a single mic cable. When you pull the gain knobs to engage the -20 dB pad do you see a further significant drop in level? Does tapping, shaking the Mic change things? Try a different Mic and Mic cable. Verify with a multimeter that the cables are straight through cables.

If you plug a TRS jack carrying a line level signal into the rear panel Mic/line line level inputs work as expected?

Darryl

[albee1952]

Bad mic?

[YYR123]

Faders post or pre input

[ianbee]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

This is a standard Mbox 3 right (not a Mini or Pro)?

Your XLR cable is XLR at both ends -- right? Connected to the XLRs on the rear panel of the Mbox.

Does this happen on all Mic inputs? (If a Pro you have nothing plugged into the insert jacks?) Remove every cable besides the data cable to the computer, monitors out and a single mic cable. When you pull the gain knobs to engage the -20 dB pad do you see a further significant drop in level? Does tapping, shaking the Mic change things? Try a different Mic and Mic cable. Verify with a multimeter that the cables are straight through cables.

If you plug a TRS jack carrying a line level signal into the rear panel Mic/line line level inputs work as expected?

Darryl

Thanks Daryyl, this is a standard mbox 3, not a an mbox pro or mini. This issue of low mic volume happens on all inputs, but with a different mic and xlr cable the levels are even lower. When I remove every cable accept the ones you said, the issue still remains... no difference. The -20db pad works properly aswell. And like I said, I tried a different mic / xlr cable and the levels on that mic are even lower.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by plugging a TRS jack carrying a line level signal into the rear panel Mic/line line level, since there are no trs inputs on the back panel. Just ones for the monitor ins / outs.

Thanks for the help so far. I really hope to get this working and if anyone else could help out it would truly mean the world to me.

[Darryl Ramm]

The "XLR jacks" are multi-connectors, they take TRS or XLR plugs, which is really why I want to confirm you have an XLR plug on both ends of the cable you are plugging in. If you plug in a TRS plug you bypass the mic preamp (or at least it's gain stage). It is a good debug step to make sure that is working as expected.

[ianbee]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

The "XLR jacks" are multi-connectors, they take TRS or XLR plugs, which is really why I want to confirm you have an XLR plug on the end if the cable you are plugging in. If you plug in a TRS plug you bypass the mic preamp (or at least it's gain stage). It is a good debug step to make sure that is working as expected.

I see, both cables are 3 pin XLR cables. One is Mogami and the other is some cheap stock xlr cable. I'm using a mogami xlr for my TLM 102 and then I'm using the cheap xlr on my [bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep]ty mic. I hope this helps.