Mic "suddenly" stopped working

[RichWilley]

I'm using PT10 with M-Audio Fast Track Pro on a Windows 7 computer. My mic is an EV RE20, about a month old.

Today I recorded several tracks and everything was going pretty well except for some static.

I looked up static here and found a post where a guy used compressed air to clean all the connections on his Fast Track Pro, so I did that, and ever since I have no mic through either channel.

Was that the cause, or is it just a coincidence and I'm not seeing what's really going on?

Thanks in advance.

[albee1952]

Static and distortion is about all I get from my Fast Track Pro in PT9. I think M-Audio needs to deliver a better driver(it works fine in MP8).

[BobbyDazzler]

Check that you don't have phantom power (48v) applied.
RE20 is one of the only dynamic mics that seems to go screwy when you feed it phantom.

[RichWilley]

Phantom power is off.

In Pro Tools it doesn't even allow me to choose Input 1 or Input 2. Is that an indicator that the Fast Track Pro is malfunctioning? I've tried my mic in both channels and it doesn't make any difference, I'm not able to access it.

Thanks for helping . . . I'm so new at this and frustrated like you can't imagine.

[albee1952]

Check under the Hardware menu to see that the Fast Track is the selected audio engine.

[RichWilley]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Check under the Hardware menu to see that the Fast Track is the selected audio engine.

Yes, it's been set that way all along. A buddy of mine who runs a recording studio in town is coming over tomorrow to see if he can figure it all out. In the course of our phone conversation it sounds to him like everything ought to work . . . yet it doesn't.

More will be revealed.

I appreciate all the help!

[panamajack]

Originally Posted by RichWilley

... I ... found a post where a guy used compressed air to clean all the connections ..., so I did that, and ever since I have no mic through either channel...

Do you think the compressed air blast changed your setup for I/O connections?

[mano111]

Originally Posted by panamajack

do you think the compressed air blast changed your setup for i/o connections?

:d:d:d

[RichWilley]

I have no idea what changed it. I figured I'd disclose the last thing I did before it stopped working, though.

I'm very new to this and don't know a lot of the terms that I need to know to ask questions intelligently.

You "old pros" are welcome to have loads of fun at my expense while I learn my way around this daunting program.

I'm a trumpet player & arranger, and at 56 years old am learning more than I've learned in long time by getting into this whole Pro Tools thing.

If you want to hear to my first attempt at recording something I've arranged click here.

That's me playing all the trumpet and bass trumpet tracks with a MIDI file I created in Band In A Box and tweaked in Cakewalk.

Notice that I haven't learned how to mix yet. You can tell a horn player "mixed" this because for the first time in history, the horns are mixed louder than the band.

[panamajack]

Apologize for the poke, buddy. It's just in fun. So much of the stuff posted is negative, I figure a chuckle won't get me kicked off the forum.

Hey, nice horn! "All of Me" with a mambo rhythm. Very cool.

You are getting great results. There is so much "why won't this software make me sound as good as I am" floating around, but nothing beats just layin' down the track. Good work!

FWIW, I have only been chopping away at PT for a couple of years. I got going with Logic about 8 years ago, and jumped into Pro Tools when it added its score editor.