Gain (lack of) Problem: any help is appreciated

[gbarnetson]

Question: I am not getting enough gain as I record from a Audio-Technica AT822 mic into Pro Tools LE (to Powerbook G4.) If I turn the gain meters up all the way and put the music source against the microphone the gain improves, but only reaches the bottom of the yellow area (never hitting the red zone.)

This mic when plugged into a mini-disc is Fantastic. (Mini-disc has built-in pre-amp, of course.)

Other relevant information to this problem: from the mic are male XLR cables. I was told to add female XLR adaptor to fix this gain problem, which did not help.

Thank you, in advance, for any advice/information.

[ggunn]

Question: I am not getting enough gain as I record from a Audio-Technica AT822 mic into Pro Tools LE (to Powerbook G4.) If I turn the gain meters up all the way and put the music source against the microphone the gain improves, but only reaches the bottom of the yellow area (never hitting the red zone.)

This mic when plugged into a mini-disc is Fantastic. (Mini-disc has built-in pre-amp, of course.)

Other relevant information to this problem: from the mic are male XLR cables. I was told to add female XLR adaptor to fix this gain problem, which did not help.

Thank you, in advance, for any advice/information.

That mic is wired a bit strangely. It has an XLR connector, but it's stereo high Z, so pin 1 is probably ground and 2 and 3 are the two hot pins.

http://www.audio-technica.com/prodpr...les/AT822.html

If you are going into a standard low Z connection it's no wonder you've got no signal. You need to split that XLR connection into two unbalanced connectors and go into two separate high Z inputs that will go low enough to bring up a mic level signal. Pin 2 to one tip, pin 3 to the other, and pin 1 to both sleeves.

[gbarnetson]

Gordon,

Thank you for you reply. Being a professional musician, I have very limited experience in the recording field. I do not know how to do the suggestion you made. Can you suggest another mic that will simply work? Or is there a specific cable I can also attach to make the current mic work.

Many, many thanks!

Ginger (San Francisco Bay Area)




Quote:

Question: I am not getting enough gain as I record from a Audio-Technica AT822 mic into Pro Tools LE (to Powerbook G4.) If I turn the gain meters up all the way and put the music source against the microphone the gain improves, but only reaches the bottom of the yellow area (never hitting the red zone.)

This mic when plugged into a mini-disc is Fantastic. (Mini-disc has built-in pre-amp, of course.)

Other relevant information to this problem: from the mic are male XLR cables. I was told to add female XLR adaptor to fix this gain problem, which did not help.

Thank you, in advance, for any advice/information.



That mic is wired a bit strangely. It has an XLR connector, but it's stereo high Z, so pin 1 is probably ground and 2 and 3 are the two hot pins.

http://www.audio-technica.com/prodpr...les/AT822.html

If you are going into a standard low Z connection it's no wonder you've got no signal. You need to split that XLR connection into two unbalanced connectors and go into two separate high Z inputs that will go low enough to bring up a mic level signal. Pin 2 to one tip, pin 3 to the other, and pin 1 to both sleeves.

--------------------
Gordon in Austin
Mac G4 Digital Audio 466MHz
MacOS 9.2, 1.25GB RAM, 110GB HD
digi 001, PT LE 5.3

[Bixby]

Can you suggest another mic that will simply work?

Trade in the AT822 for the AT825. It sounds better, has real connections, and can take phantom power.

You might check your battery in the 822.