Recording Delay and Mic Clipping Through Toneport UX8

[BHenningArt]

Okay, so all of my problems started after I had to put a new Hard Drive into my Mac.

Before I had to do so, I could run Logic 8 just fine, everything recorded properly no problems, etc etc.

 

Problem 1: So after replacing the HD my first problem is that when I record anything from a microphone it has a slight delay. It NEVER had this problem before. It is a very slight delay but very noticeable when recording over midi tracks (what I use to show my bandmates new song ideas and so on). I changed the audio settings to 128 samples and used low latency to record, but it still doesn't feel just right, I can tell it's still off by a bit.

 

Problem 2: When recording into Logic 8, my mic will work just fine until after a few seconds of audio input, where it will start crackling and then I'll lose volume. I use the Line 6 TonePort UX8 to record through, and I have tried all the mic input channels, volume all the way up only fixes this temporarily (no clipping surprisingly). I should just point out that both of my microphones I use are in excellent condition, an SM57 and an MXL - Both stay in a safe case when not in use and don't ever get dropped or bumped. I even used my performance mic, and that one had the same issues.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Here's my basic system settings if that helps:

2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

5 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB Graphics

OS X 10.8.1

[Eric Cardenas]

Hallo BHenning and welcome to Logic Pro Help.

 

First of all. Did you upgrade to 10.8 when installing your new drive?

You should know that Apple isn't supporting Logic 8 on Montain Lion:

Official compability with Mountain Lion.

 

One thing you could check is if you have any latency inducing plug-ins on your output.

 

Regarding your problem with the Line 6. Are the drivers 10.8 ready?

[n6smith]

Just as a note: There have been a couple of updates recently to the Monkey software, in regards to Mountain Lion. However, none of them seem to relate to anything more than allowing proper installation via the new Gatekeeper functions in ML... Probably still worth installing, if you haven't do so already?

 

Having said that i did find this piece in the Line 6 forum which sounded familiar...

 

The following was posted in response to someone (actually several people in the end) with a similar issue to yourself.. but in this one case.. concerning the input from a guitar.

 

KEEP YOUR GAIN LOW- about 50% on your meters, never clip ( full meter ) you

will get the ugliest darn sound you ever heard and mistake it for a drop out, cracks, crackle or pop.

** do not over load the AD converter- turn down your gain or your volume potson your instrument.

( I have to do both with my guitar ).

Set your meters to monitor input

 

I hope this helps in some way...

[BHenningArt]

To Eric, I actually had 10.8 on my previous drive and Logic 8 worked just fine. So as far as compatibility goes, I'm unsure as to why I was able to operate everything just fine until my new drive was installed. I know my father has the upgrade to Logic 9 ready for me to install. So maybe that'll fix some of the issues with Logic? And of course, the Line 6 was being used before the new drive was installed with no issues as well.

 

And to n6smith, I'll go ahead and look into installing the new updates, I probably need them.

As for the clipping, I've got a set gain noted for each of my microphones to record my guitars and vocals without clipping. I keep my levels as close to the middle as possible. So that's not the issue. My actual problem is that I have to turn the mic gain all the way up to pick up audio that it should otherwise get at halfway. After short usage of that it'll start popping, crackling, and drop drastically in volume. And my meters never during any of this go anywhere near max and clip.

 

But thank you both for the help! I'll install the updates and install Logic 9. That'll probably fix those issues, I hope.

As for the Line 6 I'll probably have to give them a call and find out what might be wrong.

Again, thank the both of you for your help, it's very much appreciated!