Cannot record any sound [Solved]

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Mister Mint
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Cannot record any sound [Solved]

Post by Mister Mint »

Hello,

I wonder why I can't record anything from my microphone. I use Ardour and Audacity, and only get an even waveform of noise ("white noise" or whatever it's called). Any ideas what's wrong?
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by Michael Willis »

We'll need more information in order to help. What microphone are you using? Do you have it going through a sound interface? If so, what is the interface? Are you using JACK or ALSA for your Ardour session? Do you have the signal routing wired up correctly?
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by Mister Mint »

I'm using a Shure B.G, 4.1. The only interface is a mic preamp (Tube MP Art). I'm using JACK for Ardour, and ALSA for Audacity. Well, I'm not sure my routing is correct :?
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merlyn
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by merlyn »

The connections window you posted shows twelve inputs. That implies there is more than a mic preamp involved.
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by Michael Willis »

Yeah, I'm wondering what the other eleven inputs are. If you are not certain, you could create twelve tracks in Ardour and record for a few seconds to find out.
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by Mister Mint »

I have absolutely no idea what these other inputs are :? There are no sound / signal when I record in new tracks, not even noise as with the first track.

There's only the preamp between the mic and the soundcard.
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by Michael Willis »

Mister Mint wrote:There's only the preamp between the mic and the soundcard.
What soundcard are you using? For whatever reason, JACK detects 12 inputs. From your latest Ardour screenshot, it looks like you only armed one of the tracks to record. Also make certain that each of the twelve inputs is routed to a corresponding Ardour track.
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by Mister Mint »

My soundcard is M-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496. I've tried arming all the tracks, and each input is routed to a corresponding track, but I still get no sound recorded, except the noise when "capture_1" is chosen.
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by Michael Willis »

Mister Mint wrote:My soundcard is M-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496. I've tried arming all the tracks, and each input is routed to a corresponding track, but I still get no sound recorded, except the noise when "capture_1" is chosen.
Hmm... In that case, I would guess that one of your components is broken, either the mic, the preamp, or the card. Maybe try it without the preamp? If that doesn't do any better, see if you can borrow a mic and/or an audio interface from somebody to try to narrow down the problem.

It's also possible that something is amiss in the wiring from the mic to the preamp to the sound card.
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by Mister Mint »

Yes, it might be a component problem. The soundcard needs a preamp to work, so I can't try without a preamp, but maybe a new battery in the mic would help. I will check that out asap and let you know.. The soundcard is working fine otherwise, so I don't think the dog lies buried here, well at least I hope not :cry: The cables seem to be properly fixed.
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by merlyn »

The Audiophile 2496 has phono (RCA) connectors if I remember correctly. You could try a line level signal into those to check it. The problem does sound like it's on the analogue side though.

The Audiophile 2496 uses an ice1712 chip, which is very linux friendly. The chip itself can do twelve inputs; they're simply not wired up on the card. That explains the other inputs appearing in the connections window because as far as Linux is concerned it's an ice1712.
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by CraigPid »

I believe that the audiophile 2496 uses the same chip as the delta 1010LT which has 12 inputs. On the 2496 they just aren't connected to physical inputs.
Your analog inputs are capture 1 and 2 and if I remember correctly, 9 and 10 are the spdif inputs and 11 and 12 are a mix of all inputs. I could be wrong about the last part but 1 and 2 are definitely the analog inputs which you would most likely be using. 3 through 8 are inactive on the 2496.
That doesn't solve your problem though. Do you have the preamp plugged into one or both of the analog inputs? They would be the red and white female rca connectors. Another thing to check would be to open the sound card in alsamixer or envy24control and make sure that the inputs are not muted.
Your sound card is the interface, not the tube mp. Do you have the preamp connected properly? I use the same setup with the 2496 and a tube mpc. Not at home right now but I believe I have a cable from the preamp to the sound card that has a 1/4 inch trs on the preamp side and an rca connector on the sound card side. Do you possibly have the cable plugged into the input of the tube mp and not the output? Or maybe the mic is plugged into the xlr output?
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by CraigPid »

There were some replies while I was writing that some some of my info may be redundant
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by Michael Willis »

Errant thought: Do you have the phantom power turned on? Your condenser mic requires phantom power.
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Re: Cannot record any sound

Post by merlyn »

Michael Willis wrote:Do you have the phantom power turned on? Your condenser mic requires phantom power.
The o/p said he was going to try changing the battery in the mic. I bet that's what it is.
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