greg54

I went into Preferences and clicked on Disable input monitoring.  Problem seems to be solved.  I tried recording vocals and they sounded normal, not bright at all.

Thanks, everyone, for all your suggestions!

Gswitz:   Thank you!  

Not quite sure what you mean though about using a figure 8 mic sideways with no headphones.  

2 hours ago, reginaldStjohn said:

From your description: Direct monitoring of Mic sounds harsh. Recorded version of the vocal plays back normal or at least darker and not harsh.  Not monitoring through the DAW or any plug-ins.

Seems to me that only answer that fits is that the direct monitoring circuitry has gone bad or has a setting on that only affects that path.

Hmm...A lot to check out.  I even got a new usb cable because I used the same cable for each interface.  Breaking it down one by one. 

As far as direct monitoring is concerned, wouldn't that be an interface issue?  Ive gone through two and I have the same problem.

Thanks. 

3 hours ago, Bristol_Jonesey said:

Condensor mic. Have you got phantom power switched on?

Yes, phantom power is on.

Sock Monkey: i don't use the 4k on my SSL 2.  I've used several mics.

Wil:  I've used about 4 different headphones.

DeeringAmps:  Thank you.  I'm just going to have to do as you say and going through everything piece by piece.  

Thanks to everyone for your comments!

10 hours ago, Sock Monkey said:

The OP  say's they are using direct monitoring. Nothing in the computer is involved with that. Only the Daw play back. If you don’t even have a Daw running the sound is not going to change. 

 

This actually is sounding more like your hearing might have changed. But! It might just be a fluke that all your mikes and all your headphones are not satisfactory to the sound you are after. 

I have the SSL2 and it’s more or less the same sound as my Motu. And that is what I hear in the headphones is pretty accurate representation of what gets recorded. 

I don’t like condenser mikes. You have to have a treated room or for me the recording sounds awful. I’ve tried a bunch of them too. I still use my Beta 58. My go to live Mike. 

And I went through dozens of different headphones before I found the ones I like. Apex. 

Everyone is different and most of the gear people rave about is not as good as they say it is.

Like the SSL-2. Dozens of video reviews put it at the top and raved about the pre amps? So I bought one dreaming of a noticeable improvement. 
Im finding it boring and I like the sound of my ZoomL8 much better. And I can’t really hear any difference between the SSL and my Motu M4. The SSL is sitting there unused. The Motu has way better monitoring capabilities. And the reviews all put it down. Why? Because we all previewed sound differently. It snake oil. 

 

No, it's not my hearing.   The music sounds the same through my headphones.  It's just the vocals when I'm recording.   I built a little vocal booth with packing blankets.  So that's fine.   The vocals, during playback through the monitors, sound harsh at points, and even too dark at other times.  This is something I never had a problem with before.

16 hours ago, Will. said:

Turn the Pro Channel off.  Make sure the hardware fader is at 0dB inside the DAW, and your interface software. 

The Pro Channel is not on my vocals channel, especially when I record.  It's dry with nothing on it.  The level is way below where I usually record.  So I've checked that.  Thanks.

17 hours ago, Chaps said:

Are you making sure you are NOT hearing your microphone through the recording track's Input Echo as well as direct monitoring? I always mute the audio track I am recording vocals on to make sure I am only hearing the audio from my audio interface direct monitoring.

I've been recording the way I have for years.  Nothing has changed in the way I record.  This just happened all of a sudden.

I'm using condenser mics.  As far as my interface adding fx, there are no fx on the track when I'm recording vocals.

If i listen to the song through headphones while not recording, it's not harsh.  The vocals are only bright and harsh in my headphones when recording.

I've tried another headphones preamp and going direct into the interface.  It doesn't make any difference.

I've been having an issue and I cannot for the life of me figure out the problem.   When I record vocals, the sound in my headphones is really bright and harsh.  But the vocals themselves are more dark.  I can't sing directly into the mic because it sounds like it's distorting.  I record at a really low level because of this, but it doesn't help.

I've gone through 2 interfaces (Apollo Twin X, SSL 2), several mics (Stam, Dachman. Warm Audio), a Warm Audio preamp as well as through the interfaces themselves,  different headphones, and nothing helps the problem.  When I would record a while back, everything in the headphones sounded good.  But now all of a sudden it's extremely bright and harsh - so much so that it's hard to record.

I can't figure out what the issue is.  Could it be the last CbB update?   Could it be something within my computer?  No clue.  Any guesses?

So for CbB to continue to work, this new update is necessary.   Thanks!

Just curious as to how to roll back updates.  I installed the latest update, but I've read where several people have issues with it.  So if I decide to get rid of the latest update, how do I do it?

So far so good.   Like I said, not sure what caused it so I don't know if it will happen again.  But "hopefully" it will continue to be ok.  

Well, I turned on my computer and fired up CbB, opened the project, and no pop.

It did it ever single time and now, for reason, it stopped.   I appreciate everyone's comments.

It not popping anymore is a little annoying in a way because I don't know what caused it or why it stopped.

So it may decide to start again (but I genuinely hope not).

Anyway, thanks again for everyone's input.  If it decides to start up again I'll be back.

4 hours ago, sjoens said:

Could be audio interface related.  Currently I have a project that's causing audio dropouts without showing the Drop Out flag - it just pops and goes silent.  Closing the DAW and reloading it clears the issue.

Process of elimination.  1. Use a different interface if available.  2. Save-As a TEST copy of the project and play thru the area.  If it still pops, delete every "track" (not just the clips) and create one new track.  Record a new clip in the troubled area.  If it still pops it may be a hiccup between the project and the interface corrupting it.

I do have a new interface - Apollo Twin X USB.   I like it.  I don't have another interface to try.   Closing the DAW doesn't help.  I've thought copying parts of the song onto a new project and see if it still does it, but that seems like a lot of work I'm not ready to try just yet.

Deleting the track is an idea I haven't thought of.  Thanks!

4 hours ago, Bass Guitar said:

I've only had it happen in one track. If you zoomed in there was nothing odd showing. So I just split the track there and add fade outs and fade ins and it would be gone. 
but your saying it's across multiple tracks and each one makes the sound when soloed? 

Try by passing all effects. 

I just started mixing, so there are only a couple of effects on a couple of tracks.  But the rest don't have anything.  

And to answer a question earlier, I don't have any automation on any track yet.

6 hours ago, Terry Kelley said:

I’ve seen this multiple times. I can nail down the track but not the cause. I finally just delete that section of the clip and either copy in something or replay it. Not worth the frustration.

I've tried that.  I even tried recording it over, and it doesn't work.  It pops in that same place no matter what.  

16 hours ago, Chaps said:

On 11/14/2024 at 11:48 AM, greg54 said:

 

I've seen pops/spikes like that in a recording when some appliances were turned on but it sounds like you have ruled that out with additional recordings. What I would do would be to look for spikes in tracks and buses by turning on the Playback and Bus Meters' Hold Peaks and Lock Peaks options. Lock Peaks will only work if Hold Peaks is enabled.

In the Track View you can enable them at Options>Meter Options>Playback Meter Options>Hold Peaks. Repeat that and enable Lock Peaks. Do the same with Bus Meter Options.

You can also enable those options by Right-Clicking on the Track Inspector Track and Bus Meters and selecting the relevant Meter Options.

You can also select those options in the Console View at Options>Meters>Playback Meter Options and Bus Meter Options. I would enable them everywhere because I'm not sure how independent they are with respect to each other. Then I would Loop the section with the pop and see if any of the meters were buried in the red where the pop occurs. That might help identify where the pop is occurring.

Great.  Thanks!

17 hours ago, Max Arwood said:

Are they all audio tracks? Like David mentioned  is there any automation on any lanes? Including buses? Are there any master bus effects? Can you see the pops on each track or just hear them?  Have you looked at the master and main outputs to see if the Pop is on those tracks as well?

Everything pops except the drums.  Drums, keyboards and bass are MIDI.    The rest are audio.  And they all pop.  I don't see the pops but only hear them.

I've had a song that I finished a while back but just started to mix it.  At one point of the song, there is a pop.  It's at a place where several instruments begin.  I have gone over it a million times, soloing each instrument, and every soloed track pops at that spot.  

So I tried recording new vocals to see what would happen.  And at that same spot the new vocal pops.  This not a random pop.  It's only at this spot.  I have gone over it and over it and have no clue what's causing it.  Old tracks and new tracks all have that pop in this spot.  Does anyone have suggestions as to what might be causing it?

Thank you!

Stupid question, I know.   But as you can see on the left side of the photo where the tracks are, I do not have the ability to select which Bus I want to route the track to.  How do I add that ability to each track?

I think I may have found the issue.  I've been hearing some noise lately that's been coming through both the monitors and headphones.

I don't know why, but I ignored it, thinking it was the house's electrical static.

I've had a cable plugged into input 1 for guitar.  I decided to unplug it...dead quiet.  And the vocals sound good with a higher output.

Thanks for the help!

I've checked it and it's set to cardioid.  Thanks 

The other problem is excessive sibilance all of a sudden.  That's part of the harshness.  A de-esser doesn't solve it.