greg54

I recorded a single vocal track to upload here. When I sent it to Bandlab Assistant Mix Editor, I can't hear it. The meter moves, but no sound. I can play it inside Bandlab, but not inside BL Assistant. And the vocal track sounds boomy. I thought the acoustic panels I put up would help, but no. Greg

Steve Leverich: It's the best drawing I could do. If you need something else, let me know. The window is 1' below the ceiling and is 2'H x 6'L. As for my DIY skills, I used to work in construction. I can do some things. I hate electrical stuff, but other stuff I'm ok with. I've had the sliding door open most of the day. The smell isn't as bad. I'll continue to do that for the next few days. I live in northern CA. Steve, I genuinely appreciate your help. Thanks! Greg

Steve: I didn't take your comments as being mean. I took them as being helpful, and I appreciate it. When my wife came into my room the other day, she said it "smelled." So when you mentioned the fumes can kill you, I thought I might take down the panels based on that alone. The panels I have put up, though, have made a big difference, as far as echo and reverb are concerned. But with the audio issues, noise, and now this, I may call it quits. I don't have a lot of money, and it seems I'll have to keep spending. And if acoustic panels aren't the answer, I don't know what is. Thanks, Greg

Are you saying it's not good enough? I have looked at many home studios and have watched videos. Mine is basically what they recommended.

Here's a couple of pics of my room. I've added a few more panels.

Thanks! I will check into them. I have Gen 3's. I also leave them on, plugged into a power conditioner. When i turn it on, they're automatically on. Very slight popping though. My old room was small, so the 5" speakers were fine. But now that my room is 12.5" x 12.5", I could use an upgrade. Scook: Maybe 8" speakers would work better for me in a 12x12 room. Thanks, Steve! I appreciate this. My ceilings are 8'. And I have Excel.

Yeah, but they don't make them anymore. And when it comes to electronic stuff like this, I prefer new. I don't trust used. Yes. I bought the Rokits less than a year ago. So they may be Gen 3's. I don't know. The room I have is about 12'x12'. It is acoustically treated. My neighbors aren't that close, so I can turn the volume up a bit. The monitors are in the middle of the wall and are about 16" away from the wall. So they're not in a corner. I mainly listen through the monitors, not headphones. I use headphones to check for noise and when I'm mixing. Aside from the no longer in production Yamaha NS10's, what monitors (a pair being no more than $1K) would you recommend? I read some good things about the Presonus Sceptre. Thanks! Greg

Ok, I'll have to go over the monitors/room and see if I can find something there. Yeah, I was wondering why it sounded good in headphones but not through monitors. But it's just the audio, so that threw me off. I will look into ARC-2 or Sonarworks. Thanks, Mark! But both the M-Audio's and KRK's cause the audio to sound the same. I was just looking at the Presonus Sceptre S6. I may check them out. Anyway, thanks to everyone who responded. I appreciate it! Greg

They were what I could afford at the time. What would you recommend? My room is treated. And another thing I remembered....through headphones everything seems to sound fine, including the audio. I used to use M-Audio monitors before the KRK's. But the sound is the same, as far as audio is concerned. But what baffles me is, sometimes the audio is decent when I record. It's usually when I have done a clean install.

My VST instruments all sound great. My only problem is with audio. I'm using KRK Rokit 5 monitors. Computer settings: I've gone through and have "optimized" my computer for recording, according to a couple of different articles/videos. My interface drivers are all up to date. "Bad sounding audio is a hardware issue." I have replaced (upgraded) everything - interface, monitors, cables, even computer, more than once. As far as I know, my equipment is good. Gswitz, Kev: I'm not ignoring you. I don't want to post it on Soundcloud. I'll see what I can do. Thanks, Greg

Bypassing the FX didn't make any difference. I guess I'll just have to try and get it to sound as good as I can with EQ. Thanks! Greg

Ok, I'll try that. Thanks!

When I turn the Audio Engine button off, the second I hit Play it comes back on. So I'm not sure if I'm supposed to disable it or just turn it off momentarily.

Haven't tried it. I'm not at my recording computer, so I'll have to try it later. Thanks, Mark!

ASIO

Stupid question, but which icon in the control bar is the Audio Engine button? I can record a project that only has 1 vocal track (no other instruments), and it will not sound right, so it's not an eq issue. Not a mic issue, as I have used several mics, mostly condenser. Good to know that it's not the picture cache. Sample rate is fine. Thanks for everyone's input! Greg

Lynn: I just posted my specs, so you didn't overlook it. Thanks! msmcleod: I've been recording direct lately because of the issue. And even that doesn't help. The guitar still sounds a little harsh. When I record with a mic, I use an XLR cable. When recording direct, I use the jack input. No matter what I use, the audio doesn't sound good. I was using an Audix Om2 mic for recording guitar, and an Audio Technica for vocals. I recently switched to an SE Electronics X1S mic for vocals. It's better because it allows me to take more low end out. But it's still not natural sounding. I've been trying to narrow it down for a while. I've switched cables and mics and have tried about 3 or 4 different interfaces. So far, nothing has helped. I was wondering if it actually could be a Windows update issue. Thanks! Greg

My sound card is up to date and I just bought all new cables. Not running anything with batteries. When I first began recording, the audio sounded really good. But when the picture cache got too big, since then I have had audio problems. Deleting the picture cache doesn't help. I did a clean install a couple of times, and that seemed to help for a little while. But I don't want to do a clean install every time I need to delete the picture cache. Or maybe it's something else. What other info would you like?

I have an issue with audio and am wondering if anyone else ever has this problem. When I record vocals or guitar, the audio sounds harsh, and there is a lot of mids, making it sound dark. I went through and optimized my computer the best I could for audio recording, but it still sounds bad. I record audio at a low level. So it's not clipping. And sometimes it doesn't sound as bad. Right now I have disabled all updates from Windows. But I was just wondering if anyone else experiences this, and if there is a solution. Greg

I went ahead and ordered the Mogami cables. If it helps a little, it's worth it

I appreciate everyone's input. I am doing everything in order to find the solution - the ferrite choke, ground lop isolator, plugging computer into separate power strip than monitors, etc. But i also have to somehow get rid of the ham radio wire sticking out of my wall. My room is not near the kitchen or laundry room. It's at the other end of the house, so there's nothing near it that would cause interference, except for the radio wire. Since the issue is with recording gear, I don't know if the Mogami cables would make a difference. But to be honest, I'm tempted to try. Thanks Everyone! Perhaps doing everything will fix it. Greg

Tezza, I believe you're right. After I thought about it last night, I realized that my room currently has no acoustic treatment, and the volume is deceiving. Because of the excess reverb in the room, it sounds louder than it actually is. So I realized that I keep the volume pretty low. And yes, one speaker always comes on a second or 2 before the other, just like one cuts out a second or two before the other. And this is what's happening. I'll try it a little later today, but I'm pretty sure that's the issue. Thanks! Greg

Well it looks like I spoke too soon. I just went in and turned on my system and began listening. After a few minutes, the monitors cut out again. I have them going through a Coleman Audio LS3 line selector because I use a mono monitor sometimes to check the mix. When the KRK's cut out, I switched to the mono one, and it was working fine. I would switch back and forth, and the mono was working, while the KRK's were not. I tried to see if the LS3 was defective, but it seems to be fine. I have an old pair of M-Audio BX5's, so I switched. These seem to be working fine for now (but they don't sound near as good as the KRK's). If the BX5's don't cut out, then I'll know there is something wrong with the KRK's. It's just odd that both KRK's go out pretty much at the same time - and start working again at the same time.

Kurre: That computer is not connected to the internet at the moment, so it wasn't an update. I've had the computer for about 3 years, and it's never done that before. Cactus Music: Monitors are KRK 5's. I don't think it was a power surge because 1 went out first for about 2 seconds, then the other went out. A few seconds later they were back on. If it had been a power surge, i would think they both would have gone out at the same time. But I could be wrong about that. It hasn't done it since, but it could do it again. I'll keep looking for something. Thanks! Greg

StarTekh: No audio drop out. The monitors just stopped working for a second, one at a time. msmcleod: The plugins I have are older. Nothing new. So I don't think that would be it. Thanks!