RexRed

Thanks Tezza for the input! This is like assembling a puzzle and each piece helps complete the picture. Okay this is my plan. To try the Klark Teknik MIC BOOSTER CT 1 on my microphone with the Behringer. If it fixes the problem then I will research other preamps. I might get a tube preamp. Any suggestions on the best tube preamps that are around or just under 1000 dollars? It would be nice to be able to plug in either a guitar or a microphone into it. I am using a cheap 25 dollar boost pedal on my Les Paul style guitar because its pickups have such a low output. Maybe some solid state preamp suggestions of the same caliber? I am not sure I want to mess with tubes that can easily blow... And, I can always add harmonics to my sound after it is recorded. I am just looking for a stable and robust mic (and guitar) signal.

I am glad I am not the only one hearing really poor recording performance from these audio interfaces. Preamps are the way I am going to explore. I figure a passive mic boost will be the first step and if that does not remedy the situation I will go for an active boost. I am not sure if passive/active are even the right terms but they seem to fit the situation. I think my mic may require a lot of preamp gain... That may have been the problem all along. A poor boost lifting the noise floor (creating harsh sibilance) may be what is obliterating my transients. It would be nice if this is the case then it would make a lot of my audio interfaces useable again. Notice, the preamp used for the narrator in this video is perhaps the worst thing I have ever heard (robotic)... ?

I bought this thing. Klark Teknik MIC BOOSTER CT 1 Compact Dynamic Microphone Booster https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MicBoostCT1--klark-teknik-mic-booster-ct-1-compact-dynamic-microphone-booster Last one in stock. You can be honest if you think this is crap and I should have bought a real Cloudlifter... I am interested in your opinions. ? (I just hope it passes phantom power through it) It has occurred to me that this booster may bring the signal into the interface higher than unity gain...?

Once again, contrary to my insistence, according to a YouTube audiophile, "32bit recording does not improve the quality of a recording, it only supplies more headroom". Exactly what I have been told on this forum. This is the hardest thing for me to wrap my head around. Thank you msmcleod for directing my attention back toward preamps. Sorry if I have been not been paying attention. Wouldn't this be nice if a preamp solved all of my issues I am having with transients and these interfaces. It might mean I can use cheap interfaces again to get nice quality recordings, which I have not been able to achieve.

Thank you Andy for the compliment on my voice, much appreciated buddy! I am hoping RME fixes it ASAP , it is still under warranty. Your advice is well taken Andy, I will keep that in mind if problems arise.

With most all audio interfaces I can hear the transients are not being recorded clearly, even at 24 bit 96khz. But when I use my RME Fireface II I can hear that it does a lot better job with the transients of my voice. Now, no one I have ever talked to can hear bad reproduction of transients other than myself. But I hear the bad transient reproduction with all of the major audio interface brands I have tried, other than RME. The transients are not peaking and distorting, it is like the interfaces simply cannot focus on the beginning of sounds and reproduce them right. Why am I the only one that can hear this? It is like a variable recording rate is needed, like as in film with large explosions and fast motion to throw more bits at the beginning of words. Would 32bit floating point throw more bits at the beginning of sounds and make them more focused and clear? All I ever hear about 32 bit is that it can record louder sounds, does it not also record finer steps, more densely packed bits, and would this not improve sound quality as well? I do not understand preamps... where my intuition seems to fault, not the preamps but the veracity at which the A/D chips throw samples at the beginning of a word or sound. It is like each time I sing a new phrase it has to "gear up" and so it misses the clarity of the beginning of the word. I thought this problem might have been my mic so I bought another (better) mic. But when I bought the RME Fireface II, I notice the problem all but disappeared. But now switching back to the Behringer I can hear this problem clear as day again. I had the same problem with the Steinberg UR242 and the Roland Quad Capture. And, I do not have a mic that requires a lot of preamping as well [Audio-Technica AT4040 Cardioid Condenser Microphone]. I have a country style voice technique often where I quickly drift up to the beginning of notes at the beginning of words. These pitch bend transients are nearly impossible for these interfaces to (hear) reproduce right. They come out with little detail and "wonky" where the RME interface nails them almost every time. I can't seem to come up with any real explanation as to why this is the case. I raise my sample rates to 196khz and it still happens. The only thing I have not tried is 32bit floating point. I bought the Steinberg thinking it was 32bit but that was a advertising scam... (Thanks for letting me know about that, that was helpful as well.) Can you recommend a good inexpensive but high quality, single input microphone preamp brand? Cloudlifter $150, ouch...

Hello John, Thanks for your response here. There seems to be some common opinion among sound tech specialists that there is no difference among digital audio recorders. This could not be farther from the truth. The fact that many of them use the same chips does not negate the fact that these audio chips vary widely from other audio chips. I like to use the camera analogy. No one will argue that some camera sensors are great in low light and some are great for sports shots. Some cameras have overheating issues and some are loaded with megapixels but have terrible auto focus. Audio is no different. These sound engineers who say all audio interfaces are alike have no conception of the actual technology that goes into them. Yes they can all have relatively the same low noise floors but how they handle transients is entirely a different matter. Once your ear is trained to hear poor reproduction of transients by an audio interface you can't unhear it. You will notice it every time, even the slightest bit. This is why I am hesitant to buy any run-of-the-mill audio interface including name brands. They all handle transients horrible. Many new products are coming out on the market and I am leery of even trying them. When you have owned as many of them as I have and they are all terrible this can hinder willingness to buy. Then you become willing to pay thousands for one that will give you good transients and plenty of ins and outs. Even if they break down easy and break the bank. Sound tech reviewers seem to imply there are so many bits and so many megahertz but there is more to a sensor than bits and mhz. Transients require the sensor to respond with a variable burst of sample density. This is where most audio interfaces fall short even if they are running in 24 bit 96khz...

Making music is expensive, my RME Fireface II died... Apparently there is a soldering issue, RME says it is not my fault. I got a "bootloader memory" message during start up of the unit. I had about 6 months of bliss and now I am back using the Behringer U-Phoria UMC-1820. Immediately, I have again noticed the lack of transient quality in my voice in returning to using the Behringer unit. It may take two to three months for the Fireface unit to go back to Germany to be fixed. This leaves my music in a sorry state. To date, I have not found any other audio interface that reproduces my voice right, other than the RME device. I am still paying off the RME device on my credit card. These devices costing so much, running so terribly hot and, in this case, being so unreliable leaves my music in a costly and fragile state of affairs... https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=34532 One caveat of using the Behringers is, new audio tracks insert into track view instantly again. There was a couple second delay with the Fireface device. My vocals will sound terrible for a few months.

Thank you Andy, glad you like the harmonies. I will look at the drums again when I add other harmonies and the lead guitar. Thanks for the input and honest suggestions. ???

Awesome awesome awesome input Cakewalk peeps, very helpful indeed! I have worked on the mix it just needed some love. The song is not finished yet, it mainly needs a guitar lead near the end. Maybe some oohs and ahhs in the beginning when the lead vocal first comes in. Let me know if it is better than it was.

MixPre-10 II 32bit floating point! 8 Preamp, 12 Track, Audio Recorder https://www.sounddevices.com/product/mixpre-10-ii/ Any thoughts on this device? How are the drivers? Does it have a Windows software mixer with a lot of options like "Totalmix"? Is this USB 3.0? Would my Cakewalk effects and instruments work with this? Lots of considerations...

Thanks Jack, great suggestion on the kick! ??

Hey Cakewalk peeps! Here is a song I am working on. It is in the early stages of completion. i.e. no harmonies yet, no lead guitars, drums might need heavy compression etc... Please offer your honest suggestions they are always very helpful. I hope you enjoy this new tune! RexRed

Okay, I have replaced the song up top with a better version I think. I removed some of the voice doubling so it occurs less frequently and turned the doubling down so it would be less distracting. I found a few errors, I had a doubling voice pointing to the wrong buss. So, when I was turning it down it was not being attenuated. Also, a harmony vocal was going to the master instead of the harmony buss. I balanced the tracks more, I hope, and compressed each vocal in the prochannel of each track. Thanks a lot for the awesome tips Cakewalk peeps, your suggestions are very useful! Please don't hesitate to respond even if it seems negative. Oh and Justin, "slightly longer fade out at the end maybe?" I made the end fade out longer. (thanks for that tip as well)

Hey Jim Fogle, your comment is very useful to me, I believe you are correct, the doubling of my voice is distracting. I will go back in and at least tone the doubling down so it is less apparent. I will let you know when the changes have been made and the song is replaced. Big thanks Bajan Blue for your much appreciated compliments, best to you buddy! PavlovsCat, your comment is superlative! I am truly humbled by such a nice compliment. Thank you ever so kindly! Kevmsmith, thanks as well, I am very flattered by your really great comment and much of the credit goes to the awesome Cakewalk DAW! We music artists have it good! ?????️

Thank you Justin, nice comment! I will fade the end out longer, great suggestion! ??️

Many thanks Pavlov'sCat, really great comment! ??

Thanks for the awesome comment Jack! ??

3am in the morning, just finishing up. Still a work in progress. Let me know your thoughts Cakewalk peeps! RR

Many thanks Jack! Best to you buddy! ?

New tune awesome Cakewalk peeps! Let me know your thoughts, good or bad. Lots of love! RexRed

I try that with the reverb, I agree a bit more reverb would be better. Thanks for the tip Bapu! Thanks as well Bajan for the awesome comment!

An auto trim button would be helpful in the prochannel PC76 U-Type compressor. When changing the threshold, an auto gain button to engage or disengage to keep the volume make-up gain steady, this would be very helpful. ?

Thanks Jesse for the awesome comment. I hope to be a good source of illumination. ??

Yes Tom B the old Command Center is the charm. I found a link on a Cakewalk site where the Command Center would not download. But I Googled "Cakewalk Command Center" and found a link on a Cakewalk site that worked. I installed Cakewalk by Bandlab first then installed the items from the Cakewalk Command Center. Scook you give awesome support here!