greg54 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xoo Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Have you tried a different mic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaps Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Are your headphones connected to your audio interface and are you using direct monitoring? If so, that issue is separate from anything Cakewalk does. What microphone are you using? Is it a condenser microphone? Is your audio interface adding effects to the headphone output? If there is some kind of compression being used that could be a problem if the settings are wonky. My audio interface can add reverb, delay, compression, and EQ to my headphone signal and also print it to the audio being recorded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg54 Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaps Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 1 minute ago, greg54 said: 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. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will. Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 (edited) 2 hours ago, greg54 said: 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? Turn the Pro Channel off. Make sure the hardware fader is at 0dB inside the DAW, and your interface software. Edited February 5 by Will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sock Monkey Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg54 Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg54 Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg54 Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sock Monkey Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 (edited) If you are using the SSL do you have the 4K button on? I found that adds some sort of colour of which I don’t like so I keep it off. Big disappointment really. Im convinced that you can’t emulate analog circuits. Snake oil. Do you own an analog mixer? If so try that with the headphones. And as anyone who has been through this before knows you might have to keep trying different mikes until you find the one that suits your voice. Once again just because 7,000 people love any certain Mike doesn’t mean it will work with your voice. This seems it would be the case. Both your interfaces have better than average quality pre amps. I don’t think they are the issue. Oh. And don’t forget that funky cables can be a source of problems. Edited February 6 by Sock Monkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will. Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 54 minutes ago, greg54 said: 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. Perhaps your headphones are damage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeringAmps Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 (edited) @greg54 I’ve read your posts (aware this issue is across different interfaces, mics, headphones and preamps). It sounds like a routing issue. Now is this in the interface routing, CbB, et cetera? I would work only with the interface first. Mic>interface pre>cans (this assumes the interface has a headphone output). I’m an RME user and their internal mixer (TotalMix) is extremely powerful, but I can screw the routing up and cause some digital “hash” (clipping). My guess is you’ve somehow screwed up the routing in your interface, what exactly? Well, you have to figure that out. Dumb the signal chain down first, then move forward. Wish I could diagnose this, but the “best practice” is keep it simple, then expand. t note to all that are trying to help; read his posts carefully, almost to a man, you are suggesting things Greg has already tried…. Edited February 6 by DeeringAmps 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg54 Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 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! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristol_Jonesey Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Condensor mic. Have you got phantom power switched on? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reginaldStjohn Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg54 Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 3 hours ago, Bristol_Jonesey said: Condensor mic. Have you got phantom power switched on? Yes, phantom power is on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg54 Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 (edited) 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. Edited February 6 by greg54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gswitz Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 (edited) Hey Greg. 1 minute into this video billy hurme shares an eq curve he used for helping get s more natural sound in headphones. @DeeringAmps i love the total reset for rme interfaces. It saves my bacon again and again. Edited February 7 by Gswitz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gswitz Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 (edited) Greg, One thing I've been doing is using a figure 8 pattern mic sideways to the amp as my vocal mic. Craig Anderton, thank you for this. No headphones required. Edited February 7 by Gswitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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