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Hello Everyone,

Im New to Recording music, but have put in countless hours trying to solve my most recent problem.
This isn't any ordinary problem. No, I have posted on forums, have had many Best Buy specialist assist me, any tech support numbers have been called, but still no one can figure what the hecks happening. Given none of those people where specialist in music production, just in computers.

Here is my problem.

I have two computers, both laptops, both windows, both bought for under 500 dollars. One is a hp [="https://www.gearslutz.com/board/microsoft/windows-8-g1890 windows 8[/]="https://www.gearslu… windows 8[/] (not sure which model).
The others I just bought brand new because it was very cheap. [link to specs at bottom]
I have two microphones. A samson c01u (it's only for testing sounds but works perfect). And a MXL 67g. Both where bought new. I have a prosonus [[url=http://="https://www.gearslu… audiobox usb[/]="https://www.gearslu… audiobox usb[/]. Now all equipment here works 100%. But here is the issue. Ive installed proper drivers and done anything I could think of, but no matter what when I plug either mic in, the sound is WAY to quiet. I mean VERY quiet. I can put the mic to my lips and talk and I'm only getting one bar in windows sound. My interface will let me turn the gain up, but the only way it sounds like its working is when i turn gain up all the way. And of course the quality is awful. Anybody have any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? My original thought was that it was my mics that were defective. But two new makes couldn't both be defective. Especially when they work but the computer isn't outputting enough sound. So them I thought the problem must be my laptop. So I bought a new laptop. Downloaded everything, Drivers for interface, daws, but same outcome. Im only getting a couple bars of sound at best. I have used 4 different daws. All sound good when monitoring the mics sound, but when i [="https://www.gearslutz.com/board/soundorg/hit-record-g9851 hit record[/]="https://www.gearslu… hit record[/] the recording is ridiculously quiet. [screenshots at bottom]

I have been trying to find the answer to this problem for a while. And i thought that buying a [[url=http://="http://rd.bizrate.c…"]new laptop[/]="http://rd.bizrate.c…"]new laptop[/] would do that, so when that didnt help I kinda freaked out. Im a in high school without a job so saving up for things like computers is hard, so i was really bummed after saving up and waiting a couple months just to run into the same problem. When after all this is my least favorite part of making music. I would much rather get this out of the way so I can just get to making music.

Any suggestions/answers are GREATLY APPRECIATED! Thanks for your help and cant waited to have feedback.
Feel free to ask questions if i wasn't descriptive enough, or if I didn't mention something important.

One of the laptops that I'm using.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-intel-celeron-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-black/7288011.p;jsessionid=.bbolsp-95A20B3201EBF712599E8EE236278C70app01-135?id=1219262036899&skuId=7288011&st=pcmcat190000050007_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=12

Some screenshots of what I'm seeing when my mouth is pressed to the mic and talking very very loud. (phantom Power IS ON) And interface gain is at 0-. Also once again mic quality is perfect when monitoring in adobe audition, but when I record the recording is quiet as show. This makes me think the problem is with the computer.

Im using headphones through my interface. When recording that snapshot I was pretty much blowing int the mic to show how quiet it was recording.
Here is what the levels are like with the condenser mic 6-8 inches away talking at an average volume. Levels seem normal when walking, but when recording the sound recorded is so quiet. And also I'm not sure why it would sound correct when in adobe audition but "sound" panel is only giving me one bar at most.

Im using headphones through my interface. When recording that snapshot I was pretty much blowing into the mic to show how quiet it was recording.
Here is what the levels are like with the condenser mic 6-8 inches away talking at an average volume. Levels seem normal when talking, but when recording the sound recorded is so quiet. And also I'm not sure why it would sound correct when in adobe audition but "sound" panel is only giving me one bar at most. So why would the interface input be so quiet?

Audiobox is connected through usb to pc. When loading an instrumental everything sounds perfect with output. When monitoring input I cant hear my self when mic is held past 4+ inches, unless input on interface is up all the way and clipping. Which sounds like a mic problem. But the mic works perfect when monitored in aa. But the same thing happens when using a usb mic I own. So the problem isn't specifically with my interface.

Here is a snapshot of the same case with the usb mic. (Note all sample rates match in put and output) You cant even tell that I'm talking in this snapshot but trust me i am. Thats how quiet the recording is. So as you can see the problem isn't the interface or either mic.

Also I'm not sure why its labeled "line". I have searched this and could not find why.



Comments

pcrecord Sat, 11/01/2014 - 05:58

You shouldn't have to change anything in Windows audio settings.
The audiobox comes with Asio drivers that recording softwares will use independently from windows drivers.
I don't know adobe audition, but you need to find the settings where to
Choose Driver Type: Asio
Audio Device: ASIO PreSonus AudioBox USB
Once it's done, make sure you choose the right input on your track and test the MXL

You will need to change those settings to use the samsung usb mic.
Asio drivers only support one interface at the time unless you go with third party drivers like asio4all but let's not get there until we know what's going on.

This might not be your solution yet. I just need to know your DAW is setup properly.