Greetings,
I have a low level on all input channels of my AR12. I cant get the signal meter to turn red no matter what is plugged in or how loud i scream into the mic.The level knob is cranked all the way. When recording a guitar or voice the level is low but usable. Compared to a midi signal which is very good. |
Having just picked up an AR16 for use as a portable remote recording interface....I have noticed that when using ribbon mics, the gain has to be cranked to full-on to get any kind of level. This seems quite strange to me too, on any other console, these mics sound great at unity.
Anyone else notice this low gain at input(s)?
http://www.zazasound.zazacast.com
Independent Audio & Films For Independent Minds Win 7Pro, i3, 8G RAM, RME 9652, Sony DMX-R100, Event 20/20's, 3 ADAT XT's, ADAT HD24, BRC, Studio One V3, AR16, Audiobox USB & much outboard gear... All in the ZazaSound MixCave! |
johnflorance wroteGreetings, We've recorded several times with the following inputs on my AR16, without a problem: 1 - Shure Beta 58, gain at Unity, low cut 3 - Shure Beta 52A kick, gain at Unity 4 - Sennheiser E604 snare, gain at Unity 5 - Rode NT1-A overhead, phantom power turned on, gain 9 o'clock 7 - Bass DI from Mesa Carbine M9, DI output set to 3 o'clock, AR16 channel gain set to Unity 8 - SM57 on guitar, gain at unity, low cut 9/10 - Sennheiser E609 on guitar, gain at 1 o'clock When you test your dynamic mic, press Mute so it lights up and turn off your main fader on that channel, then crank your gain ALL the way up. You should see the red clip light. Then back off the gain while testing the mic with a volume as loud as you would have going into it. If you've got a condenser, make sure the phantom power is on -- and also make sure any other mics you have attached will not be damaged by phantom power. Once your gain light is lighting up, unmute the channel and bring up the fader to Unity. If your speakers are connected to the master outs, bringing up the Master fader will allow you to hear your mic. If your speakers are connected to Mon1/Mon2, you need to bring up those faders. If your speakers are connected to Control Room, you need to turn the knob for the control room. Same for headphones. Here's a rough mix of a jam session song which was mixed through Studio One: https://soundcloud.com/solarfly73/mixdo ... fortesting (Sorry the rhythm is off and I'm sure a ton of things could be better, it's a work in progress) |
I recorded my Motown band at live gig with the AR-12 directly into Studio Live Capture and edited on SL3. The results were very good, with a wide variety of hard wired and w/less mics. The levels were good but hard to tell by the mixer. The channel gains never hit red, and gain pot is very touchy. All were up to almost full (4 oclock) and one channel (the lead singer)was slightly distorted.
I was pleased with the recording, but definitely feel the gain control on all channels are low. |
johnflorance wroteI The levels were good but hard to tell by the mixer. The channel gains never hit red, and gain pot is very touchy. All were up to almost full (4 oclock) I did 2 events with the AR12 yesterday. One was a controlled recording event going to a notebook running StidioOne V5. As noted up-thread, I have found it necessary to add a boost on the S1 INPUTS. There simply isn't enough gain on these preamps, and I also think that they are losing about 6dB in the trip across the USB. I know it is all digital, but I think there is a real problem here. I have recorded across USB using Behringer X32, Mackie Onyx, and Soundcraft UI24r, going to either Presonus Capture or TracksLive and never had a problem with gain levels, but I just can't get this all-Presonus combination to work. My main mic was to have been a very nice AKC condenser overhead on a studio boom. recording a single violin. With 6 dB boost on the S1 INPUT, and the mixer's gain basically at 4 o'clock, the sound barely registered on the S1 track. By the time I normalized it, it was impossibly noisy. I ended up using the sound recorded by the closest video camera, which was much better. At this same event, I recorded a brass quartet with pencil mics 12" from the bells. There was enough gain for that. Later in the day, I used the AR12 for a live show. No recording in this case, but I used AKG pencil mics as area mics for a large jazz band. Normally we would mic everybody but at this time of year, with a full set-up, we would be tearing down in the dark, so I thought I'd use the AR12 with 6 area mics for a quick setup. It worked OK, but once again, with channel and master faders at unity and the speakers also at unity, it was necessary to run the inputs at 3 o'clock or higher. This just ain't right. With any other mixer I'd be barely over the 12 o'clocksetting with plenty of gain available. It is a shame because I like the concept of the AR12. It is simple to operate like any analog mixer, but allows tracking of all inputs to a DAW. But I am going to give up on this product because it just doesn't work well enough in practice. I have not found a similar mixer out there (simply analog interface, but full digital tracking), so I guess I'll just live with the extra complications of my Soundcraft UI24r digital mixer. It takes more setup time and has more things that can go wrong, but I never have any trouble getting enough sound out of the thing. Very disappointing coming from Presonus. They really should have done better than this.
Home studio:
Windows 10 Home 10.0.143393 64-bit Intel Core I7 4 core 3.6 GHz 16 GB RAM Studio One 5.0 Professional (and other DAWs) Audiobox 1818VSL audio interface Mobile studio: Studio One 5.0 Professional HP Pavillion 15-cs3079nr laptop Intel Core I5-1035G1 8GB, 1.29 GHz, 4 core Presonus StudioLive AR12 USB as interface (Looking to upgrade) |
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