Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 12, 2019 21:14:19 GMT -6
I plugged my FET mic into my preamp today, and got nothing in my DAW. Checked cables by switching cables around, nothing. Tried a different mic to test and got a signal. So I figured the FET mic might be bad. So I set up a different preamp to try the FET again, nothing. I then plugged it directly into the Apollo, and there it was, sound, it was working fine. So, two preamps didn't work with the FET, but it worked direct into the Apollo. So I tried a different mic, (SM58) and the preamps worked fine.
I then tried a few more cable configurations, and discovered I hadn't turned the gain on channel two of my Apollo. I rarely use it since I mainly record through channel 1 almost all the time. So I had the anxiety for a while of thinking my Apollo channel 2 wasn't working. I had forgotten to turn the gain up in the UAD console.
I found the FET was working with my Stam preamp. Before I figured out my level was off on input two, I changed a few cables, just to test. So the FET worked fine direct to the Apollo, now it was fine with the Stam, but not with the Dizengoff D4 preamp. So it seems the 48V phantom power isn't working on the D4 preamp.
Each cable change requires me to get down on the floor on my back to reach the back of my gear that sits on a small rack on my floor under my desk. So, now that my knees are shot and my brain is twisted, I have to figure out if I should do anything about the D4 phantom power. The D4 works OK with a dynamic mic and if memory serves, it was fine with a tube mic. So I just can't use my Soyuz 0-19 FET through my D4, but that's my favorite for vocals at the moment.
I've had much worse troubleshooting issues before, but I have considerably less patience with them as the years pass.
I can only imagine some of the crazy troubleshooting situations some of the old pros here have seen!
I then tried a few more cable configurations, and discovered I hadn't turned the gain on channel two of my Apollo. I rarely use it since I mainly record through channel 1 almost all the time. So I had the anxiety for a while of thinking my Apollo channel 2 wasn't working. I had forgotten to turn the gain up in the UAD console.
I found the FET was working with my Stam preamp. Before I figured out my level was off on input two, I changed a few cables, just to test. So the FET worked fine direct to the Apollo, now it was fine with the Stam, but not with the Dizengoff D4 preamp. So it seems the 48V phantom power isn't working on the D4 preamp.
Each cable change requires me to get down on the floor on my back to reach the back of my gear that sits on a small rack on my floor under my desk. So, now that my knees are shot and my brain is twisted, I have to figure out if I should do anything about the D4 phantom power. The D4 works OK with a dynamic mic and if memory serves, it was fine with a tube mic. So I just can't use my Soyuz 0-19 FET through my D4, but that's my favorite for vocals at the moment.
I've had much worse troubleshooting issues before, but I have considerably less patience with them as the years pass.
I can only imagine some of the crazy troubleshooting situations some of the old pros here have seen!
