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Author Topic: clicks and pops...a little help, please!  (Read 2457 times)

Michael Fisher

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clicks and pops...a little help, please!
« on: February 11, 2005, 09:50:01 AM »

Hello!

Here's my problem: when I record vocals, I always get these annoying artifacts - clicks and pops. AAARGH! They seem to occur especially around "f" and "v" sounds. Example, if I record someone - anyone - saying 'Phillips Phonographic Records', clicks will be introduced at any of the 'ph' sounds.

These clicks and pops occur regardless of

- vocalist
- recording w/without windscreen, popper
- which mic preamp I use (eg, UA LA610 and Focusrite 430mkii)
- different preamp gain settings (really quiet to really loud)
- mic impedence settings
- mic cable used
- mics used (414, tlm103, etc)
- sample/bit rates (44.1-16, 48-24, 96-24 etc)
- buffer sizes on audio card
- A/D converters used (Masterlink, MOTU HD192, etc)
- AC source

Additional info:

- the signal path: mic - mic pre - analog out - analog in on Alesis Masterlink or MOTU HD192
- the spikes created by the clicks can be seen on the recorded waveform
- the clicks can be heard on the input monitor
- the problem does not seem to come from the converters, as they convert without clicks when I convert/import audio from, say, a commercial CD.
- my guess is that these clicks are being created by the preamps, that maybe there's some kind of voltage mismatch, but I'm admittedly out of my depth here.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated,

Michael


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Zilla

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Re: clicks and pops...a little help, please!
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2005, 03:43:11 PM »

Something to try...

Try and monitor the output of your preamp(s) directly.  That is, forget about your a/d and connect the preamp output to a headphone amp.  If you still hear distortion, then you have isolated the problem to the mic, cable or preamp.

Next, swap around mics, cables and preamps until, by process of elimination you find the malfunctioning device.  Then get the offending gear repaired.

Good luck.
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Michael Fisher

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Re: clicks and pops...a little help, please!
« Reply #2 on: February 12, 2005, 08:02:04 AM »

Zilla,

Thanks for your time. It is very much appreciated.
Headphone amp - A very good idea!

Michael
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