Cubase LE4 problem (live input volume too high)

[ice622]

Hi all This is my first post in this forum... I was impressed by the amount of good responses these threads get, so I thought Id ask for some help over here with an issue im having. I have been using Cubase LE4 to record for well over a year now. Recently I have bought a new laptop (Sony Vaio) and installed Cubase on it. The first thing I did was to record some VST instrument tracks using the Sylenth synth VST. So far so good. The problems started when it came to start recording live instruments (guitar, bass, etc...).

I use an Alesis IO2 USB external interface to record all my live instruments. Whenever I try to record any live input sound, the signal going into the track is so high in volume that all im getting as a result is a horribly distorted sound that's constantly clipping all the way to the top of the track bar. Initially thinking it might have something to do with the interface, I routed the input to the laptop's default soundcard instead (using the internal mic as an input). However, the input volume is still incredibly high (the Cubase input meter even peaks if I snap my fingers!!). Weird thing is, the volume is normal everywhere else outside of Cubase, both when using the default soundcard as well as the external interface. I have checked the internal soundcard levels, external interface levels (the interface volume meter itself is showing a normal input signal strength), ASIO driver control panel, checked the buses, made sure phantom power is switched off...nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. Everything seems to suggest that the problem lies within Cubase itself. As far as I know, Cubase has no way of controlling the input volume, and it has to be done at the source. Does anyone have an idea of what might be going wrong? I am at a loss since I have used this exact same procedure succesfully many times before, and have now performed all the checks I know of.

Any help will from all you good people will be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance!

Dan

[jjb]

You've obviously done a lot of investigating. Have you tried to take your setup and replace the Vaio with another computer? In the past, I've seen strange things happen with Cubase products from one manufacturer's computer to another (but never the situation you're enduring!). Also, if the Alesis interface has direct monitoring (couldn't tell from the writeup on MusiciansFriend.com), are you hearing distortion with that?

jjb

[Electriclight]

You don't have the mic/line/guitar switch in the down (guitar) position do you?

Forget about the couple of LED's on the interface. Adjust the interface gain knob down until you get a proper signal in Cubase. Is there any problem with quality of the audio recorded?

[ice622]

Hey, thanks for your replies

I have not yet tried it on another computer no... will try to look into that tomorrow. Although the specs I have in this laptop should certainly be more than enough to handle basic live recording, but ur right with these things u can never be too sure. I have rebooted the computer countless times...even tried loading and using it in safe mode (not sure why, just felt a bit out of ideas :P ). The signal seems to be going into the interface at a normal level, no peaking whatsoever.

As for the gain knob on the interface itself, its turned all the way down. All the knobs/sliders/switches are set to the position they should be in. Well the sound quality im hearing through the interface (as a monitor) is perfect....but once I hit that record button, it all becomes one giant clipping mess. Don't know if its the buses going haywire or if there's something else i might be overlooking.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it

[Electriclight]

I would think that with the gain knob all the way down you should hear nothing, yet you say you have a fine audible signal. Seems like a hardware problem to me.