Monitors

[Cobalt1254]

Hello. I am very much new to recording at home with the PC and I have a few questions. Im using Maudio Fast Track Pro as my interface and using Mixcraft 4 as my software. I had recording a few things already but because I did not hear my electric guitar while recording, I never really did much. I would record something and then add effects through the software. So then I learned about monitors and I bought some Rokit 5's. This is how I connected at first. The Fast Track Pro has line outs on the back. I bought the cables and ran from the line outs into the monitors. I was happy to be able to hear my guitar while recording and all was fine. I have a Vox ADT30 amp and I wanted to be able to use the sounds of the amp while recording. I did not know if that was possible but I tried it anyway by running my guitar cable into the amp and then running the line out/headphones into the input on the Fast Track USB Pro and it worked. I was able to use any effects on the amp and the sound I heard while recording was coming out of the monitors and not the amp cab. The reason I wanted to do this is because I did not want to mic the amp. I did my first track and then shut the amp off so I could hear the playback and the playback out of the monitors was very nice. I tried to add vocals but my mic signal seems very weak. Maybe I have the wrong mic or something but no biggie, cant sing anyway. I went back and turned the amp on to record more but no Im not getting any sound from the monitors. I can record, you see the meter moving in the software but again there is no sound coming out the monitors via the amp. I unplugged it all and connected again but nothing. Am I missing something here? One more question is that when I did my playback, it's only coming out of one speaker so I did something wrong there too. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

Thomas

[Cobalt1254]

Thanks for the input. I did get it all working again except for the sound coming out of both monitors. My M Audio is the Fast Track Pro, you may have looked at the Fast Track USB. There may be a difference but Im not sure. The outputs on the back im using say TRS Outputs 1 and 2. There is nothing labeled right or left. The TRS outputs im using are running the cable to the monitors. On the front though there is a mono stereo button? Maybe that is the problem. I will mess with it. Thanks again friend.

Thomas

[speiris]

Sorry mate, I really made a mess of my response! After reading it again I deleted my reply. It was totally off.

I've had a look at the FastTrack Pro.

According to the manual, the mono/stereo button on the front panel is used for input monitoring. I don't "think" it will affect whether the source is recorded in mono or stereo. So don't think this will fix the problem.

You have two input channels on the fasttrack pro. One would be LEFT and the other RIGHT. Did you check if, that when you select a new audio track in Mixcraft to record to, that it is not a STEREO audio track? I still feel this is the problem. It should be a MONO audio track.
If this is the case then by plugging the guitar into the OTHER input and recording, the sound will only play from the OTHER speaker this time.
Try it and see if this is the case.

Oh by the way you mentioned getting a weak microphone signal when you tried to record vocals? What's the connector on your mic cable? 1/4" (TS) or XLR? The manual states you can use either but I don't know about that, since the TRS inputs are meant for Instrument and Line levels. Use an XLR cable if you're not already. I have a hunch that will fix it. Oh also, what are the monitors you are using? Make sure to use the correct outputs on the back of the FastTrack Pro. The TRS outputs are balanced, whereas the white and red RCA jacks labelled (1 & 2) are the unbalanced outputs.

It's 5:54am here in Sri Lanka. I gotta go crash. Sorry again for the misinterpretation of your original post. Hope I haven't talked trash yet again.
I shouldn't be replying in this state.

Sriyan.

[brandondrury]

It should be a MONO audio track.

This is correct.

Brandon

[Cobalt1254]

I set the mono audio track in Mixcraft? Thanks for the reply.

[Cobalt1254]

Speiris you were right on this time. I was able to find in mixcraft how to set it to left as I was using the left input and now all the problems are fixed. You were right about the mic also, it was fine. I needed to turn it up more on the Fast Track Pro. I finally have a setup where I can tinker as a hobby and it all works as I wanted it too. Thanks friend.

Thomas