UA-25EX hissing/white noise without any input

[dhamukrish]

Hi,
I am very new to Home Audio Recording and recently purchased UA-25EX and connected to Amp via SPDIF. I am currently using for Tabla recording with Shure SM57 connected to Line1. Recorded few sessions and observed that I am always getting hissing/white noise in the background.

I doubted it could be SM57 interference or my computer noise. Then, experimented by disconnecting SM57 and recorded without any external input Line1/2 and found that my Line1 sensing knob was set to above 80% level. But, this is the level where I am getting best out of my Tabla.

Could you please anyone advise whether this is normal hissing sound generated by UA-25EX Pre-Amp or any other issue in my setup.

Thanks
dhamukrish

[newkid]

dont know about ua25
sounds like you have the gain up too high on an open input

possibly a bad preamp. or maybe normal for a cheap preamp.

apparently best setting for tabla
is not a good setting for ua25

you may have to compromise and turn the gain down

[brandondrury]

maybe normal for a cheap preamp.

This is most likely.

I'd recommend tossing a compressor plugin on the track and boosting the output gain 10-15dB and then using 10-15dB less gain on the mic preamp. That should dramatically reduce the problem.

Brandon

[dhamukrish]

Thanks newkid/brandondrury for advise.

Can I safely discard my UA-25EX is faulty?

Regards
dhamukrish

[newkid]

Originally Posted by dhamukrish

Thanks newkid/brandondrury for advise.

Can I safely discard my UA-25EX is faulty?

Regards
dhamukrish

No. We do not know for sure, just speculating on options.

it could be the tabla thing.
It could be the spdif.

It could be faulty ua25.
It could be normal lowend operation.

It could be other things.
Could be a bad capacitor, noisy resistor, bad solder joint, bad connector, noisy power supply, too hot , yada yada.
google for causes of noise in electric equipment.

But it may just be doing the best that it can.
No way we can tell from here.

Unless money is easier to come by than time I would still see what improvement might be possible.

Try turning down the gain and improve the ua25 performance instead of trying to help that other device.

Borrow another one and see if it is the same.
Borrow another interface and see if it is different.
Try it without the spdif.

Try the manufacturers web site and forum.
Maybe they have a solution.

Check the reviews on many sites. If no one else is complaining then it is either a bad unit or the way it is being used (cables, impedances, connectors, whatever). If many noise complaints then it is probably "normal".

Write the manufacturer and ask about the noise.

It would help if you could somehow measure and quantify what is happening but that may be too much cost/effort.

[jagcmos]

Have you tried using a condenser microphone to record ?

They generally have a higher output and this would allow you to reduce the gain used on your interface.

White noise is common when you have the gain cranked > 80 % on a preamp of this quality.

[dhamukrish]

I have contacted Cakewalk Technical Support as per newkid advise. Don't have Condenser Microphone to try this.

I will update once they come back