Members newlyformedmind Posted January 7, 2009 Members Share Posted January 7, 2009 I just received my Vintech X73 today. I am quite a newbie when it comes to understanding ins and outs. I will try to explain what gear I'm working with and maybe someone could advise me differently. First off, I have an AT4060 I want to demo with the new preamp/eq and I own an API A2D which I now want to only use the converters and let the Vintech be my vocal preamp. As some of you know, the power supply for the X73 costs $250. It has four places you can plug into. I assume either it's two ins and two outs or they give you four so you can link other Vintechs. Moving right along. I thought I had everything hooked up properly (apparently not) but when I went to record enable a track into PT 7.4 I got super loud white noise. The way I have things hooked up are as follows: AT4060 mic into the AT4060 power supply (mic in). The mic out on the 4060 power supply is plugged into the Vintech's microphone input. Then I'm going out of the Vintech's balanced output xlr into my API A2D's line input trs (1/4"). I have a spdif cable running out of the API into my MBOX 2. My guess is- I either have it hooked up wrong somewhere, or maybe I need to go into Protools ins and outs and change some things? I know great gear- I just don't always know how to rig it all together. I just want to sing through my AT4060 mic, utilize the Vintech's preamp and eq section, bypass the API pre's and just use the API A2D as my converter instead of the plastic sounding MBOX2 pre's. Can anyone lead me in the right direction? I don't know why I'm getting white noise. I'm getting power on the Vintech, and power going to the trim section on my API A2D. (no signal from the pre's). What am I doing wrong? I just got the unit and am dying to hear how it sounds through my few but good microphones. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!Jimmy from NewlyFormedMindset:facepalm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Simplify - run the 4060 into the Vintech, and the line out from the Vintech straight into the line in on the Mbox (Make sure you have your input path in Pro Tools set for the correct line input on the Mbox.) and see if that's working OK. If it is, then you know the problem isn't with the preamp - it has to be something to do with how you have the A/D configured, and / or in how you have the Vintech connected to the API, or the API to PT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newlyformedmind Posted January 7, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 7, 2009 Simplify - run the 4060 into the Vintech, and the line out from the Vintech straight into the line in on the Mbox (Make sure you have your input path in Pro Tools set for the correct line input on the Mbox.) and see if that's working OK. If it is, then you know the problem isn't with the preamp - it has to be something to do with how you have the A/D configured, and / or in how you have the Vintech connected to the API, or the API to PT. Thanks for the advice Phil. I have my Vintech X73 working with my API converters. I'm experimenting the eq's on it. Singing through a AT4060 seems to sound maybe a little dark, around what frequency should I boost there? Where do you like to have your high pass filter on your vocal tracks? Now my only other question is: how do I patch in my RNLA into the mix? I'm having a hard time singing with consistency as far as dynamics go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Line out of the Vintech into the line in on the RNLA; line out of the RNLA into the API converters. As far as your HPF for the voice, it really depends on the vocalist. I wouldn't recommend cutting too much when tracking - remember, you can always get rid of more later (in the mix) if you need to, but if you emasculate it going in (when tracking), you can't really "undo" it later. I'd suggest setting the HPF at somewhere around 100 Hz or so for starters. Singing through a AT4060 seems to sound maybe a little dark, around what frequency should I boost there? That's pretty impossible to say with any certainty without hearing it in the context of the mix. You can experiment with the HF EQ on the Vintech and see if you can compensate with that, or you can print it "flat" (no EQ) and EQ it in the mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted January 9, 2009 Members Share Posted January 9, 2009 Thanks for the advice Phil. I have my Vintech X73 working with my API converters. I'm experimenting the eq's on it. Singing through a AT4060 seems to sound maybe a little dark, around what frequency should I boost there? The frequency that sounds best. No one can tell you this. Boost your EQ, and then sweep it up and down until it sounds great for the vocal and mix. As you may remember, I did mention that the AT4060 is not hyped, so you're not going to get any high-end "sizzle" or "excitement". It'll EQ well, but it's not gonna put it in there for you. If you want that right out of the gate, you'll have to use another mic. The AT4060, as I mentioned, is a flat, neutral, smooth mic. Where do you like to have your high pass filter on your vocal tracks? Where it sounds good. Set your high-pass EQ, then keep slowly going up until the voice audibly thins, then slowly bring it back down. That's your setting. I also use 100Hz or so as a starting point and start going up from there. Now my only other question is: how do I patch in my RNLA into the mix? I'm having a hard time singing with consistency as far as dynamics go. If you're printing to your DAW, your RNLA goes after your mic preamp but before your converter. You'll probably get pissed off at me for saying this, but you would really benefit from purchasing a book or three about basic signal flow, as these are really basic questions. I'm not saying don't post them here at all; I'm saying that you would really benefit from a book or three about basic signal flow, which should be covered in just about any decent book about setting up a home recording studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newlyformedmind Posted January 12, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 12, 2009 The frequency that sounds best. No one can tell you this. Boost your EQ, and then sweep it up and down until it sounds great for the vocal and mix. As you may remember, I did mention that the AT4060 is not hyped, so you're not going to get any high-end "sizzle" or "excitement". It'll EQ well, but it's not gonna put it in there for you. If you want that right out of the gate, you'll have to use another mic. The AT4060, as I mentioned, is a flat, neutral, smooth mic. Where it sounds good. Set your high-pass EQ, then keep slowly going up until the voice audibly thins, then slowly bring it back down. That's your setting. I also use 100Hz or so as a starting point and start going up from there. If you're printing to your DAW, your RNLA goes after your mic preamp but before your converter. You'll probably get pissed off at me for saying this, but you would really benefit from purchasing a book or three about basic signal flow, as these are really basic questions. I'm not saying don't post them here at all; I'm saying that you would really benefit from a book or three about basic signal flow, which should be covered in just about any decent book about setting up a home recording studio. No I'm far from pissed at you for your suggestions. I'm not a prick! haha. I admit, signal flow is an area I definitely need plenty of work in. I may just do that and pick up a few books. But I really want to go to this recording school in Ohio. I live in Detroit and recently found out about this school in Ohio. It's full time (10 hour days) for 5 weeks. I don't care about getting the certificate, just want to the knowledge. I also don't know enough about eq'ing and compression. Any specific books that aren't super hard to read/understand that any of you could recommend? Thanks for those who replied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newlyformedmind Posted January 12, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 12, 2009 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newlyformedmind Posted January 12, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 12, 2009 Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted January 12, 2009 Members Share Posted January 12, 2009 Wayne Wadhams "Sound Advice: A Musicians Guide to the Studio" is excellent, and covers basic signal flow and a lot of other things, and is not super dogmatic about its approach. It's very creative. It's out of print, so it's not so strong with working with a DAW (okay, that's almost non-existent), but it is excellent with general recording techniques. Then again, the questions you are asking are hardware questions, so actually, this book would be perfectly fine for that!!! He's also really good at covering micing and EQ and mixing techniques. If you got this and a book that is about DAWs (I don't know of any offhand, so consider going to a decent bookstore or asking around about this), you'd really be well-covered. Someone else also highly recommended Bobby Owsinski's book, but I don't remember the name. I think Lee Knight recommended that, and Lee knows what he's doing. Sound good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newlyformedmind Posted January 13, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 13, 2009 Wayne Wadhams "Sound Advice: A Musicians Guide to the Studio" is excellent, and covers basic signal flow and a lot of other things, and is not super dogmatic about its approach. It's very creative. It's out of print, so it's not so strong with working with a DAW (okay, that's almost non-existent), but it is excellent with general recording techniques. Then again, the questions you are asking are hardware questions, so actually, this book would be perfectly fine for that!!! He's also really good at covering micing and EQ and mixing techniques. If you got this and a book that is about DAWs (I don't know of any offhand, so consider going to a decent bookstore or asking around about this), you'd really be well-covered.Someone else also highly recommended Bobby Owsinski's book, but I don't remember the name. I think Lee Knight recommended that, and Lee knows what he's doing.Sound good? Yeah. Thank you. I will definitely check those out. Maybe I can find the book that's out of print on Amazon's used books or maybe on Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted January 13, 2009 Members Share Posted January 13, 2009 Yeah, it usually sells on Amazon used. Really good book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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