Hi there,
I just joined this forum to get help with a problem I have been having. I just got a brand new Tonor Professional XLR microphone and when I plugged it into Audacity and spoke into it, the recording doesn’t pick up my voice. Audacity recognizes the microphone and the mic is plugged into the usb port, so I’m not sure what is going on. Can anyone help me out with this?
Thanks,
Peter
Tonor Professional XLR…plugged into the usb port
XLR microphones will not plug into a USB port. So how did you do that and post the web page of exactly which microphone you have. Tonor makes a bunch.
Koz
Here it is:
It came with a USB external sound card.
Audacity can recognize the USB soundcard, not the microphone. Does the soundcard have a place for headphones? Does it supply 48v phantom power to the microphone? Does it have a sound activity light?
Koz
I can’t make it out from the description, does the microphone have a power light?
Koz
Yes. I just found the place for the headphones. It also comes with phantom power as well.
Cool. The little light on the microphone should mean the Phantom Power is running, the light on the soundcard should mean the USB is working and if you can hear yourself at the soundcard headphone connection with the volume control all the way up (scratch the grill on the microphone—never blow into a microphone), the microphone and soundcard are working.
We progress.
Koz
Ok. I see a light on the USB and on the Phantom power box, but I don’t see one on the mic.
The microphone may or may not have a light. What do the instructions say? I can’t tell from the page that Amazon gives me. There doesn’t seem to be a light on the front or bottom and there is no rear view.
Which soundcard do you have?
The microphone page seems to suggest you can run it either direct from USB power or from Phantom Power. They also say for best results, use the 48v Phantom Power.
Too many options and variations make this rough to troubleshoot.
Koz
The Amazon picture has the microphone mounted wrong. You’re supposed to be talking through the black tennis racket into the company logo, not into the side. That’s the kind of mount mistake that gives us complaints of weak voice, but I can hear the dog next door clearly.
Koz
After you tell us which soundcard you have, scan the instruction sheet and post that—or find it on-line. They might have an address posted in the instructions.
Koz
It’s the 7.1 Channel Sound Card. It also didn’t come with any instructions.
I don’t have a 7.1 soundcard, so there’s no way for me to work it back and see if it’s OK.
Let’s see if any of the other forum elves has any ideas.
Koz
What version of Audacity are you using? Please see the pink panel at the top of the page and give us all three Audacity version numbers.
Exactly where are you plugging the mic into the sound card? Are you using an adaptor to do that? Do you have phantom power switched on for the mic? If not, try that.
Are you choosing the correct recording device in Audacity’s Device Toolbar?
Please post the information from Help > Audio Device Info… top right of Audacity then we can see your devices. Please see here for how to attach files: https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/how-to-attach-files-to-forum-posts/24026/1
Gale
It is Version 2.1.2. I am plugging the mic into the sound card and then plugging that into the USB port. Audacity recognizes the mic just fine, but I’m not getting any sound waves showing up when I speak into it. Just a straight line.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t answer any of the questions I asked and does not give us the Audio Device Info that was requested. Have you turned phantom power on?
Unfortunately if your Audacity device choices are wrong and you don’t look into that, you may not be able to record. As Koz said, Audacity is not recognising the mic - only the USB device and (possibly) whatever inputs it has. Without the Audio Device Info, we are in the dark.
Gale