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Skizza306
Skizza306
Participant
August 9, 2018
Question

NEED HELP: Microphone recording volume very low, but only in Audition

  • August 9, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 13202 views

This is a weird one, I've been trying to figure it out for most of the past two weeks to no avail.

If I record a track in Audition, the sound comes out incredibly low. Like barely even audible, tiny waveforms, etc. even if my gain and output on my mic pre-amp are cranked all the way up, and my recording volume in WIndows settings is turned all the way up.

However if I open Audacity or Sony Music Studio (without changing any settings in between) it records at the appropriate/expected volume for the gain settings.  The issue only occurs within Audition. 

What could possibly be causing this problem?

For what it's worth I'm using an Audio-Technica 2020 microphone, which is connected via XLR to an A.R.T. Project Series Tube MP which is then connected to the PC via USB, and my computer is running Windows 7 Professional. 

Any ideas or insight would be helpful, I'm pretty much at my wit's end here. 

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    4 replies

    M
    Mac-Centric
    Participant
    April 1, 2020

    Hello, I had this very same problem with the same microphone, and just figured it out, though I am using a Mac and not a PC. Perhaps it will still help, though. When I went into system settings, and chose the microphone as my audio input device, over the inbuilt microphone, it allowed me to set the input recording levels there. I played around with them a bit in Audition, and got them adjusted. Once I did that; I was all set. Hope this helps.

      M
      Mac-Centric
      Participant
      April 1, 2020

      PS, to clarify, I did all the adjusting in the system settings, and recorded some sample voice tracks in Audition, until I got the exact setting right in the system audio settings. There wasn't a setting I could change actually in Audition. It was all through the computer's audio input level settings, that made it work.

      SteveG_AudioMasters_
      Community Expert
      SteveG_AudioMasters_Community Expert
      Community Expert
      April 1, 2020

      Couple of things: it's different on a Mac. They aggregate all the devices available and in theory at least you shouldn't have this problem once you've got it set up correctly, as you've discovered. The situation with PCs is pretty much completely different.

       

      The second thing is that this is a 2 1/2 year old thread now, and I hope he figured out the answer in his own case some time ago!

      Kevin-Monahan
      Community Manager
      Kevin-MonahanCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      August 27, 2018

      Still having trouble with your mic, Skizza306? Let us know.

      Thanks,

      Kevin

      Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community and Engagement Strategist – Adobe Pro Video and Audio
      Skizza306
      Skizza306Author
      Participant
      August 9, 2018

      Does this help? 

      SteveG_AudioMasters_
      Community Expert
      SteveG_AudioMasters_Community Expert
      Community Expert
      August 9, 2018

      What drivers do the other bits of software use?

      The thing about ASIO is that it punches a way straight through the OS, and none of the OS-based volume controls will affect it in the slightest. That is, assuming it's the USB version of the ART preamp you're using. Is this correct?

      ryclark
      ryclark
      Participating Frequently
      August 10, 2018

      So the ART device wasn't listed in the device menu, so I went to their website, found the preamp I'm using and installed the associated drivers, now it does appear in the list. I selected it instead of the ASIO4All but I'm still experiencing the same problem.  I also completely uninstalled and reinstalled Audition earlier today while I was working on this, still no effect. 


      What do the level LEDs on the ART preamp show your level as? I would expect the -15dBFS LEd to been on most of the time with the occasional flicker from the -7 one. You should also see similar levels in Audition on it's meters, although this won't appear to fully fill the waveform. This is normal when recording. You can boost the levels when editing if you need to without causing any problems.

        SteveG_AudioMasters_
        Community Expert
        SteveG_AudioMasters_Community Expert
        Community Expert
        August 9, 2018

        skizza306  wrote

        For what it's worth I'm using an Audio-Technica 2020 microphone, which is connected via XLR to an A.R.T. Project Series Tube MP which is then connected to the PC via USB, and my computer is running Windows 7 Professional. 

        What driver are you using? ASIO or one of the Windows ones? This is likely to be driver or settings-related; Audition is very good at recording exactly what it's sent, so it's very likely that what is causing this is going to be because you're using a different driver. Given a free choice, Audition always prefers ASIO - the engine's ASIO-based so no conversions are necessary.

        ryclark
        ryclark
        Participating Frequently
        August 9, 2018

        It would help us help you if you could post a screen garb of the Audition Audio Hardware preferences page to see what you have selected for your audio drivers.

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