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Topic: M-Audio Delta 1010LT and a Silent Microphone (Read 4301 times) previous topic - next topic
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M-Audio Delta 1010LT and a Silent Microphone

Good day, audio enthusiasts!

I have an issue with getting my microphone to operate correctly with an older soundcard. The card in question is the M-Audio Delta 1010LT, and is to be used solely with the Rode NT2-A microphone. The microphone is connected to a Behringer Xenyx 502 mixer which, in turn, is connected to the soundcard itself.

The cables are set up correctly, as this setup has worked flawlessly in the past. However, when attempting to use it on the current system, I have run into a peculiar issue: the microphone does not seem to properly pick up on sounds. When recording audio in Audacity, the recorded sound can not be heard unless amplified significantly, and even then, it is plagued by low quality and a lot of static noise.

Furthermore, when I open M-Audio’s control panel and navigate to the ‘input’ tab to review the visualisation of input received through the microphone, the input seems to be spread out over all channels. Those being ‘Line 1/2'; ‘Line 3/4'; ‘Line 5/6’ and finally ‘Line 7/8’. As with the sensitivity issue replicated in Audacity, it only seems to pick up sound when I tap the microphone, whereas normally I would expect the microphone to visibly pick up on even the faintest of sounds in my environment.

In an attempt to solve this issue myself, I have tried numerous alternatives. Firstly, I have tried several different iterations of drivers for the soundcard, ranging from 5078 down to 5069, the one it is currently running on. Next, I have tried changing the IRQ priority from 17 to 1 and 20 in the registry. And finally, I have tried disabling any other soundcard in device manager, those being my ASUS Xonar and the on-board High Definition Audio Devices. None of these alternatives have had any impact whatsoever on the issue at hand.

The M-Audio Delta 1010LT is the only card occupying a PCI slot on my motherboard. Here is a list of the system specifications I am currently working with:

CPU: I5-4670 @ 3.40GHz
GPU: Nvidia GTX760
Motherboard: ASUS Z87-C
Soundcard 1: ASUS Xonar D2X
Soundcard 2: M-Audio Delta 1010LT
OS: Windows 7 64x Service Pack 1

In short, I need help getting my microphone to work properly with my soundcard, as it currently fails to pick up properly on any sound I produce. While it does pick up on sound, it is only faint and ridden with static noise. If anyone could be my saviour and help me solve this issue, I would be most grateful.

Kind regards,

Fionar

M-Audio Delta 1010LT and a Silent Microphone

Reply #1 –
Assuming windows, under Control Panel -> Sound, Recording tab is the correct recording input set and does it know it's a microphone? You can normally alter the input volume and boost the input.

You've probably attempted this but I thought I'd suggest it first

M-Audio Delta 1010LT and a Silent Microphone

Reply #2 –
Windows recognises the Line 3/4 itself under recording, though it doesn't directly show as a microphone icon. I figured it was strange, but I thought nothing of it at first. I'll post a screenshot later as I'm currently not near my home computer, thank you!

M-Audio Delta 1010LT and a Silent Microphone

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Fionar on
Good day, audio enthusiasts!

I have an issue with getting my microphone to operate correctly with an older soundcard. The card in question is the M-Audio Delta 1010LT, and is to be used solely with the Rode NT2-A microphone. The microphone is connected to a Behringer Xenyx 502 mixer which, in turn, is connected to the soundcard itself.

The cables are set up correctly, as this setup has worked flawlessly in the past. However, when attempting to use it on the current system, I have run into a peculiar issue: the microphone does not seem to properly pick up on sounds. When recording audio in Audacity, the recorded sound can not be heard unless amplified significantly, and even then, it is plagued by low quality and a lot of static noise.

Furthermore, when I open M-Audio’s control panel and navigate to the ‘input’ tab to review the visualisation of input received through the microphone, the input seems to be spread out over all channels. Those being ‘Line 1/2'; ‘Line 3/4'; ‘Line 5/6’ and finally ‘Line 7/8’. As with the sensitivity issue replicated in Audacity, it only seems to pick up sound when I tap the microphone, whereas normally I would expect the microphone to visibly pick up on even the faintest of sounds in my environment.

In an attempt to solve this issue myself, I have tried numerous alternatives. Firstly, I have tried several different iterations of drivers for the soundcard, ranging from 5078 down to 5069, the one it is currently running on. Next, I have tried changing the IRQ priority from 17 to 1 and 20 in the registry. And finally, I have tried disabling any other soundcard in device manager, those being my ASUS Xonar and the on-board High Definition Audio Devices. None of these alternatives have had any impact whatsoever on the issue at hand.

The M-Audio Delta 1010LT is the only card occupying a PCI slot on my motherboard. Here is a list of the system specifications I am currently working with:

CPU: I5-4670 @ 3.40GHz
GPU: Nvidia GTX760
Motherboard: ASUS Z87-C
Soundcard 1: ASUS Xonar D2X
Soundcard 2: M-Audio Delta 1010LT
OS: Windows 7 64x Service Pack 1

In short, I need help getting my microphone to work properly with my soundcard, as it currently fails to pick up properly on any sound I produce. While it does pick up on sound, it is only faint and ridden with static noise. If anyone could be my saviour and help me solve this issue, I would be most grateful.


Obviously every PC configuration is unique and I can't exactly duplicate yours.

My tool of choice for debugging audio interfaces is to perform a loopback test with RMAA.  So, I downloaded the latest version of RMAA, the latest version of the Delta drivers for Windows 7.1/64 (6.0.8) and looped channel 3/4 on my 1010LT with a RCA cable.  After minimizing the buffer count it performed better than I expected - > 100 dB THD+N @ 24/96, and  no surprises when testing various channels.  System board was a Asus M5A97 r2 with a 4 GHz 4x processor, 4 GB of RAM, Windows 7.1/64, etc.

M-Audio Delta 1010LT and a Silent Microphone

Reply #4 –
No problem. I think it'll be because the mixer goes into the line in for the card rather than directly plugging the mic into the mic input on the card.

Looking at the specs it says it's got 2 mic preamps so the mic could just go into that without the need for the mixer inbetween. Unless you're using it as a mixer, could just be the level is too low for the mixer? The only confusing thing is you said it worked before in this setup?

M-Audio Delta 1010LT and a Silent Microphone

Reply #5 –
The mixer serves as a source of phantom power, as the preamps on the soundcard itself don't have it. It's indeed rather peculiar that it doesn't work correctly in my current setup, whereas it has before. Apologies if I wasn't very clear on this however; it hasn't worked on my current system, but it has worked with my previous system. From previous to current, the only things which haven't changed would be both soundcards. Wiring between the Delta, mixer and microphone remain identical. I'm wondering if the phantompower in de mixer might not have just gone bust for some mysterious reason!

I'll try out RMAA when I get home, though admittedly I've never worked with the application.

M-Audio Delta 1010LT and a Silent Microphone

Reply #6 –
The easiest thing to try is different cables.  Cables are often the 1st thing to fail.  If you don't have extra cables, now is a good time to get them! 

Quote
I'm wondering if the phantompower in de mixer might not have just gone bust for some mysterious reason!
Try plugging headphones (or your computer speakers) directly into the mixer.  If you are getting good sound out, the mic and mixer are OK.
 
You can test the soundcard in a similar way, by plugging-in something else.  You can try a CD player, or the audio-out from a DVD player, etc.

If the mixer is the problem (or if the mixer is suspected) you may want to consider getting a USB audio interface with XLR mic inputs and phantom power, or a mixer with USB-out, depending on your needs.

M-Audio Delta 1010LT and a Silent Microphone

Reply #7 –
Thank you all very much for your help. After going through various solutions and methods in this thread, and after a little bit more research, I have come to the conclusion that the mixer has a defective input stage. This was caused by disconnecting the microphone while the mixer was powered; due to the fact the phantom power is switched on permanently, doing this likely fried the input.

Time to get another mixer, then. Thank you all again for your quick responses, I very much appreciate it!

M-Audio Delta 1010LT and a Silent Microphone

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Fionar on
Furthermore, when I open M-Audio’s control panel and navigate to the ‘input’ tab to review the visualisation of input received through the microphone, the input seems to be spread out over all channels.

Those being ‘Line 1/2'; ‘Line 3/4'; ‘Line 5/6’ and finally ‘Line 7/8’.


That may be an incorrect interpretation of the meaning of the Input tab of the M-Audio control panel.

This is what I see:



That's the audio interface recording hardware. Which of those inputs relate to your mic and mixer is up to you. Trace the wiring from the mixer to the audio interface to determine which are active

Quote
As with the sensitivity issue replicated in Audacity, it only seems to pick up sound when I tap the microphone, whereas normally I would expect the microphone to visibly pick up on even the faintest of sounds in my environment.


The sensitivity of the audio interface's inputs is determined by the check marks in the boxes labelled "-10 dB" and "+4 dB". The former are the more sensitive settings.