White Noise problem help please!

[audiotx]

Hi - I use the superb device with a Rode NT1-A feeding a TOSHIBA laptop that I purchased in January -all items are new

Before I had a T Bone mike straight into USB and had that configuration for 14 months of VO recording every night for my work

Now have the Rode and the CEntrance and wow what a difference - I love it

BUT help!!! I record in mono, and whilst I am editing the recording - usual stuff - making inter word spaces shorter - woah I get about 90 DB of a burst of white noise in my Sennheiser headphones
ouf IT IS LOUD! very loud

So being ex BBC trained and also ex BBC studio engineer I got looking - chucked out the wireless keyboard and mouse, made sure no PDA was on hunting Bluetooth, made sure nothing was hunting
Tried it last night and thought I had cured it then it came back again - When it happens it is only a very short burst maybe 1 second - it seems random but only when I am in playback mode, but always the same type of sound

I plugged the headphones into the audio out of the PC instead of the CEntrance and the issue stays the same. So is it a USB issue on the laptop, is it bad earthing somewhere, does the mike or MicPort have analogue to digital circuits that are sensitive to external noise I can ident and turn off? I have 2 LCD screens in the booth and 2 active speakers and nothing else: The pcs are all outside and so just the laptop in a cupboard with door shut! Oh LED lighting on the ceiling 250 volt - not sure if they have discharge issues THANKS in advance for your advice - Using USB to power a mike worries me but guess you guys checked this out super well so I do not think that is an issue as lots of colleagues use this config on air so not sure what it is. Peter

So as my initial training was all analogue can you help me - The setting on the recording software never change - Something somewhere is discharging a capacitor or bursting interference and I am stumped.

[david]

Hey audiotx,

I plugged the headphones into the audio out of the PC instead of the CEntrance and the issue stays the same.

Hmmm,... it could be a driver issue. Make sure sample rates are same everywhere. Assuming not Mac, if you haven't already, please download our free Universal Driver. Go here for instructions. This will help make sure sample rates are same everywhere.

Which version of Windows?

What software are you using to record? What sample rate are you using?

It sounds like you haven't had a problem with recording, but only during playback. Is that correct?

David

[audiotx]

Dear David
Thank you for your reply - apologies for my delayed reply - I have downloaded the Universal driver 32 bit for vista to use the mike and VEGAS 7
I altered the rate to 48000 but the recorder app says it cannot work with the driver offered

Well the fault logo is in French so not sure what the exact flash screen wording is in English
I have de installed the UD and the Rode and CE works fine for my prog today and yes the white noise does return on playback so I would like to sort this out

What have i missed or done wrong please? It is on laptop so there is the onboard sound card but it did show the CE device when offering devices for recording
that is correctly selected: Clearly I am being dense

Thanks in advance - oh you lucky people with other OS!!

Peter

[david]

Hi Peter,

Here are some specific instructions for a basic Vista setup. Note: We do not have a copy of Vegas 7, so I don't know how to set it up. Please feel free to post thorough step-by-step instructions for Vegas 7 in this thread.

Vista instructions, assuming you want a sample rate of 48000...

1. Close all audio applications.
2. Install our Universal Driver (UD), like I mentioned in the first post.
3. Open UD and set MicPort's sample rate to 48000 Hz. Close.
4. Right-click the speaker icon in the Vista system tray (near the clock)
5. Select Recording Devices.
6. Highlight CEntrance USB Audio. Click the Properties button (or right click and select Properties).
7. Click Advanced tab.
8. Change Default Format to "1 channel, 16bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality)" OR "1 channel, 24bit, 48000 Hz (Studio Quality)". click Ok.
---See the difference here? 16bit vs. 24bit. It is up to you, depending on your work flow and end result (deliverable).

9. Click the Playback tab. Repeat steps 6-8. Vista's Recording and Playback format settings should be identical, especially sample rate (e.g., 48000 Hz).
10. Click Ok.
11. Open your favorite audio recording application, tell it you want the CEntrance ASIO driver, and set the sample rate to 48000 Hz.
12. Done.

Note the fundamental order:
A - set sample rate in UD
B - set Vista sample rate
C - set sample rate in audio recording application.

If you need to change sample rate, you need to go through A-C (steps 3-12 above).

Steps 6-9 are a "feature" that Vista added. Fun, huh?

Let's lay this foundation, and we will go from there to see if you have the same problem. Keep me posted.

David

[audiotx]

Dear David

Many thanks that seems to cure it for good - I think I can also hear a ramp up in quality when listening to playback and the white noise has gone THANKS!

I guess there must be a way to turn off the mike without touching the button, a software function on the recording software perhaps, but still allow monitoring via the CE
A previous thread explained you had very little space so the on off button had to be small. On VEGAS if anyone uses it, perhaps you may know if I can turn off the mike but still monitor playback via the CE

Anyway that is for me to dig into and wow the product is pleasure to hear, thanks again

Peter

[david]

Hi Peter,

I guess there must be a way to turn off the mike without touching the button

The only way to turn on/off the 48V is via the button on the back of the MicPort.

David