M-Audio Fast Track Pro...Excessive Hissing

[timquinn]

I have an iMac 10.6.6. I record guitar lessons in a room with a condenser mic. I was running the original old-school M-Box as an interface to Garage Band for recording. That worked fine, until I upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard. Of course, the old-school M-Box is not compatible with Snow Leopard. So, I purchased the M-Audio Fast Track Pro. Now, in order to get a loud enough signal, I have to turn the lower left knob on the M-Audio ("Signal") to full on to get an input signal that is loud enough. But I get a very annoying "hiss". I contacted M-Audio; paid the $15 for their one-time phone support. All they did is direct me to a page that had me reset a bunch of things in my computer prefs. Nothing changed. Those guys were not helpful at M-Audio Customer Support. Their whole customer support system is designed to discourage you from finally getting through, and then when you pay, all they do is send you to a web-page that tells you to do about 10 things to your computer preferences to fix it. I am pretty sure I just need some common sense advice as to how I should have my knobs set on the M-Audio Fast Track Pro, in order to get a strong signal without the hiss. Can any good soul help me out here?

[Julia343]

Originally Posted by timquinn

I have an iMac 10.6.6. I record guitar lessons in a room with a condenser mic. I was running the original old-school M-Box as an interface to Garage Band for recording. That worked fine, until I upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard. Of course, the old-school M-Box is not compatible with Snow Leopard. So, I purchased the M-Audio Fast Track Pro. Now, in order to get a loud enough signal, I have to turn the lower left knob on the M-Audio ("Signal") to full on to get an input signal that is loud enough. But I get a very annoying "hiss". I contacted M-Audio; paid the $15 for their one-time phone support. All they did is direct me to a page that had me reset a bunch of things in my computer prefs. Nothing changed. Those guys are idiots at M-Audio Customer Support. Their whole customer support system is designed to discourage you from finally getting through, and then when you pay, all they do is send you to a web-page that tells you to do about 10 things to your computer preferences to fix it. I am pretty sure I just need some common sense advice as to how I should have my knobs set on the M-Audio Fast Track Pro, in order to get a strong signal without the hiss. Can any good soul help me out here?

That hiss is normal on that unit when you've got the inputs cranked up. I agree with you on the tech support. It's basically you bought it you own it.

Get a mic tube pre. You can get them from cheap to really good. I used one to extend the life of my original POD. I bought a Presonus Studio Channel which has a tube preamp. I don't have to turn up a mic past 1:00 on the Fast Track Pro. If you want to do it on the cheap one of these should do the trick.

http://www.sweetwater.com/c661--ART--Preamps

The reviews seem to indicate that they are decent units for the price. If you want a better tube in it you might want to drop a low noise NOS JAN (GE or Philips) 5751 to replace the 12AX7. There isn't that much difference, except my personal experience with this tube is that it is quieter than the Chinese 12AX7s.

Also a little warning -- M-Audio has had driver issues so don't update your driver if it is working. I learned this the hard way. "Make sure you have the latest drivers" the instructions said. Uninstall the old one. Then install the new one they said in the instructions. My advice: if it works, don't fix it. The uninstall left relic files that the installation of the new driver sees and it won't install at all. Computer is now in the shop.

[timquinn]

thanks for the advice, Julia. I will try your suggestion. it makes total sense to me to boost the signal with a pre-amp. that avid conglomerate has been very difficult to work with. i think i will phase out away from avid/digidesign and move toward Apple's Logic Pro. peaceout and thanks again for your simple suggestion!

[Julia343]

I'd also suggest trying out the Presonus Studio One Pro DAW. I found it very easy to use. Logic does have its drawbacks, too. The support I've gotten from Presonus has been very good. I've also been using the M-Audio Fast Track Pro with it. No probs there. My driver issue was with the M-Audio Oxygen 61 midi controller. The demo is fully functional for 30 days -- yes that means you can save your work. The demo is the Artist version, but you'll get to be able to learn your way around the interface. The Pro gives you a bunch of stuff extra. I did the crossgrade from Pro Tools 8 because I didn't want to have to upgrade to Win 7 just yet, but that day is coming. It was quite easy to learn my way around.

http://www.presonus.com/products/Sof...?SoftwareId=11

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StudioOne/

This is the Studio Channel: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StudioChan/

[timquinn]

There is a port for a 9v adapter on the M-Audio unit. I do not have an adapter plugged in. Could this be the problem? I am using a condenser mic. Phantom power is on. Am I required to have a 9v power adapter plugged into the unit in order for it to work properly? Would this increase the input level so I would not have to crank the signal knob? Thanks

[Julia343]

The M-Audio Fast Track Pro is also USB powered. If you're going to use as a standalone, that's when you need the 9V power.

And "Doh!" (why didn't I remember --- oh yeah I use an external preamp) check to see if you have the phantom power switch on the back turned on for a condenser mic. That may be your entire problem. Then the choice will be if you like the SS preamp in the unit.