M-Audio Firewire 410

anamorphis · Post by **anamorphis** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 7:45 pm

Hi!
Sorry to use the forum to ask a non-Live question, but this is the only way i've found to do it.
I have an M-Audio Firewire 410, working with Live on my iMac. I bought a Studio Projects C1 mic and plug it to the front Mic/Instrument of the 410. The problem is that there's always an annoying "sssssss" noise everytime I try to record something.
Is there anyone working with a M-Audio 410? Can you help me? This might be a configuration issue... but i'm not shure.

Thanks a lot.

quandry · Post by **quandry** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 7:52 pm

do you have the phantom power turned on on the 410--the C1 needs phantom power (btw nice mic, I love my SP B1's). Do other mics/instruments sound okay on the 410? The reason I ask is because 85% of the people here on these forums that have used 410s hate them for any number of reasons, myself included. The drivers on macs suck, sorry.

anamorphis · Post by **anamorphis** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 8:00 pm

quandry wrote:do you have the phantom power turned on on the 410--the C1 needs phantom power (btw nice mic, I love my SP B1's). Do other mics/instruments sound okay on the 410? The reason I ask is because 85% of the people here on these forums that have used 410s hate them for any number of reasons, myself included. The drivers on macs suck, sorry.

Yeah, the phantom is on.

Everything works perfect. I've just been playng my guitar, plugged on the Line input, recorded it and it sounds just fine... but the mic...

Thanks any way.

Anyone else???

quandry · Post by **quandry** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 8:09 pm

hmm, well large diagphram condensors can pick up a ton of noise from anywhere in you vicinity. Like air conditioners, refridgerators, next door neighbors, cars driving by outside, barking dogs, even loud hard drives and fan noise. Is is possible that it is one of these sounds, of is it a really even and steady ssssss sound? Do you have an analog mixer or something to test to make sure that the mic is not the problem?

anamorphis · Post by **anamorphis** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 8:52 pm

quandry wrote:hmm, well large diagphram condensors can pick up a ton of noise from anywhere in you vicinity. Like air conditioners, refridgerators, next door neighbors, cars driving by outside, barking dogs, even loud hard drives and fan noise. Is is possible that it is one of these sounds, of is it a really even and steady ssssss sound? Do you have an analog mixer or something to test to make sure that the mic is not the problem?

It's a steady sssss sound... There's total silence where I am, so that's not some outside noise. Unfortunatelly I don't have an analog mixer

I think this is a bad configuration of the settings...

Ohh man... this sucks!!!

Thanks anyway

chango blanco · Post by **chango blanco** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 8:46 am

I had the same using my laptop. A friend suggested I break off the grounding prong on the power cord.
Worked like majik....no more hissing when recording into Live.
(you might want to make sure you've got it plugged into a surge protector, though)

plain · Post by **plain** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:08 am

if the noise you hear is a hum that oscillates and not just a steady hiss then it's a grounding problem.....

i have a firebox that i powered through my computer...and i got the 60hz cycling hum....i then powered it through just the wall jack and the hiss was gone.....

it might be a grounding problem...if the 410 allows you to plug into a jack..do so....

btw if you have the option you should always plug everything in and not power it through the usb

plain · Post by **plain** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:10 am

oh and another thing..if your gonna try chago's prong idea which could actually work...dont break the prong just buy a 3 to 2 adapter..they sell them for like 50 cents...

make sure if you do this your grounded at some other place in your node or your gonna get zapped...lol

nolus · Post by **nolus** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:32 am

yeah but, no but, i can't help but think that if it only does it when the mic is plugged in, then it is probably a problem with the mic, or the cable, or else some problem with the phantom power (again possibly cable trouble), or gain stageing?.

some good diagnostic tests would be,

see what happens if you turn off fantom power,

make sure the pad button isn't pressed

try increasing the gain on the 410 and turning it down in live, and visa versa,

disconnect the mic from the other end of the cable,

basically try every combination of controls and power options, etc that you can think of and apply a process of elimination to track down the problem.

frisbeedisk · Post by **frisbeedisk** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 10:59 am

410 pre-amps and ad converters are just palin crap, thats the problem..sell sell sell....

mike holiday · Post by **mike holiday** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 4:05 pm

no sssss on my 410 with my shure 56

chango blanco · Post by **chango blanco** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 9:56 pm

plain wrote:oh and another thing..if your gonna try chago's prong idea which could actually work...dont break the prong just buy a 3 to 2 adapter..they sell them for like 50 cents...

make sure if you do this your grounded at some other place in your node or your gonna get zapped...lol

even better idea

dseir · Post by **dseir** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:06 pm

ultrasource · Post by **ultrasource** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:43 pm

I have this exact same problem and no amount of troubleshooting could alleviate it.
Line inputs are working properly so I'm running a small mixer's L/R into those for a temp fix until I can afford something of higher quality.
I know a lot of people with a working 410 but this is my second m-audio card that's exhibiting strange behavior. I've tested my former audiophile and my fw410 with both my mac and my pc so I think it's a hardware problem.

anamorphis · Post by **anamorphis** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:57 am

I'm so sorry... I forgot to let you know that I solved my problem two or three weeks ago. It was simple, the mic was the problem! It came with defect from the factory. I went with it and the FW back to the store, and after a few simple check tests we've found where the problem was, and they gave me a new one.
Problem solved! No more "sssssss", just pure clear sound.

So if anyone has the same problem, it maybe worth to check it out.