Motu M2 preamp producing a poor sound through my se electronics X1A mic

[Greefus]

Hello everyone I'm new on this forum and this is my first post.. so I build a small home studio in my house I bought a new motu m2 audio interface and se electronics X1A microphone I use it with mixcraft pro studio 9 with windows 10 pc but the problem is when I record my voice sounds muffled and a bit distorted my voice is like a radio and it lacks headroom I don't understand because I know a guy who uses a motu m2 and his sound is clean and has a lot of headroom but mine sound so bad I went to the sound system I selected the motu m2 as main input and output did everything but it still sound the same I even bought a new XLR cable but nothing what can I do ? Did anyone had the same problem ??
This is a short I put on YouTube

So you guys can hear the difference from my recording and the recording of the other guy using the motu m2

 

[CuriousAli]

Do you use headphones at the same time? I have heard Motu M2's mic preamp gets noisy when headphones are used, although I wonder if as much as you are experiencing, your case might be a case of power mismatch or gain.

 

[kemmler3D]

Did you turn on phantom power? The mic won't work right without it.

 

[Greefus]

Do you use headphones at the same time? I have heard Motu M2's mic preamp gets noisy when headphones are used, although I wonder if as much as you are experiencing, your case might be a case of power mismatch or gain.

Yes I mean I plug my headphones jack in the interface and then I record while listen to the beat at the same time then I listen to what I recorded and try to add effect it sound so distorted and muffled and just bad like it has no stereo image on it or headroom

 

[Greefus]

Did you turn on phantom power? The mic won't work right without it.

Yes I made sure phantom power is on

 

[CuriousAli]

Yes I mean I plug my headphones jack in the interface and then I record while listen to the beat at the same time then I listen to what I recorded and try to add effect it sound so distorted and muffled and just bad like it has no stereo image on it or headroom

I know it isn't practical for you but just for testing to see if it is related, can you try with headphones disconnected too? To rule that out.
And I'm not a Windows user but have heard about the importance of ASIO drivers there, you are using that right?

 

[Greefus]

I know it isn't practical for you but just for testing to see if it is related, can you try with headphones disconnected too? To rule that out.
And I'm not a Windows user but have heard about the importance of ASIO drivers there, you are using that right?

Okay I will try doing that tomorrow it midnight here.. and yes I use asio driver on mixcraft 9 please see my first thread above I just added a link on YouTube it an audio sample from my recording to the recording of another guy who uses the same interface listen to it please so you can see what I'm talking about

 

[DVinylfan]

Unless the cables you're using are damaged it's probably a software issue. Switch off/Switch on, check for updates and firmware upgrades..

 

[Greefus]

Unless the cables you're using are damaged it's probably a software issue. Switch off/Switch on, check for updates and firmware upgrade

 

[Greefus]

I bought a new stagg XLR microphone cable 2 days ago but okay I will try to check for updates and upgrades

 

[AnalogSteph]

Providing a finished music recording to diagnose a mic / interface related issue is like providing a steak and asking for the cow's living conditions. There's autotune and an instrumental on this for heaven's sake. There could be anything going on in terms of processing in between. Way too many variables.

If we're supposed to be hearing anything, you'll need to provide a raw, unprocessed recording, either as a zipped 128-192 kbps mono MP3 / AAC or similar (which would attach here) or as a video with a screen capture of your DAW showing audio levels. (Things do sound a bit sharp, so I suspect there may be some clipping going on in addition to the mic's slight high-end boost around 8 kHz. Note: When using dynamic compression, a de-esser is often needed to keep sibilance at bay.)

As a rule of thumb, set audio interface input gain such that recorded levels peak around -12 dBFS when singing. Project and audio interface sample rate should be 48 kHz minimum, 96 kHz preferred, with 24 or 32 bit input.

 

[DVDdoug]

and it lacks headroom

Analog to digital converters go up to 0dBFS and there is no "headroom" above that Keep the meters out of the red. and you should be OK. DACs (playback and monitoring) are also hard-limited and they will clip if you "try" to go over. Nothing bad happens when you get close to 0dB but we normally leave headroom for unexpected peaks. You can turn it up in your DAW after recording.

I believe your mic is a directional side-address mic. Make sure you are singing into the front side, not the end or back. (I think you're doing it right because it doesn't sound that bad.

With microphones, most of the difference in "sound quality" is frequency response and that can be tweaked with EQ. Directional mics also have a Proximity Effect which boosts the bass when you get close to the mic.

 

[Greefus]

Providing a finished music recording to diagnose a mic / interface related issue is like providing a steak and asking for the cow's living conditions. There's autotune and an instrumental on this for heaven's sake. There could be anything going on in terms of processing in between. Way too many variables.

If we're supposed to be hearing anything, you'll need to provide a raw, unprocessed recording, either as a zipped 128-192 kbps mono MP3 / AAC or similar (which would attach here) or as a video with a screen capture of your DAW showing audio levels. (Things do sound a bit sharp, so I suspect there may be some clipping going on in addition to the mic's slight high-end boost around 8 kHz. Note: When using dynamic compression, a de-esser is often needed to keep sibilance at bay.)

As a rule of thumb, set audio interface input gain such that recorded levels peak around -12 dBFS when singing. Project and audio interface sample rate should be 48 kHz minimum, 96 kHz preferred, with 24 or 32 bit input.

Thanks for your advices.. but the thing is it sounds like crap before even I start mixing and when I mix it makes it worse with that radio or fliter on my voice and I don't know where it comes from when you hear the other guy his voice on the preamp sounds warm and clean while he didn't even mix it well but it still pleasant but mine doesn't sound like that I updated the firmware like someone here told me yesterday but still the same and the vu meter helps me to not clip i can see that am not clipping even on my daw but the sound just lack something i don't know why

 

[Greefus]

Unless the cables you're using are damaged it's probably a software issue. Switch off/Switch on, check for updates and firmware upgrades..

i actually checked the firmware and just realite that i did not even install it i just installed the driver but forgot about the firmware now i installed the firmware i did an update but the problem still persist my voice just sound like it has a filter radio on it without even processing am even starting to think that maybe i have a faulty microphone

 

[kemmler3D]

Post a raw / dry recording so it's easier to diagnose the problem.

 

[Greefus]

Post a raw / dry recording so it's easier to diagnose the problem.

Okay will try to do that

 

[Greefus]

Update: I returned the M2 they gave me the Motu M4 and it still sounds the same I think my microphone has a problem but it surprising because I bought it in 2022 and never used it was in my suitcase since cause I didn't have an interface to use it with at the moment so I'm just lost

Hello everyone I'm new on this forum and this is my first post.. so I build a small home studio in my house I bought a new motu m2 audio interface and se electronics X1A microphone I use it with mixcraft pro studio 9 with windows 10 pc but the problem is when I record my voice sounds muffled and a bit distorted my voice is like a radio and it lacks headroom I don't understand because I know a guy who uses a motu m2 and his sound is clean and has a lot of headroom but mine sound so bad I went to the sound system I selected the motu m2 as main input and output did everything but it still sound the same I even bought a new XLR cable but nothing what can I do ? Did anyone had the same problem ??
This is a short I put on YouTube

So you guys can hear the difference from my recording and the recording of the other guy using the motu m2

 

[Greefus]

I know it isn't practical for you but just for testing to see if it is related, can you try with headphones disconnected too? To rule that out.
And I'm not a Windows user but have heard about the importance of ASIO drivers there, you are using that right?

Hello bro I just wanted to give you an update cause you tried to help me last time I tried everything and my voice still sounded unpowered on the M2 so I called the shop who sold me that they took it and gave me a motu M4 as a replacement and I plugged the same microphone on the M4 and it still sounds the exact same like the motu m2 I returned so do you think it my microphone which has a problem ? I want to buy a new microphone but at this point i'm scared asf that it might sound the same so I'm really lost all I want is to record songs with the motu cause I love the sound quality so much and I don't have the money to buy an interface that cost more than that

 

[CuriousAli]

Hello bro I just wanted to give you an update cause you tried to help me last time I tried everything and my voice still sounded unpowered on the M2 so I called the shop who sold me that they took it and gave me a motu M4 as a replacement and I plugged the same microphone on the M4 and it still sounds the exact same like the motu m2 I returned so do you think it my microphone which has a problem ? I want to buy a new microphone but at this point i'm scared asf that it might sound the same so I'm really lost all I want is to record songs with the motu cause I love the sound quality so much and I don't have the money to buy an interface that cost more than that

Hi,
I think you can post a raw voice recording so people here that know their stuff much better than me can help.
As for mic, if you can return them if they don't work as expected, they are worth a try.

 

[Greefus]

Hi,
I think you can post a raw voice recording so people here that know their stuff much better than me can help.
As for mic, if you can return them if they don't work as expected, they are worth a try.