Problem recording bass

MartinBush

Hi all

I am having problems recording bass. I think I have tried various settings for volumes and gains, and different recording packages, but I am still having issues.

I like to record in Audacity as a sort of sketchpad - it's quick and easy when I want to just record an idea, but the bass is driving me mad. Regardless of whether I use Audacity or Reaper I get a sort of "ringing" sound. If I record quietly it's OK, but at what I'd consider loud enough to be useable I get that sort of tinnitus type sound.

As far as I can tell, nothing is clipping or overloading.

I am going via a Notepad mixer to a Presonus interface. I use the mixer for convenience so I can have mics and other kit plugged in. All channels not in use are turned down. I get the same problem if I go in to the interface direct or even if I mic an amp.

Hopefully these illustrate the issue.

Recorded in Audacity: https://on.soundcloud.com/bdTfB
Recorded in Reaper: 

Is there a setting I am missing?

Winny_Pooh

Ground loop maybe. 
Try direct into the interface and a different cable. Do you have dimmers or other interference? Try turning 180 degrees from where you usually sit.

MartinBush

I will try that later on. It's a single coil pickup so I am aware of the noise it can create, but didn't think that was the issue as the noise seems to accompany each note rather than be a constant.

Danny1969

It sounds like it's very compressed ... are you clipping it on the mixer before it hits the audio interface ? 

MartinBush

I will go back this evening and try again - both starting from scratch with levels and also going direct into the interface. The mixer itself doesn't have meters, but there's no warning LEDs flashing - it also sounds fine in the headphones which I have plugged in to the interface (as in when I just play the instrument rather than listen back).

Stratavarious

I use an active DI box to my interfaces to get best bass tones.  Don’t overload the input though.   Sort it in the mix and DAW later or turn down rest when recording.

Does your monitoring system have enough bottom end?  

What bass is it?  Not active is it?

octatonic

Danny1969 said:

It sounds like it's very compressed ... are you clipping it on the mixer before it hits the audio interface ? 

This.
It sounds like it is clipping the input of something.

Either the mixer or the audio interface input.

MartinBush

I will spare everyone another audio clip, but I have tried quickly going direct into the interface and got the same result. 

I will try again later starting from scratch with all the levels.

The bass is a Squier Bronco. Not active - just stock.

octatonic

Maybe make a video with your phone?
In as much detail as possible.

MartinBush

Will do @octatonic when I get some time to do it properly.

Is there likely to be any significance in the laptop I am using? My understanding is that an interface bypasses the soundcard, so I hope not. However it's a HP G72 running Windows 7. I just use it because it's all I have/ can afford for the moment. And if the problem lies elsewhere I won't worry about it.

octatonic

If you are using the Presonus interface then it is only the headroom of the interface (and the mixer) that you need to worry about.

Assuming you have that selected in Audacity as your input device.
The PC's internal sound card is irrelevant.

MartinBush

Thanks @octatonic - yes it's selected in whatever package I use. I have Cakewalk too, but that won't run properly on this machine.

MartinBush

I may be making some progress but I need to step back as I am starting to hear the noise when it's not present now

I have tried a number of things that I will list in a day or so when I have stopped hearing that ringing. One thing I've done is lower the bass pickup. This may have helped or it may just have lowered the volume. I did that as I couldn't see any clipping or overload anywhere in the chain from bass to screen. 

I will stop now before I start doing completely random things...

MartinBush

I may have solved the problem, although I am not conversant enough with digital stuff to know exactly why.

However, I found that the sample settings of the PreSonus and DAWs were not the same. The PS was set at 48k, the DAWs at 44k (or thereabouts). 

Could that be it? It seems to sound right now.

Would that explain why the sound was fine in my headphones out from the PS but not when listening back to the recorded file?

If it's fixed I also wonder if the reason I wasn't really getting the problem on vocals is the different frequencies etc involved - the problem is pronounced on bass, and could perhaps be there on other sources but not as noticeable.

Later on I will try making a quick song recording with drum machine, bass, guitar and vocals and see how it goes.

In the meantime I'd welcome any thoughts on the settings.