John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi there!
This are my specs:
- Recording Room: 2,6m x 2,4m x 2m (8,6ft x 8ft x 6,6ft)
- Floor: Carpet
- Ceiling: Absorption material
- Walls: Pine Wood
- There are some panels attached to walls that allow to absorb waves and a curtain in the back

Gear:
- DIGI 001
- PreAmp DBX 286A (Condenser, not tube)
- Mackie Console 1642-VLZ3
- M-Audio BX8a and Yamaha MSP3 monitors
- PC: MSI K8N Diamond Plus, AMD FX-57, 2GB RAM DUAL, 300GB and 500GB HD, 128MB Video Card.
- Rode NT2-A, SM-58, SM-57; Sennheisser e835 Mics

This is my problem:
Every sound that I record from my room is very thin, I mean, I can't hear the real sound or something that could reach that level... very low presence os bass and bright in every sound taht I could record: brasses, woodwinds, vocals, percussion, etc...
Even Basses that are recorded directly to my DBX sound to dark and thin!!!

I believe that is not a problem with my room... Every sound are going into Analog Inputs of my 001. I don't use SPDIF or ADAT options 'cause haven't any.

Some one told me that DIGI A/D converters are not good and that couyld be my problem... solution? get some A/D converter (Rosetta 200, etc).

But, could an external ADAT help me to deal with this?

I mean, what is the main problem with my studio? Why am I getting this sounds so thin???

I'd thank to anybody that could help me to solve this inconvenience

dagodoy wrote:
Every sound are going into Analog Inputs of my 001.


How are the sounds being routed back out to your powered monitors?

Well, from the DIGI 001, the MAIN output go to a DBX EQ and finally to the Mackie Console. From the console they go to M-Audio. The EQ is reset and it is not moved!

I tried connecting the monitors direct to DIGI output and the sound goes the same.

I made a record and play on my car, home stereo, etc... and the sound is the same: THIN!

The digi 001 pre's, are not very good. I used them for a few years, and always had a thin sound as well. Use some type of outboard mic pre, such as API, Telefunken, etc. Second, you could try using other converters and use the light pipe input. I also know Mackie's in general, although many records have been recorded on them, just don't quite have the sound, vintage gear has. But mostly, having a good front end, is important, such as pre's, mics, cables, and acoustics of the room. And many other factors.

If you're sure that your monitors and EQ aren't lying to you, you may have a bad Digi 001. Given their age, a Digi 001 probably isn't worth investing a ton of money into an expensive repair, but hopefully examining some of the things below you'll find a simpler & cheaper fix.

Here are some questions I would ask to help diagnose the problem:
•Do you get the same results regardless of which of the 8 analog ins you use? (the 2 XLR / combination 1/4 connections on the front are prone to problems.
•Are you using balanced or unbalanced cables?
•Are you sure all of your cabling is in-phase?
•Does the headphone jack on the front of the Digi 001 sound thin when you're monitoring the signal going in? or just on the playback?

I've been using a Digi 001, in conjunction with the ProTools LE 5.1 software that came with it, since right after they came out and mine has worked great and produced some very good sounding tracks. I've fed the Digi 001's analog inputs from the direct outs or subgroups of a Mackie 8-bus mixer, a Soundcraft Live8, and also a Yamaha 01v - all with good results. We bypass the mixer and run through Focusrite GreenRange or Avalon pre's on the most critical tracks, just for that little something extra. It's true the Digi 001 doesn't have the greatest AD convertors in the world, but I don't think they're any worse than those on the older ADAT machines, or an average CD player's DA.

I've used the digital ins and outs via the ADAT lightpipe connections - all with very good results. The only weirdness I ever experienced with it was random snapping sounds when transferring ADAT tracks to / from ProTools through the Digi 001. (You have to make sure ProTools is in control of the digital sync.) Other than that, and a minor problem with the front-panel XLRs that needed resoldered, no issues at all with mine.

Good luck, I'll check back to see if you find anything.