Where's my input signal in Pro Tools via DM-4800?

[myrideisa]

Mac-Mini 16g Ram
macOS ver 10.14.6
Pro Tools ver 2020.9.1
IF-FW/DM mkII
Firmware ver 1.10 (88685)
Driver ver. 1.30f10 (188754)
Status: Locked
32 channels in
32 channels out
DM-4800

Hello Guys,

I'm hoping and hoping that I can get some help here because I don't see anywhere else to go. After spending some time this afternoon with tech support at Sweetwater I've been left with this forum to get some help/ideas as to what is happening (or not) with the audio not going into Pro Tools so I can record. I'm getting very good signal on the Tascam meter bridge but nothing in Pro Tools. Two days ago I decided to try out my Eleven Rack to use as a mic pre-amp. In the midst of the set-up it directed me that I needed the latest driver and editor to be downloaded and installed...so I did. Worked fine. I can now put the editor on the monitor through Pro Tools and adjust parameters from there. Cool. But...when I went to check the mic through the pre-amp the problem presented itself. No signal through the Firewire ( I assume). Now, I get signal from Pro Tools to the DM-4800 so I still can mix. I just can't record audio. Same thing when the mic is plugged directly into the DM-4800.

First, the Tech Support guy at Sweetwater insists that there should be no driver conflict between the Eleven Rack and the FW card. Is he correct? He arrived at the conclusion that he probably couldn't help. Something happened at about the same time as the Eleven Rack install so I'm tying that action together that resulted in my current problem. Last night I did a complete system re-set in the Mac using Time Machine and took everything back to Sunday prior to messing with the Eleven Rack. No progress. No audio. I've confirmed the channel on the board is set-up correctly as I'm getting signal from the mic.

Does anybody have a clue as what I'm up against or what happened? My fear and hope is that it is something that is so incredibly simple that I'll end up embarrassed. Right now I'd take that in a heartbeat. My biggest fear is that I've just witnessed the death of my DM-4800 (because of the FW).

 

[myrideisa]

"My fear and hope is that it is something that is so incredibly simple that I'll end up embarrassed."

The above just happened. Never mind. incredibly simple. Idiot on display here. Jeez, I wonder how I can even put on slip-on shoes in the morning.

 

[Arjan P]

Good for you, but now we're all wondering: What was the issue?
Not looking for your embarrassment, but well, you know..

 

[-mjk-]

@myrideisa it happens. To everyone. Any engineer that says differently is not being truthful, lol. It takes character to admit when it happens, and you just displayed a boatload of character. Your mistake might just point someone else in the right direction (that is, if you post the details).

 

[myrideisa]

I’ll have to pass on “what or why” because it’s late. And, I want to re-check on how I messed up but that’s tomorrow. I’ll come back here and give an update. I will say hrs and hrs were spent trying to fix the issue only because I didn’t think I had to check a step because I “knew” I had done it.

 

[myrideisa]

Ok.. Back to explain what I didn't do. It was stupid. Thankfully I didn't have anyone else in the studio to record after having driven 20 miles to get here. Anyway.... I didn't have the input level turned up on the recording channel. That's it. That's all. I was so freeking sure that I had that matter taken care of I didn't check it. Why didn't I diagnose the problem? See previous sentence. I've done over 200 vocal/guitar recordings (I know that's not a lot compared to some or most on here) and never ever did something like this. Still feel like an idiot and will for a long time. If I didn't love this stuff so much I would have pulled the plug on this life and moved on to be something else. Never, ever take anything for granted. And finally....I guess....be fully accepting that more mistakes will be made and most of those will be simple mistakes. After all these many years on this earth that's a hard one to deal with still.

 

[Arjan P]

Ahww... The fact that this sounds very familiar to me should tell you that I certainly have been in similar situations.. Well, at least you only wasted your own time

 

[skier]

Ha! If that's all you did, you're likely better than most of us. When I think back at my own mistakes, sometimes I'm surprised I've survived this long. A few months ago I completed a drone I had designed and built and went out for a maiden voyage. I powered it up, started to raise the throttle and it made a very fast and violent flip upside down cutting grass and shoving it into the motor vents - Ugghh!. I tried it several more times with the same result. I brought it back into the shop and found I had inadvertently mounted the Flight Controller board facing to the rear. These things have gyros and accelerometers on board and must have the proper orientation to work, but there are some dummies who don't always get it right. And that's just one mistake.

The reason we appreciate the sharing of mistakes here is that they can be a big help to any of us should we encounter the same issue, especially those new to this passion. And at the very least, they're worth a good laugh, which we all appreciate, and even need occasionally.

So, thank you for describing the problem!

Jerry

 

[myrideisa]

Welllll.... I own the Mavic Platinum. Over two years now and haven't had an accident yet. But..that's out of sheer luck and actually not flying as much probably you or others. My time's coming I'm sure. I would never ever try to build my own. Especially now that I realize I need to spend even more time in front of this mixer.

And actually I did waste someone else's time. Tech Support at Sweetwater. Those guys are crazy genius at figuring stuff out. The guy I talked to was a programmer for many years for Pro Tools at Avid so I'm guessing I confused the heck out of him because he did what he knew would work. Of course, he didn't count on my "inexperience". I think it was about 40 minutes time that he could have spent helping somebody else. ..

Thnx guys. I do feel a bit better from reading your take on this. Sincerely.

 

[-mjk-]

Look at it this way @myrideisa, at least you were trying to record something that was plugged in. I'm not admitting anything - I'm just saying .

 

[skier]

Common MJK, give us more details. I don't want to be the only one admitting recurring dumb behavior here.

 

[-mjk-]

I used to leave a 441 plugged into channel 32 on the API, because I never used all 32 channels for tracking. Since it's a dynamic mic, a simple press of the PFL button and I could hear the artist in the studio when we were tracking stuff like guitars. Once, I wasn't hearing anything. Checked the gain; ok. Checked the patchbay; nothing in that channel. Tried patching from 32 to 31; nothing. Assigned it to a track and sourced the input; nothing. By now, the artist was getting frustrated. I went into the studio and the XLR was laying on the floor next to the mic patch panel. The other engineer had unplugged it.

 

[skier]

Thanks @mjk! That kind of thing is typical and we all do it, or in your case, discover it. If it was a new installation, we'd check everything thoroughly first. But once we've set something up (or think we have), we presume things we shouldn't and are less thorough than we'd normally be. And at other times, we just make a mistake, or for some of us (whom will not be identified), we actually do something dumb. NOT ME mind you, but some of us....