How to us a Sennheiser e965 wired mic/ Alesis IODock/ IPAD 2

[anamarias]

I inserted the IPAD 2 into the Alesis IO Dock. I then plugged the power supply, XLR cable for the wired mic into the INPUT 2. Opened DAW app and no Sound coming out of my heapdonhes I use for monitoring (also plugged into the dock). Although it is passing audio (looking at the level of the input and gain.

I made sure all knobs (volume) were all up, but no sound still. I turned on the Phantom Power and right away I heard a Echoish-POP (i hope this did not damage my mic at all). I heard some sound but it had distortion and was not clear or enough. I am confused and don't know the basics. I hope someone can help me out.

I don't even know if I have to choose "Auto Inpute or Input Monitor" on the App. I am not that familiar. I have recorded before with a Yeti with no problems. I hope my mic did not get affected in anyway by the POP_ECHOish sound form switching Phantom Power on.

Hope someone can help me out. Thank you so much!

[pwnified]

On the back of the ioDock is a switch called "Direct", with it on, you will hear audio echoed from the inputs directly to the outputs. You should turn off "Input Monitor" in the menu of MultiTrack with this configuration.

-- or --

Turn off the Direct switch on the ioDock and turn ON the Input Monitor in multitrack. With this configuration, you can add effects to the armed track and hear them in real time through the headphones. It's a bit more latency than direct monitoring, but not enough to notice when the buffer size is low (128 samples is barely noticeable, use the Settings app to change MultiTrack settings)

[anamarias]

On the back of the ioDock is a switch called "Direct", with it on, you will hear audio echoed from the inputs directly to the outputs. You should turn off "Input Monitor" in the menu of MultiTrack with this configuration.

-- or --

Turn off the Direct switch on the ioDock and turn ON the Input Monitor in multitrack. With this configuration, you can add effects to the armed track and hear them in real time through the headphones. It's a bit more latency than direct monitoring, but not enough to notice when the buffer size is low (128 samples is barely noticeable, use the Settings app to change MultiTrack settings)

Thanks for your response.

I was able to make the mic work with just turning on phantom power and auto and input monitor checked both. it sounds fine but i notice when i sing closely to my wired sennheiser condenser, it is distorted when i belt out. can i adjust this because i am a person who sings closely to the mic. it sounds weird i think the eq or compressor needs some adjustments i don't know exactly how to though. i dont understand what the knobs are.. but i dong think its because of the mic but rather the settings. it is a condenser wired mic from sennheiser and when i sing on stage with it, it produces sound well when i sing closely... i don't know if its because of the settings or what. i hope you can help me step by step

[martygras]

Since the Sennheiser e965 is a large diaphragm condenser it is going to be extra sensitive to begin with, but they have some switches to help out with this.

e 695 Features:
♪ Switchable pick-up pattern (cardioid / super-cardioid)
♪ Low-cut switch, which reduces ambient noise, rumble , and wind noise
♪ Switchable pre-attenuation (-10 dB) accommodates singers with powerful voices

First thing is that since it is a condenser mic, it requires phantom power just to work.
If you are going to use this in the studio, I would suggest the following:
1. Switch to use the "cardioid" setting. This will allow you to move around a little without affecting the volume and tone of the vocals as much.
2. Use the low cut switch. It removes frequencies that are outside of your vocal spectrum and allows your vocals to sound more clear and less muddy.
3. If you are a strong singer and like to sing in close proximity of the mic then use the "-10dB" switch. This, in conjunction with the input volume knob on the IO Dock should take care of the distortion.
If you have some softer passages on the vocals you can use the compressor to even out the volume differences on the track.
Another trick is to record the soft vocals on one track. Go back and record the loud vocals on another track. Then you can mix them down with effects to a stereo track for the final mixdown.

I hope that helps.