Flat Top Waveforms in Cubase. 828mkII & 8Pre.

[INSUB]

Sometimes I get a waveform in which the top is flat. As if the upward peaks hit a brickwall limiter, but the downward peaks are normal. This occurred using Cubase SX2 with the 828mkII and 8Pre. I don't know if this is a DAW issue or hardware issue.

At first this phenomenon only occurred with two identical CAD mini condenser mics we use for drum overheads into the 8Pre connected ADAT to the 828mkII, so I thought something was wrong with those cheap mics. But, later the exact same thing happened to a Bass guitar track recorded through an ART tube preamp and into a line input in the 828mkII.

All other tracks recorded normally (peaks appear normal up & down) and simultaneously using every available input of the 8Pre & 828mkII except for the 2 mic preamps on the 828.

This happened sporadically after we added the 8Pre on a PC with WinXP SP3 and Cubase SX2 which I have used for years without issue. I have recently upgraded the same PC to Win7 64bit and Cubase Elemnts 7. I haven't recorded with the new setup long enough to know if it is still affected. But the old projects draw the waveforms the same way in Cubase Elements 7, so I think the actual files were recorded that way.

I wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this as well.

[torrentg]

Sounds like input signals could be too hot (clipping occurring before introduction to MOTU) before even reaching the MOTU. Try lowering it or them before recording as a test.

[INSUB]

Thanks. I'll check that out at next band practice, maybe this Sunday. I wouldn't think that this would be the case with the condenser mics, but definitely could be the case with the bass guitar going through the external preamp.

I appreciate your feedback.

[INSUB]

This issue definitely has nothing to do with clipping or overloading the inputs. Waveforms are still flat topped even at low levels.

I thought I had resolved this issue by turning the phantom power off then back on for the condenser mics and adjusting the settings of the tube preamp for the bass guitar. Afterwards, the tracks recorded with normal waveforms for the rest of the day.

However, when i returned for the next session and began recording the flat tops were back. The bassist swore he didn't touch the preamp, and I switched the phantom off and back on again for the mics, but no luck. I even unplugged the cables from the interface and put them back in, but that didn't help either.

I am wondering now if the culprit is just faulty/cheap cables. I am going to try some different cables next session. Also, I never checked another DAW to see if it was the software or hardware causing the issue. I may check that next session too. Come to think of it, I am using Windows 7 64 bit and Cubase 7 Elements now, so it's probably hardware in some way.