Lag on Node NT1A

LZ Holy Narwhal · August 26, 2020

So this wasn't a problem before I moved everything, but I tried a bunch of stuff to remedy the issues.

I have a Rode NT1A, powered through the stock XLR cable into a Focusrite solo. Had it for a decent amount of time, but I didn't use either from about March to now, since my desk at my home didn't work as well as the one in my college apartment. I was told through some of the discord chats I'm in that it can be kind of laggy and can sound robotic at times. I don't know if that's a microphone issue or an Internet issue, as when I unplug the mic and then plug back in, it seems to fix itself to a certain extent. IT's not to a point where everyone hates talking to me, but still is noticeable. I feel like this shouldn't be happening on this mic, but I wanted to see if there was something I could do to fix it. Can't find anything.

Would I need to get a new audio overlay? (Also am plugging in my Sennheiser HD 650s through there, so I dunno if that should affect anything.

The Flying Sloth · August 27, 2020

Try recording your voice with audacity and see if it's still bugged for you, if it is then it may be an interface/driver issue, if not it could be a discord/internet issue. Being that the mic itself is an analogue device I see no reason it should sound digitally distorted like a robot filter or something similar so the cause is likely a software one.

LZ Holy Narwhal · August 27, 2020

I was unplugging the mic itself to get it to work. I checked and moved any wires that could've interfered with the XLR cable (it wasn't really any, maybe just the headphone cable) but I had to wrap the wire a bit because it was too long and my PC itself is not very fire from the interface.

Definitely could be the Internet - I tried in Audacity, and while it recorded itself as a mono recording so I could only hear out of my left ear (Solo apparently is a mono recorder) it lagged at first, but I unplugged the microphone and plugged it back in and it worked fine for the most part. Attached some testing audio so y'all could listen if it helps.

This wasn't an issue before, but for some reason our wifi at the college apartments got much worse, so that could be it? I'm still hooked up with a Powerline adapter so I'm not sure if that affects anything. Thank you both for your help so far - any other recommendations out of this?

Little side note as well - I was looking at getting the Schiit DAC/amp stack Magni and Modi 3 I believe? Had looked at the 2 versions for a while but now I have some money. Any recommendations for specific combos as well, or replacements for the Solo if deemed necessary?

Testing Audio.mp3