Why does my microphone sound tinny when I turn up my output on my Audio Interface?

Question

thank you in advance for any help you can give me!

So I have a Samson 03 Condenser Mic plugged in to my Sonos Audiobox USB 96, but the problem is that the mic starts to sound really tinny and weird, like there's some kinda phaser on it, once I try to add what's outputting from Garageband into my monitor headphones.

With the mix knob swung all the way to input, I sing into the mic and it sounds exactly as it should be. However as soon as I turn the mix knob to add some of Garageband's output into my headphones, it starts to sound terrible. I have to record vocals with no vocal monitor going to my headphones, otherwise it sounds like this ha.

This is happening with my Seinheisser HD 206 Headphones as well as my Seinheisser CX80S earphones (used just to see if this was a recurring problem).

Sorry if this is obvious, still kind of a beginner at sound recording/tech. Thanks again!

Answer 1

Most likely, Garageband is letting you listen to the inputs. When you mix the direct signal from the mic with the one from your DAW, you're effectively getting your voice twice. However, it doesn't just get louder, because the signal going through your DAW has more latency than the direct monitoring. Adding a delayed copy of a signal to itself leads to a very uneven frequency response. This effect is called comb filtering and probably accounts for the tinny sound you're hearing.

You'll need to decide whether you want monitoring done in the DAW or directly on the interface. The former is more flexible, because it allows you to hear yourself with effects and offers more control over the monitor mix, but is a little harder to set up and generally has more latency.