I have a real bi problem i havea home studio and i

The user manual says Phantom Powered Mic input which means you should be able to use a condenser microphone requireing Phantom Power.

The MXL 990 is an externally polarized condenser microphone. You will nee to provide 48v Phantom power to use it. Alternatively there is a USB version, the MXL 990 USB which gets it['s power from the USB port.

Make sure the Phantom Power on the Audio buddy is on. If that fails, get in touch with MXL and they will troubleshoot it with you.

Are you using the original cable for the mike? In order to use phantom power the XLR connectors have to be wired in balanced configuration. Pins 1,2 and 3 must be wired separately. If you use a cable with 1and 3 connected you could damage the phantom power supply and in some cases the microphone.

Make sure you've switched your sound input from the default (internal mic/input) to the MXL 990. This should be somewhere in the sound options.

If you're sure it's not getting power, you need to send it back.

If it is an MXL 990 Condenser that comes in the grey case with a shockmount and a black hard mount I can solve your problem. (If it is USB I know nothing about that unit).

This MXL 990 microphone MUST have 48v phantom power in order to operate. If you aren't familiar with the term phantom power read the first link:

Phantom power - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_power
MXL User Guide - http://www.mxlmics.com/support/guides.html

If yours is one of the older MXL 990's it should have an XLR connector on the bottom -
XLR Defined - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLR_connector

Your mixer (I am guessing its a Peavey, Tascam, Mackie) or something entry level like that may or may not have phantom power. I am guessing not. But if it does, it will have a switch that says 48v phantom power and most likely a green or red LED next to it to show you when its on. This mic will NOT work without phantom power.

Best suggestion: Verify that your mic is the MXL 990 Condenser, if it is it needs 48v phantom power. Check your mixer and see if it has 48v phantom power. The only computer soundcard that I know of that is used by a lot of folks is the M-Audio Delta 1010LT. It has XLR inputs but NO phantom power on it.

There's your answer.
Ray

Your other preamp does not have phantom power to supply power to the microphone. All condensor mics like this need phantom power. The Audio Buddy provides phantom power, which is why it was shipped with those condensor mics

Sounds like the frame of the microphone itself has become ungrounded. You could try VERY
carefully disassemble the mic and check for a bad ground or a bad wire connecting to the mic
body.

g'day mate.
The problem you have will relate to the big antennas in your area. Most radio stations pump more than 100,000 watts these days. So it really comes down to the shielding and what's called Radio Frequency Interference rejection of your microphones to keep this out. I would STRONGLY urge you to take the mics back and get a refund,or change them over for something else. They are VERY cheap, there is no real solution to your problem, except for better design... means spend more mullah. If you are looking for a decent low cost condenser mic, I recommend an AKG Perception. I have used AKG for years, and this mic is a great sounding low cost unit.

Hope this helps you. Nothing can be done to improve what you have, they are a cheapo item. Good Luck

regards
robotek

Luis
I guarantee you the antennas are most likely the culprit. Your only solution is to have a tech check the unit, OR purchase an inline RF filter from Radio Shack. It is also possible that you have a capacitor or other component going bad, that is causing the unit to heterodyne and become a nice front end for a radio receiver.

You do have other microphones, and they do not do this. Averages says it is most likely the microphone has an issue or its design. I have one of these MXL 990s too, and my mic began motorboating a few months ago while I was trying to record with it. It may be a quality issue with these mics. They aren't complicated though, any component electronic tech should be able to check it out.