[Tom Christie]

I should clarify – sound is coming through as it should, except that it’s compromised by the intermittent pops and clicks. Phantom power is activated only on the Golden Age, as it should be. The reason for the external preamp is added tone colour/warmth – the Steinberg’s inbuilt pre was giving me a sound that was somewhat cold and digital to my ears, and the external pre has gone a long way towards remedying that.

I had been recording with this exact setup for a little over a month and this problem didn’t present itself. I’m almost certain the issue is coming from the mic itself – as I said, I’ve switched out all the other components and it still occurs. It’s been raining a lot here over the last few days – could increased humidity be causing it?