SilverBlueMedallion
BINGO!  I was singing into the wrong side of the mic!  (how embarassing).
 
-Adam

I have to say Adam, that took some kahunas to admit! lol
 
I'd like to add something, but it seems the guys here are doing an excellent job of working the problem with you. I do believe these Cakewalk forums have the best members on the net!
 

jpetersen
So it's either the phantom power from the interface 
or, and most likely, the mic itself is faulty.
 

yea im afraid of that, i bought the mic brand new but it's been sitting around for a month, not sure Guitar Center will take it back.  First I will do the testing though.
 
Also, does it matter if I plug in the mic and THEN turn on phantom power?  Could that damage the mic?  I've been doing that and it always generates a loud pop.

joel77

SilverBlueMedallion
BINGO!  I was singing into the wrong side of the mic!  (how embarassing).
 
-Adam

I have to say Adam, that took some kahunas to admit! lol
 
I'd like to add something, but it seems the guys here are doing an excellent job of working the problem with you. I do believe these Cakewalk forums have the best members on the net!
 

lol, i dont mind being an idiot publicly lol.
 
what did you want to add?
 

SilverBlueMedallion

jpetersen
So it's either the phantom power from the interface 
or, and most likely, the mic itself is faulty.
 

yea im afraid of that, i bought the mic brand new but it's been sitting around for a month, not sure Guitar Center will take it back.  First I will do the testing though.
 
Also, does it matter if I plug in the mic and THEN turn on phantom power?  Could that damage the mic?  I've been doing that and it always generates a loud pop.

No, you're doing it correctly - ALWAYS plug the mic in before switching on Phantom Power
Likewise, ALWAYS switch PP off before disconnecting the mic.
 
But....... you shouldn't be getting a loud pop, I never get that with any of my condenser mics.
 
Does it make any difference if you reduce the mic gain to zero before connecting/switching on? Does the pop disappear?

oh really?  ALWAYS plug the mic in before switching the phantom power on?  I can't be sure i ALWAYS did that... is it possible to ruin the mic otherwise?
 
I will have to answer the rest when I get home.   Thank you!

Possible enough to make a habit out of doing it the right way, but not super likely. The mic sounded completely fine otherwise too so it really seems like some kind of electrical or wiring problem to me. Have you tried a different cable or different input on your interface yet?

Sanderxpander
Possible enough to make a habit out of doing it the right way, but not super likely. The mic sounded completely fine otherwise too so it really seems like some kind of electrical or wiring problem to me. Have you tried a different cable or different input on your interface yet?

 
yes i tried 2 different cables and both inputs.   
 
funny, there are no warnings in the mic or the audio interface about which order to plug things into.  I would think that if it was so important, there would be a big warning in the manuals.

Well I'm officially out of ideas. It's a serious issue though. I guess I'd try to eliminate each item as the cause in turn. Preamp/input and cable were easy but you really should try another mic and/or interface or even a different room or computer. Now that you know what to look for it should be easy enough to spot. Maybe even take interface and mic back to the shop with a laptop? You only need a very basic recording to see the issue.

SilverBlueMedallion
Also, does it matter if I plug in the mic and THEN turn on phantom power?  Could that damage the mic?  I've been doing that and it always generates a loud pop.

That's the way you are supposed to do it. Ideally the 48V supply slowly ramps up, but evidently not all manufacturers take the time. Besides, when you are doing a live show mics get plugged and unplugged - nobody bothers. Modern microphones are robust enough to handle it, but if the level is turned up high then a loud plop could damage a speaker cone on a high-power system.
 
A recently designed mic like yours will not get damaged. It works from as low as 12V and is rated up to 52V, just to show how tolerant these things are nowadays.

This is what SPAN is showing: