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Old 02-10-2019, 01:26 PM   #1
sjs94704
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Default What to do about this sound when I arm my MIC for recording?

Hey, Everyone.

I took all the plugins off of my vocal track.
At the moment, when I arm the MIC for recording, the sound of this included file is whai I get and was wondering if anyone can offer ideas on ways to turn if off or down?

Link to audio file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/icc94ljykq...tatic.wav?dl=0
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Old 02-10-2019, 05:08 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sjs94704 View Post
Hey, Everyone.

I took all the plugins off of my vocal track.
At the moment, when I arm the MIC for recording, the sound of this included file is whai I get and was wondering if anyone can offer ideas on ways to turn if off or down?

Link to audio file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/icc94ljykq...tatic.wav?dl=0
Hi Steven, what kind of a mic is it?

The brand name?
the type, is it condenser or dynamic?
What Kind of connectors does it have (1/4inch or XML 3 pin)?

Also again, what interface do you have?

I should add that I've made my own mic cords for many years and have had a few occasions when I bought
cord of bad quality. Also the plugs are important, I've always used "Switch Craft" and never had a problem
with them.

I know you're not wanting to build your own cords, I just want you to know that that can be a problem too.
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Old 02-10-2019, 05:14 PM   #3
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I have a presonus ASUDIOBOX 96 USB interface and a Behringer B-1 condenser MIC. Shown below:

If I am not mistaken the cabnle is called XLR ....

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Old 02-10-2019, 06:26 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sjs94704 View Post
I have a presonus ASUDIOBOX 96 USB interface and a Behringer B-1 condenser MIC. Shown below:

If I am not mistaken the cabnle is called XLR ....
Okay Steven, the first thing to do is probably get yourself a good quality mic cable. I say that because,
what I heard on your mp3, it has a great deal of low noise as well as mids and highs, slightly more in
the lows. Also there are the sudden crackles here and there which could be from the cord getting moved
around slightly, which would indicate the possibility of poor shielding or poor soldering.

A good quality microphone cord isn't that cheap, but it is probably the cheapest way to start eliminating
the problem. At least when you're all done, you'll have a good cable that you can eliminate as being the
problem.

If that don't fix it then we'll have to move on to step 2, heh heh, what ever that may be.

Keep us informed what happens.

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Old 02-10-2019, 06:56 PM   #5
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Well, I suppose your right about the cable and what I am about to say is a no-brainer...

I have had this B-1 Microphone for over 10 years and as far as I know I have been using the same XLR cable the entire time. Until you just mentioned it, I had no idea that the cable could be an issue. As a total newbie to equipment like this, a cable is a cable.... if the MIC fires up when I turn on the phantom power.... DONE!

I will check with my guy at Sweetwater and he can probably hook me up with some good quality cables.

BTW, I have been having a few feiends come by my spot to sing with me, so I got myself a seconf condenser MIC and it shoul be here tomorrow !!!

Here is a link to the one I decided on as the recommendation by my sales associate:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...ser-microphone

He also sold me the following cable:

XLR15 15' Excellines Mic Cable XLRF-XLRM - is what it is listed as on my order.

Here is the the link to the cable I'm getting:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...-cable-15-foot

I am open to suggestions for better cables. Since I now have two MICS it would be cool to get two colors of some kind to easily tell the apart!

I have a Sweetwater credit account so if you can find one on their website and post the link I will look to see if it is in my budget!
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Old 02-11-2019, 09:57 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sjs94704 View Post
I am open to suggestions for better cables. Since I now have two MICS it would be cool to get two colors of some kind to easily tell the apart!
Hi Steven, actually you are in pretty good hands with Sweetwater, I've been dealing with therm for over 25 years and I trust them.

I assume you will not get a cable with the new mic your're getting. If that's the case I would get 2 cables.

There wasn't much about the cable you linked to, the only spec is that it was 24 gauge which is good. It didn't say anything about the
shielding or how many split wires per lead wire which can be important, but I trust all that will be good.

Just a little trivia so that you know, the reason for the number of split wires is because the electrons so not run down the wire itself,
it runs down the outside surface or skin of the the wire, so the more split wires the more surface.

I used to buy my cable in 100 foot roles, it was one of the best brands of cable, but I forget the details. All my connectors were
Switchcraft so I very seldom had a problem with my cables.

Like I said, I trust Sweetwater so you should be good to go.

Last edited by Tod; 02-11-2019 at 12:41 PM.
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Old 02-11-2019, 09:46 PM   #7
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I just tried an experiment.
I have plugins from both Melda Productions and waves.

I put the MEqualizer from Melda Productions as well as the CLA-2A from waves on my tracks and I got a lot of hissing noise.

So, I replaced each with reaEQ and reaComp and low and behold ...... NO hissing sound !!

Praise God, but, what do you all think is the cause of this?
I am and always have used presets for both plugins.
Could that be the problem and I need to just adjust things manually?

Thoughts? Opinions?
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Old 02-12-2019, 02:21 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sjs94704 View Post
I just tried an experiment.
I have plugins from both Melda Productions and waves.

I put the MEqualizer from Melda Productions as well as the CLA-2A from waves on my tracks and I got a lot of hissing noise.

So, I replaced each with reaEQ and reaComp and low and behold ...... NO hissing sound !!

Praise God, but, what do you all think is the cause of this?
I am and always have used presets for both plugins.
Could that be the problem and I need to just adjust things manually?

Thoughts? Opinions?
It's probably the CLA-2A. At the bottom of the plugin are 3 buttons under the heading "analog"; try setting that to "off" and see if it helps.

Last edited by Judders; 02-12-2019 at 02:32 AM.
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Old 02-12-2019, 09:51 AM   #9
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Default Followup question about GAIN ....

OK, Judders. Thank You.

There are lots of fantastic people on YouTube with great information, but, from a newbie pint of view it is incredible how much information gets unintentionally left out of what they are showing in their videos.

I understand the concept of gain staging, and pardon me if I have asked this before, but, where I get confused is when to use the gain adjustment on the MIC interface itself vs making a gain adjustment on a plugin, especially if I have multiple plugins on the same track and more than one of them has a gain control.

Or even when to use a limiter vs a gain adjustment to get more volume without causing the hissing sounds I've been talking about.

Please see post #3 of this thread and you will see a picture of my PreSonus interface. Where should the gain knob setting sit?

If it maters about the room I am in, I have a 412 Square Foot Apartment and I usually have the MIC in the center of the room. I do have a condenser MIC with a reflections guard.

I mention all of this because of 'room noise'. If I turn the gain of the PreSonus up too high I get unwanted sounds and hiss through the MIC.

Also, when I arm a track for recording I see that there is a way to put INPUT Fx. Can I make use of that in any way, or should I leave that alone?

TOD, I suppose too that to some degree that with the template you made that if I crank up the faders during recording to not worry so much about it because it all will correct itself in post production when I adjust the faders to where I want them for rendering.
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Old 02-12-2019, 10:17 AM   #10
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Keeping meters between -18dB and -6dB is a nice comfortable range to have at any point in Reaper for me.
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Old 02-12-2019, 12:26 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sjs94704 View Post
I understand the concept of gain staging, and pardon me if I have asked this before, but, where I get confused is when to use the gain adjustment on the MIC interface itself vs making a gain adjustment on a plugin, especially if I have multiple plugins on the same track and more than one of them has a gain control.
Hi Steven, when you are recording, the most important gain control is the mic knob on your interface. That's the only gain adjustment
that controls the actual level of the recorded signal. All other gain adjustments in Reaper have nothing to do with the recorded signal.

Quote:
Or even when to use a limiter vs a gain adjustment to get more volume without causing the hissing sounds I've been talking about.
This hissing sound, or any noise like the room sound, is there and does not increase or decrease, relative to your vocal, when you adjust
the mic level on the interface. When you turn the mic level up, the noise will increase a certain amount, but so will your vocal increase
that same amount. So you see, they are relative.

This hissing sound or noise, is probably from your microphone. If it's coming from the interface, then that will probably mean you need to
get a new interface.

The noise could be your mic or mic cord, I assume you haven't gotten the new mic cord yet. What I suggest is to wait until you get your new
microphone from Sweetwater so you can plug that in and test it for noise. If there's no noise, or much less noise, then you know your other
mic and/or cable are causing some of the noise.

Quote:
Please see post #3 of this thread and you will see a picture of my PreSonus interface. Where should the gain knob setting sit?
There is no exact setting for that interface gain knob, you want to adjust that knob until you get around a -18dB when you sing quiet and when
you sing loud, you don't want to go over -6dB. The best way to test it before recording is to sing very loudly, at least as loud as you are
going to sing in the song. Then adjust the gain knob on the interface until you get around a -6dB level on your Reaper track.

Quote:
If it maters about the room I am in, I have a 412 Square Foot Apartment and I usually have the MIC in the center of the room. I do have a condenser MIC with a reflections guard.
Do you have any drapes or fairly large curtains in the room? if so, place the microphone about 4 feet from the drapes so that when you are singing
into it you are facing the drapes. Then turn it around and sing into it facing the apposing wall. Check them both to see how they sound.

If you are singing with the mic in the middle of the room, you are getting reflections from all 4 walls equally about 10 feet away from each wall.
That usually leads to a very boxy sound.

I know your new mic will be Cardioid and probably your old one is too. The link below will explain the various microphone patterns.

https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/mic...olar-patterns/

What you can do is place your mic in various positions (not the center) in the room and test to find the best position.

Quote:
Also, when I arm a track for recording I see that there is a way to put INPUT Fx. Can I make use of that in any way, or should I leave that alone?
No, do not us input FX, if you do, you will also record that FX which you don't want to do.

Quote:
TOD, I suppose too that to some degree that with the template you made that if I crank up the faders during recording to not worry so much about it because it all will correct itself in post production when I adjust the faders to where I want them for rendering.
Yes, in order to hear yourself better, you can raise the level on both the track you are recording on and also the Sub Vocal track. That will not
affect your recorded signal.
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Old 02-14-2019, 04:39 PM   #12
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Default Mic Gains

Quote "Hi Steven, when you are recording, the most important gain control is the mic knob on your interface. That's the only gain adjustment
that controls the actual level of the recorded signal. All other gain adjustments in Reaper have nothing to do with the recorded signal."

Also check the actual switch on the microphone, ie if you have it selected at -10db your signal into the preamp will be lower therefore you have to put gain higher on preamp, Also perhaps set the switch to filter out low end noise.

Other thing is the pre-amps in your interface may not be as good as you might think especially if you have to open the gains quite high

Just a thought
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