Quote:
Originally Posted by underscore11
my audio interface omits a white noise (which I'm guessing is the noise floor?) at about -90db with the preamp gain on 0. When I crank the gain, this white noise shoots up to -60db. This is without anything plugged in....Oh and I'm using a Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 (1st gen) which I'm aware some people have had similar issues with.
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This is absolutely normal and not a problem at all.
Even for a guitar (DI) you shouldn't have to crank the gain. If the gain is halfway (with the input set for instrument) you'll get around -80 dB fs noise. That gives you plenty of SNR. Remember, you don't want to record with signal peaking up to around 0 dB anyway; leave some headroom (around -12 dB is fine).
-60 dB seems like a lot but that's only with the preamp gain cranked. The last bit of gain the preamp gets, yes it suddenly gets noisy, but that's a range you shouldn't have to use. If you have to crank the gain of that preamp, you're using the wrong mic and/or trying to record mouse farts.
I wouldn't want to use an SM7 for quiet sources with these preamps, for instance. Try a more sensitive mic though and it's more than enough gain for pretty much everything.