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I have the vocal gain on the UMC about 50% and the output set to 50%, and I'm talking about 12-18" away from the mic. Input volume is somewhere below -30db.
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I
assume the output volume is for headpones/monitoring and has no effect on the digital recording level...
That could be normal. You're complaining about the gain, yet you are not using all of the available gain... Volume controls are not linear and "50%" on the knob should be far-less than 50% of the maximum. And, dynamic mics tend to have lower output than condensers.
You should be able to get closer to the mic, although you may need a separate pop-screen. And, maybe you do need to speak/sing with a "stronger" voice. You shouldn't have to yell but you should be loud, like you are speaking/singing in public and you want everyone to hear you.
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If I jack up the gain and output, I can get my vocal track to about -20 if I talk 3 inches or so from the mic, but I've introduced a lot of noise.
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Here's the thing about noise... When you crank-up the volume the signal
and noise together and the noise becomes more noticeable.
The "trick" is getting a good signal-to-noise ratio. You can do that by
increasing the signal (talking louder or getting closer to the mic) or by
reducing the noise (making the room quieter and/or using a quieter preamp).
Usually acoustic room noise is the biggest problem, and more gain or a hotter mic is just going to give you more noise (and more signal of course). There is also some noise (hiss/hum) from the preamp and sometimes increasing the gain on a preamp (or interface) makes the signal-to-noise worse, but not always... Usually the signal and noise go up & down together.
A "hotter" mic will give you a stronger signal, which helps with the electrical signal-to-noise, but it won't solve the room noise problem. And although condenser mics put-out a hotter signal, they have an internal head amp which generates
some noise.
-20dB
digitally isn't really a problem when you're recording at 24-bits. But, it could be an indication of a problem on the analog side if you don't have enough signal for a good analog signal-to-noise ratio.