Lately I have been hearing a hiss coming from my recordings. I have several mics I’ve collected throughout the years like the wave 3, blue yeti, snowball yeti, and an at2020. All of these have the hiss sound when I use them to record. It kinda sounds to me like the hissing noise from one of those big speakers used at concerts and events. Is there any way to remove this? I can upload recording of what it sounds like I would just need info on any specific settings should be on or off. I only use the mics for voice recordings.
I have tried several usb ports, and several wires cause I read that this might be caused by bad wires but I still get the same results. I don’t know if this sound is normal and I just recently noticed it and now its annoying me or if somethings wrong. Any help would be appreciated
There’s always SOME nose from active analog electronics. In this case it’s the preamp built-into the USB microphones.
Some preamps are quieter than others. The “simple” solution is a strong signal (louder sound closer to the mic) for a better signal-to-noise ratio.
Hiss is usually inherent in the electronics. Whine or hum usually come from power supply noise getting into the preamp. USB power is notoriously noisy (usually a whine) and it depends on how much noise you’re getting from the computer’s USB power and effectiveness of the filter built into the USB mic or USB audio interface.
An analog condenser microphone (1) and a USB audio interface MIGHT give better performance. An interface with a separate power supply (not relying on USB power) has better odds of being quieter.
(1) Studio condenser mics have “hotter” output than dynamic mics for a better signal-to-noise ratio through the preamp/interface. They do have a built-in “head amp” that also generates SOME noise but the head amp is usually super-quiet and better than the preamp.
