I Have A POP Filter But I Can Still Hear Distortion!

Special Interest Groups Recording Equipment
1

I actually have a big problem with my bedroom studio set-up.

I have an Samson C03 Condenser Microphone, which is powered up using my Rolls MP13 Mini Pre-amp. My mini preamp does include phantom power because other wise my microphone isnt going to be working. But my problem is. My microphone is covered using a Pop Filter, so the “POPS” are’nt supposed to make any noise. But, somehow when i record I can still hear the “POP” through my headphones. The only way the “POP” could go away is if I adjust my pre-amp volume and the microphone volume. People have told me to adjust my PC volume but ive tried it and nothing, the pops are still there. I want to be able to use my Microphone to its potential not a little less which would make me have to scream into the microphone. It gets really aggrivating knowning i cant use my microphone to its limits. If you would like an example of the “POP” im talking about check out my myspace page. Listen to “Victim Freestyle” 1:04 is when the “POP” happens. To take note, i record about 6-8 inches away from my microphone. Something isnt going right here.

Now dont get my wrong. The microphone does sound good the way it is with the volume adjusted and all, but I want to be able to use my microphone to its potential.

My second concern is, my microphone is located in my room. I use my closet as a little booth, the closet is surrounded by quilts and everything of the sort in order for my voice to have a better sound quality, but I can hear alot of other things in the background im not supposed to, sort of like long eletrical sounds… [ dont know how to explain ] lol. Any advice to get rid of this noise would be appreciated.

This is my problem. Any advice or help would be gladly appreciated.

Please add my myspace page and check out my music ! [ myspace.com/soe718 ]

Thanks For The Time! I Highly Appreciate It!

-S.O.E Demanding Respect vol 1 Coming Soon!

2

Do you need a subscription to myspace?

You want a pop filter, not a wind screen. Take the foam condom off your microphone (and in my opinion, throw it away) and put one of these between you and the microphone.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=microphone+pop+filters&tag=googhydr-20&index=mi&hvadid=1101841661&ref=pd_sl_7wodpxotw1_b

If that’s not enough, switch on the High Pass Filter on the side of the microphone.

If you’re after the dense, robust AM sound but with much higher quality, you might need to post process. This is the microphone you put in front of a cello to record the delicate bowing and expert fingering overtones. Not for screaming.

Start experimenting with the compressors in Audacity. It wouldn’t surprise me if the dynamic range compressors were much better in Audcaity 1.3 over 1.2. You can install both on your machine as long as you don’t run both at once.

Both cardioid and figure-of-eight patterns have proximity effect. That’s fancy talk for you get deeper and ballsier as you get closer. You might like that, but it does make it easier to overload the mic, preamp, and Audacity. You may be already overloading the microphone. My voice is recognized as a health threat by the State of California. I can talk through soundproof walls. I can kill condenser microphones. Condensers work by vibrating two really thin metalized strips close to each other. If they touch, reeeeely bad things happen.

Does the sample on MySpace have the noise?

Koz

3

OK. I got the idea. The URL goes right through.

I changed my mind. Don’t throw the condom away. Save it as the dust shield when you’re not using your microphone.

That one step should give you much brighter sound. You’re hard to understand because your voice has no edge to it. That’s the only part I didn’t like and getting rid of that foam thing should help. Everything else is in the right place.

And yes. Compress the loudness range in post production. That will give you a dense, forceful sound without distorting (too much). That will also make it easier for the voice to complete with the orchestration and balance the vocals.

Back off just a little from the mic and let it do its job…without the condom.

Koz

4

OK. One more. Do you have really good speakers on your mixing system or do you have something like Koss Pro-4AA headphones? You have a bass track so loud the neighbors called over and said they enjoyed it very much. I’m not in an apartment.

A nuclear bass track can cause problems in mixes. Just make darn sure you never, ever hit zero on the green Audacity playback meters when you play your final mix.

Koz

5

[Moved from another posting]

but hey man, this thing is getting me real aggrivated. What do you mean by “foam condom”, im sure that mine doesnt have that… lol, i do have a pop filter but i hear so much distortion when i speak into the mic, the only way the microphone wont have distortion would be if i adjust the volume but i want to be able to use my microphone to its limit. I did pay 125 bucks to use my microphone to its limit.

This is the condenser microphone i purchased.
http://www.samash.com/catalog/showitem. … GroupCode=

and this is the pre-amp i use to power up the microphone.
http://www.samash.com/catalog/showitem. … GroupCode=


I know which equipment you have. I looked them up.

Remember this?

<<<My microphone is covered using a Pop Filter, so the “POPS” are’nt supposed to make any noise. >>>

Mechanical pop filters suppress vocal pops, they don’t eliminate them. “Covered” using a pop filter? The only good pop filters are those nylon tennis racket looking things. Is that what you have? Did you try the High Pass Filter on the side of the microphone?

<<<I did pay 125 bucks to use my microphone to its limit.>>>

I think you reached its limit a long time ago. Live audio systems don’t automatically sound dense and powerful. The good ones, like you have are designed to carry fine detail and good accuracy. And yes, they tend to overload pretty quickly then they do that.

Are you doing your mixes in post production, or are you trying to do the mix live while you’re singing? That could be a problem right there. Once your microphone captures your voice with good accuracy, then processing it later with the Audacity tools (or the tools of your choice) is a snap. What kills you is if you do the production processing live and don’t like it, you’re dead. There’s no clear, good quality mix to go back to.

It still bothers me a lot that your voice in the cuts on-line isn’t very crisp or bright. Condenser microphones are supposed to be really good at that.

Once you get the basic performance down, run the vocal tracks through Effect > Compressor and beat it up good. Then put it back in to the final mix and see how it sounds. The production tools are much better in Audacity 1.3 than they are in 1.2.

Do you have a really good sound system to mix with?

Koz

6

One more note. With the idea that you’re overloading the input to your preamplifier, you can throw the [-10dB] switch on the side of your microphone. Then bring everything else back up so the volume is the same. That may help a lot with the overloading problem. The first amplifier in a Mic Pre is not adjustable and is usually the first thing to go when somebody walks up to the microphone with a trumpet or a loud voice. The -10dB switch will help with that.

Koz

7

That didn’t sound like a pop, it sounded like a click. I suspect you simply clipped the signal somewhere (in which case you need to turn the volume down somewhere), or your sound card missed a few samples (in which case you simply need to re-record). I don’t think adding or adjusting a pop filter is going to help.

8

<<<you simply clipped the signal somewhere (in which case you need to turn the volume down somewhere), or your sound card missed a few samples>>>

The sound card thing is scary, so lets go with an overload problem.

Yes, he said he could pretty much get rid of the distortion by turning things down. I am firmly convinced that Señor Colon doesn’t understand the abilities of his microphone channel. It’s not a Shure SM-58 and will not produce pre-compressed, dense audio with no moving element distortion. It’s a high-quality, open, clear audio channel and you need to compress and produce your voice in post to fit the work. And it doesn’t much matter what the work is.

The grownups use a very similar sound channel to produce almost identical work, the difference is they’re doing it in multiple steps and I think he thinks he needs it all to happen in one pass. It’s difficult to tell, but he’s reluctant to go with all the post production steps; but he may need to–or get a different mic or mic channel. That one may be too good.

He got my attention when he described his process and he’s doing almost everything perfectly correct.

He’s soooooo close.

Koz