Audacity Forum

I'm sure this is a common difficuly but couldn't quite find a post that exactly related to this, apologies if I've missed somthing.

I'm using A to record guitar and voice. There is a lot of background noise, which builds up as i lay new tracks. Also, when i use the gain control in A, the sound of the guitar hardly increases at all but the background noise (computer fuzz, white noise type stuff) increases greatly. I'd be v grateful if someone could advise on the set up i need. i want to replicate a decent four track machine digitally. Generally the sound of the guitar is v quiet. I have got the mic level at max, and have been to the mic settings in the control panel and put that to max too. but its not that its overlading - as i've said the guitar sound is v low, its just the white noise that high.

the setup i have at present is:

Vista, 1G ram.
Decent(ish) mic (SHURE) dynamic not compression - work v well with an old school four track, so is capabloe of picking up decent sound.
Mic plugged into the audio jack on teh front of the PC.

I think maybe I need to be plugging the mic into the USB somhow. Or feeding it through somthing else. Maybe also its that my sound card is crap, it'll just be the one suplied with the (entry level) machine.

I happy to spend a little cash to get the sound right - i just need to get rid of this damn noise!

Thanks!

<<<mic (SHURE) dynamic not compression>>>

You got really close to giving us the number of the microphone. SM-58? That's a three-prong microphone and most sound cards are two conductor inputs, or worse, have battery on one of three connections.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audioconnecto ... ctors.html

How did you get between the mic and the card? If you wire the adapter wrong, you can get all sorts of noise and problems.

If you dig in the instructions for the sound card, is there such a thing as "20 dB Boost." Some cards would only amplify a microphone like that with the boost turned on.

The SM-58 is a nice microphone, but it's designed to plug into a quiet, well behaved commercial sound mixer. Plugging it into a computer card is something of a mismatch, although it should work.

Search the forum for USB adapters. M-Audio? Many people make them. Insist that a USB microphone adapter is powered from its own wall transformer or batteries and not powered from the USB connector. USB power is dirty and you could trade one noise problem for another. The iMic used to be famous for noise tricks. I could tell every time my hard drive spun up because I could hear the crackle and buzzing in my tracks behind my voice.

The other way to do it is all analog. Find an analog microphone mixer and plug it into the Line-In of the sound card instead of the Mic-In. Line-In is roughly 1000 louder than a raw microphone and will pick up far less noise. We use a very old Tascam M-06ST mixer. You still need adapters, but I recorded the whole voice track for a movie show with that thing and a Sure SM-58.

http://oferta.deremate.com.ar/id=177551 ... cam-m06-st

Koz

From the little we know, I would endorse Koz's latter suggestion.
Buy a simple analogue mixing desk (Tapco and Behringer make perfectly acceptable models at the lower end of the market) and run your mic + all instruments into the desk and from there to the line in of your soundcard.

Could you be a bit clearer about your set up Dave? For example is it an acoustic, semi-, or solid body electric guitar?

My guess is that you will also have to buy a decent soundcard.

Mic plugged into the audio jack on teh front of the PC.

This is the source of your problem. Mic jacks on computers are not compatible with professional microphones. I really wish computer manufacturers would fix the labeling problem.

As others have said, you'll need a pre-amp for the mic. Then you'll plug the pre-amp output into your computer's Line In jack.

Thanks for all the advice. Sorry for being a bit vague.

The instrumnets i want to record

Acoustic guitar, not mic'd up.
Voice.
Lead (electric) guitar: telcaster, with fender tube amp.

The kit i have got
Compaq. vista, 1g, bog standard sound card i imagine (the one it came with)
Shure Beta 57A mic.
Four-track - Tascam portastudio 424 III

Some progress....
I have been able to get the sound of the guitar up by running the mic (now able to use the proper jacks etc) into the four track and using this to set the levels. Is this what the mixer would do? Or does it so somthing else? I then run from the line out of the four track into the mic jack in the front of the computer. The result is that the guitar is now louder, but the background noise is still there. I will try plugging it into the computers line in. This is just a little (headphone size) jack though so i guess hte quality wll still be poor. Would the sound card increase the number of connections in the back of the computer?

It sounds like i need a decent sound card. Any recommendations of which one would be best for guitars and voice? Would it be advisable to get the card and the usb connector for the mics, or are they substitutes?

Thanks again everyone

I then run from the line out of the four track into the mic jack in the front of the computer.

No, bad Dave. Line level signals don't get plugged into the Mic in jack.

The only thing you should be plugging into the Mic In jack is a crappy little computer mic (with a 3-conductor 1/8" plug). If your mic has an XLR plug (and it does), it does not belong in that jack.

I will try plugging it into the computers line in. This is just a little (headphone size) jack though so i guess hte quality wll still be poor.

Yes, you want the Line In jack. One other benefit is that it's a stereo jack, so you won't be limited to mono like you are with the Mic In jack.

Furthermore, the size of the plug has nothing to do with the audio quality. Your sound card determines that.

It sounds like i need a decent sound card. Any recommendations of which one would be best for guitars and voice? Would it be advisable to get the card and the usb connector for the mics, or are they substitutes?

You can't just buy a USB connector for a mic. The mic has to be designed to be powered by USB from the ground up. Many people here use USB mics and like them. I personally do not.

We have a forum for recording equipment, it's got a lot of good advice. A few specific threads to check out would be:
http://audacityteam.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1676
http://audacityteam.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1909

And for general mic information:
http://audacityteam.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=554

If you have any questions that haven't been answered about equipment, ask at that forum please. We'll be happy to recommend various pieces of equipment, but be sure to describe what kind of recording setup you want and what kind of budget you're working with. Specifically it's good to know how many instruments you'll want to record at once, that lets us know how much I/O you need.