Hiss and buzz in recording

[Chris1]

Hi there,
I'm working with Windows 7 and Audacity 2.0.5. I have recently started a 2 person podcast with the following equipment:

2 x Rode Procaster mics
Behringer Q1002 USB mixer into a Lenovo laptop
Headphone amp (as 2 sets of headphones)
2 x Sennheiser HD280pro monitoring headphones

I have really bad hissing and buzzing on the podcast once it’s recorded (can’t hear it through the headphones whilst recording) and I’m figuring it’s because I have no idea how to set up a mixer properly! I use voice removal via Audacity to sort it out but it isn’t an ideal solution as it's making the podcast sound a bit weird in places afterwards.
Can you offer me any advice please?
Thanks!
Chris

[kozikowski]

Frying Mosquitos?

If you listen to a segment of the podcast that supposed to be silent — or alternately, create such a short show as a test — can you hear pulsing or thrumming in addition to the overall hissy/buzzy sound? I'll call it a "hearbeat" variation on the noise, maybe twice as fast as your own heartbeat.

Koz

[kozikowski]

A quick hint with Noise Removal. Don't try to establish a "studio dead quiet" background. Aim for "gentle suppression" in the noise and stop when you think most people aren't going to notice it. Noise Removal is a juggling act between actual removal of noise and destroying the show. Your goal is to stop in the middle.

If it's voices that get damaged, you can try increasing the Frequency Smoothing setting. That causes Noise Removal to "go around" voices. Of course, that leaves the voices with noise in them. That, too is a juggling act.

Koz

[kozikowski]

Like this?

[Chris1]

Hi Koz,

Frying mosquitos . The hissing matches your attachment exactly but there's no beeping and no pulsing or throbbing - just a continuous hiss. The weird thing is that you can't hear it through the headphones when recording, only when we're playing it back afterwards. Could it be the setup?

Chris