Very Inexperienced & Working on Audio Book

[macmex]

Here's a photo of how our microphone is supported. Under that towel is a stone pestle, we brought up from Mexico. It cradles the mike.


I believe that sound was from an adjustment on the mixer. I played with the knobs a bit and reduced it quite a bit. I went back to page five of this thread and, with the updated Audacity program, was able to unpin the meter and adjust the microphone settings higher. Here is a piece of the clip I did. I think it sounds MUCH better than any other so far.

George

TestClip4_18_2015a.wav

ShureMicrophone GatewayNE56r45u Windows8.1 Audacity 2.1.0. Folio Notepad Cloudlifter phantom power set to 48v.

(1.33 MiB) Downloaded 104 times

[kozikowski]

It does sound much better, but I know there were earlier tests that sounded even better yet. Not the voice. The voice is fine. It's the Room Tone, the noise when you stop talking.

I can tell you where to put the controls if I could see and read the mixer knobs.

In the earlier clip I had clear fans or motors running. Does your laptop heat up and turn its fans on now and again? The ACX people warn you about that and we have other people who have to take a coffee break and let everything cool down.

Do you only have the one microphone plugged into the mixer? The lifter requires 48volt phantom power (I believe) and I need to make sure the mixer supplies that. Again, all I can make out is a button on the front called [something] power.

I'd kill for a picture of that mixer.

I got that clip to pass audiobook standards and still sound OK, but I had to work too hard at it. Too many filters and effects. You could die of old age applying multiple corrections to each chapter.

Koz

[kozikowski]

That doesn't look like the Shure microphone. Wait, you said you got a different one from the rock band mic. I need to go back and look.

That's exactly the idea with blankets and towels. Again, your vocal tones are perfect. Nobody can tell you're recording at home except for the noise level.

Koz

[kozikowski]

Here's your last clip fully patched and audiobook compliant.
Koz

[macmex]

Yes, the laptop fan did come on at times. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to that. I will in the future.

Here are some pictures of the Folio Notepad.







Also, here's a picture of the phantom power supply.


Connection is thus:
Folio mic jack to MicroPower PS400 "Mic Thru"
"Mic Input" of MicroPower PS400 to Cloudlifter CL-1
From Cloudlifter CL-1 to Shure SM7A mic

Note: it is a Shure SM7A. I understand that there are other Shure mics out there.

Thanks so much for all your input.

George

[cyrano]

The Cloud Lifter is just another 20 dB of gain. It's good for ribbon mics, if you need it.

I don't know the Shure SM7a, but I do know the SM7b. It's fine. Especially for voice. Combined with the Soundcraft Folio you should have enough gain. Adding extra devices will only produce more noise (hiss).

Your problem is gain staging. You need to have 1 setup and start fiddling the knobs until you can get the maximum out of that Soundcraft.

As you are trying it now, you're switching your setup every time. You should only test one parameter at a time.

Once you know how to set up the Soundcraft, you can start treating the room.

And you really need a good pair of headphones...

[kozikowski]

I agree. This is a cousin to the system I have and it works without very much additional fuss.

Shut down the mixer and the Phantom Power generator. Plug the microphone directly into the mixer. No Lifter and no phantom power. Make sure "Mic Power" is not selected on the mixer and turn it on.

Mixer Settings:

-- Preamp level on your microphone at 3:00 o'clock. Turn all the rest of them down as far as they'll go.
-- All the Trebles and Basses across the mixer should be centered at zero.
-- All the FX Sends to zero.
-- All of the Pans at "C".
-- Volume on your microphone at "0" (around 2:00 o'clock). Turn all of the others to infinity.

Most of that turns off the 4/5 of the mixer you're not using so it doesn't contribute noise.

-- Mic Power Off.
-- Instrument/Turntable buttons should all be Up (Instrument).
-- FX RET Volume at zero.
-- Tape Volume at zero.

I'm not totally sure what Tape Volume does, but I can try to look it up later. Leave it at zero.

-- Master Volume around -10.
-- Headphone volume whatever makes you comfortable.

You didn't take a shot of the upper right. Where do you have the UCA202 plugged in? Is there a Line-Out or a Master-Out?

Right now, with no computer running, it should be possible to speak and get the yellow AVG lights to flash. Plug your headphones into the mixer and it should be possible to hear yourself very clearly. Never run a microphone and speakers in the same room (unless you're in a rock band).

This is a grand place to stop. Did you get the yellow lights and can you hear yourself in your headphones?

Koz

[macmex]

Okay, here's the latest. Thank you for all the details. I tried to follow them exactly.

Our headphones are Sony Dynamic Stereo Headphones MDR-7506. But I had plugged them into the jack on the side of the laptop, not to the jack in the mixer. Here is a picture of that upper right corner before I plugged the headphones in there.


I think I set everything the way you instructed, and, when I spoke into the microphone, for the first time I heard myself speak. However, the AVG lights did not flash, not even once.

I had not used the Behringer UCA202 to make the last several recordings. I have it and will connect it when and how you say. I stopped while the going was … grand.

Standing by...

George

[kozikowski]

Since we don't have Audacity or the computer turned on yet, you should plug your 7506s into the mixer. The headphones come with 1/8" plug and a 1/4" adapter, right? You can plug into either socket? So shifting between the computer to the mixer should be no trouble — if you can remember where you put the adapter. Not that I've ever done that.

Advance the Headphones Amp control (lower right) and talk. You should hear yourself even if it's not very strong.

Advance the red Preamp Level (up left) one notch. Advance the white Volume knob at the bottom of that stack (lower left) one notch. Keep watching those yellow lights while you do this and talking. Push the Master Mix Volume (lower right) all the way up. Talk. Any lights yet? your voice in the headphones should be getting louder and louder as you do this.

If there's still no lights yet, run all three knobs all the way up and get closer and louder at the microphone until you get something. Warn people that you're going to be yelling. Quick Note: You talk into the end of an SM7, not the side. The SM7 was designed to suppress sounds except the ones coming in from the end (the performer).

The attached podcast is using them more or less correctly. You shouldn't get them wet.

The SM7a is a dynamic (moving coil) microphone and they're hard to break. Yelling at close range is perfectly valid.

My little mixer would be off the charts overloading by now. Angry flashing red lights.

Let us know.

Koz

[kozikowski]

This is my mixer with those same three knobs labeled.



The up side of knowing how to run your mixer is then you know how to run most mixers. I got that picture from an ad, I didn't take it, so the knobs are set wrong, but they're in roughly the same places yours are.

Koz