RODE NT1-A Mic Help

[bambam1994]

I recently just bought like 3 days ago a nt1-a condenser microphone and im plugging into a scarlett 2i2 usb audio interface and when im recording myself i stumble upon these random background noises like a consisent background noise that wont go away, when i recorded the same thing with a usb mic i had in the same exact area there was literally zero background sound so i figured it couldnt be my cpu or recording software can someone just tell me how i could fix this please, i put the link of how i sound so u could hear it

 

[Steenamaroo]

I hear a few things.
Somethings overloading. Turn the gain down on the interface or move back from the mic a bit.

It sounds like there's heavy compression on the voice track. Hear the way the noise takes a few seconds to come back after you finish speaking? That sounds like a release time to me.

There's a lot of room ambience and some general background noise.
That might not be a problem if you cut out the silent sections and ease off the compression.

 

[bambam1994]

thank you for responding, im recording on garageband but im not to familiar on how to increase/decrease compression and the silence, but this is how i sounded taking down the gain a bit

 

[Steenamaroo]

It still sounds like it's distorting, to me.
Are you very close to the mic? How high is the gain set?

I don't know how garage band works, but if you have meters, make sure they aren't peaking near zero.
Aim to peak at -12 for safety.

 

[bambam1994]

im gonna back up and re test it right now, my gain was at -10 i'll change it to -12, and i also have threshold ratio and attack should those be at -12 as well?

 

[Steenamaroo]

Are all these functions in your computer? Bypass anything with a threshold (Probably a compressor).

When I say "Gain on your interface" I mean the knob that you can turn with your hand.

 

[bambam1994]

yeah the gain threshold its all within garageband & ohh i know what u mean now i used the gain knob, this is how i sound with it turned down, theres no measurement on the knob tho but i turned it down from where it was before here it is (im snapping btw) i know u probably here that tv in the background but its that slight fizzing noise that comes about if u can here it

 

[Steenamaroo]

You know what, mute the music for now.
If you can record a short sample of plain speech it'll be much easier to hear the problem you're talking about.

With regard to gains etc....
Before the computer you have your microphone and an amplifier.
The amplifier is controlled by that gain knob on the front of your interface.
There is a limit to how loud a signal can be coming into your computer. If you cross that threshold and your audio turns to distorted mess.

The meter on your garage band audio track will tell you if your signal is coming in too loud or not.
Adjust the gain whilst speaking until the meters are healthy. Don't aim for loud...Aim to have room left at the top end of the meter.

If you give that a blast and make sure you have no other effects turned on, then any other problems should be audible.
There is some hiss there, but it's impossible to know if that's something the mic is picking up, or if it's just cos your gain is too high.