Mic And Mic Preamp Problem

siccrydas

New member
i just bought a Focusrite Platinum Voicemaster Pro and a rode NTA1. And i hava a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum. And i hooked the preamp to the card and the mic is hooked up to the preamp. And im gettin sound, BUT my voice isn't loud enough. I turned the mic up all the way and still not loud enough. And i checked my computer settings and the mic volume is up and everything. What could be the problem?????? Please help me.
 
Does the Focusrite have a phantom power on/off switch? Is it turned on?

Hopefully you're planning on upgrading from that soundblaster in the near future. It seems a shame to run a signal through a decent mic and pre-amp and then send it to a soundcard intended primarily for gaming applications.
 
Problem Solved

Hahahaha, Sorry. I had the wire runnin through the wrong output. Yea, im gonna get a Echo MIA. In a couple weeks, along with some Room Padding. I'm learning the preamp. AND I REALLY notice the different from MY $20 Mic 2 a $200 Mic And a $600 Preamp. But from what people were tellin me i thought my vocals would have came out alot more better. They Come out clean. Is there anything, Like effects or something that They add to vocals to make it sound like it more into the song??????
 
When you remove the soundblaster card, uninstall *all* the software* ahead of installing the mia, and install the latest Mia drivers from the www.echoaudio.com website.

Also, if you have the digital output card on the Focusrite (it is a great addition), invest in a SP/DIF-SP/DIF cable to go to the Mia digital input. The analog output quality is still brilliant, though.

If I recall, only the later Mias have midi - earlier ones haven't, and also the Mia has no synth built in for General midi.

But having used your setup (Mia/Focusrite/Rode) I reckon you'll be happy for a while yet.
 
Re: Problem Solved

siccrydas said:
But from what people were tellin me i thought my vocals would have came out alot more better. They Come out clean. Is there anything, Like effects or something that They add to vocals to make it sound like it more into the song??????

sadly (i had this impression at first too), there is a lot more to recording well other than good gear.

one big thing is that when you first start hearing yourself clean and clear, you get annoyed at the little things that got covered up before... the spitting sounds, the sssesss and so forth.

also, dynamics become more important. in many ways the old sm58-tascam cassette 4 track is a great signal chain for beginners. the pres roll off the top and bottom, the tape slightly compresses your vocal track in the same way that it compresses the other instruments... and mixes tend to glue easier with this old stuff.

you throw a beginner in with a nice clean signal chain like yours, and it sounds much worse....

anyway, good vocal tracks are an art. i've been fooling around with recording for a few years and i feel like i am JUST beginning to scratch the surface of recording vocals well.

i would take some time and read up on how to record great vocal takes...
 
Okay

So Where do i get the Digital card for my preamp, i read it was optional in the book, but i dont see it anywhere? So your telin me i have good equipment for my vocals to sound good, ALL i really need to do is learn how to use it along with programs such as cool edit or somethin.
 
I purchased a presonus eureka last week and almost went with the voicemaster pro. So far I have no complaints, but not trying out the vp is getting the best of me. I've heard it sounds great with vocals, but what about acoustic guitar and bass? Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

j
 
If you *don't* get the digital card, you will still have pristine sounding vocals.

But I found the addition of the card meant I had the ability to go totally digital downstream from the card, which in my case was an advantage. Now I run all digital
(Guitar-Pod XT- Digital mixer - recorded track )
(sequencer - synth modules - Digital mixer - recorded track)
(Mic-Focusrite-Lexicon reverb- Digital mixer - recorded track)

When the only analog devices in your entire setup are a guitar and a couple of microphones, the quality is superb, whether you record via USB or via the Mia.

Once you've heard your tracks at 24bit/96kHz, you can audibly detect the drop in quality dithering down to 16 bit/44 kHz on CD.

So basically the Mia and the Focusrite/digital card assist greatly in getting the signal as interference/impedance mismatch/noise free as possible.

I would never sell my Mia, or my Focusrite pre. The combination is unbeatable for my money.

But (as someone else pointed out here) you'll have to ensure your playing / vocals are pristine because every little hole in your technique will be apparent. But you have the luxury of time to get the perfect "take".

Try the analog Mia route first, and I guarantee you'll be happy. The digital route will later give you the satisfaction your signal is about as clean as you can make it, should you feel it necessary to go down this path.

You can always "dirty" a clean track, but you can't always "clean" a track that is unavoidably "dirty". The Rode-Focusrite-Mia path is clean clean clean. I'd be surprised if you have very much hiss at all, unless you boost the high frequencies through the roof.

Another option available to you is running guitar-effects pedals-focusrite pre-Mia. This is not a bad sound at all for those times when it's 3am and you're recording using just headphones.
 
bbop73 said:
I purchased a presonus eureka last week and almost went with the voicemaster pro. So far I have no complaints, but not trying out the vp is getting the best of me. I've heard it sounds great with vocals, but what about acoustic guitar and bass? Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

j

It works fine with bass and guitar however I try to mix up my preamps for recording to vary the sonic nature of the sound. Using the same preamp on everything tends to create EQ problems during the mix.
 
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