Steenamaroo
...
Hi,
The thing with "far too quiet" is that it needs a reference.
If it's far too quiet compared with what you expected, then it probably isn't.
If it's far too quiet relative to the noise floor and you're hearing hiss then, fair enough, it is.
A 57/58...really any dynamic mic will have pretty low output compared to the majority of your capacitor/condenser microphones, but should still be usable for what you're doing.
The bottom line, in terms of recording levels, is that your signal must be loud enough to sit well above hiss/gear self noise, but quiet enough not to clip your converters.
If it's there, you can make it louder/quieter in software, safe in the knowledge that the raw recording is healthy.
If the peaks are strong and you want to raise the average/perceived volume, you can use compression, but that's not a failing of your preamp. It's the nature of the given source.
In short, your recording sounds fine to me.
Talking about tone/frequency content, that's where you'll want to adjust the microphone position.
You have a cardioid microphone so close proximity to the source will cause bass to be emphasised.
The general rule with guitars is that miking the soundhole is going to give the bassiest result.
If your recording is too bassy, consider pointing the mic at 12th fret, or at the soundhole but off axis, or simply moving it back a few inches.
Huge change can be made by moving a microphone an inch or two.
To experiment with this you should record/play/stop/listen and repeat.
Monitoring something like that with headphones on whilst your playing will deceive you, because you're hearing the playback and a lot of bass from the actual acoustic performance in the room.
The thing with "far too quiet" is that it needs a reference.
If it's far too quiet compared with what you expected, then it probably isn't.
If it's far too quiet relative to the noise floor and you're hearing hiss then, fair enough, it is.
A 57/58...really any dynamic mic will have pretty low output compared to the majority of your capacitor/condenser microphones, but should still be usable for what you're doing.
The bottom line, in terms of recording levels, is that your signal must be loud enough to sit well above hiss/gear self noise, but quiet enough not to clip your converters.
If it's there, you can make it louder/quieter in software, safe in the knowledge that the raw recording is healthy.
If the peaks are strong and you want to raise the average/perceived volume, you can use compression, but that's not a failing of your preamp. It's the nature of the given source.
In short, your recording sounds fine to me.
Talking about tone/frequency content, that's where you'll want to adjust the microphone position.
You have a cardioid microphone so close proximity to the source will cause bass to be emphasised.
The general rule with guitars is that miking the soundhole is going to give the bassiest result.
If your recording is too bassy, consider pointing the mic at 12th fret, or at the soundhole but off axis, or simply moving it back a few inches.
Huge change can be made by moving a microphone an inch or two.
To experiment with this you should record/play/stop/listen and repeat.
Monitoring something like that with headphones on whilst your playing will deceive you, because you're hearing the playback and a lot of bass from the actual acoustic performance in the room.
. I got the Fethead for $99 a few years ago and it's now $89. May have been $129 at one time, but that was as high as I might have ever seen it.