I have an SM58; which audio interface will be best to reduce PC hiss, and noise?

kratos

New member
To studio quality hopefully!

Im thinking of using the mic for singing (falsetto mainly) and rapping. If you think i should get a condenser mic instead then please tell me which ones!
Audio intefaces im currently interested in are these, please give me feedback which one will be the best value for money!

Edirol UA25 EX USB
Maudio fasttrack pro
Firewire Audio Intf (the below $200 one)

If you know of others please tell but these are in my budget :).
 
This is like asking:
"I have a subaru. Which highway should I take for the smoothest ride?"

The best highway. Doesn't matter what car you're driving.
You're on a budget, so you're not gonna be able to drive down the best highway, just the nature of the beast.
As far as the interfaces you are looking at go, I think anything in your price range is gonna sound about the same, so try and do some google searches of the ones you are interested in and find reviews of them by people with similar setups to yours (ie, that interface with a mac or a pc, desktop or laptop, depending on what you have).
You won't end up with studio quality, but with good technique, good source material, and by learning and using the equipment you have to it's full potential, you can get 95% of the way there, and most people can't tell the difference.
 
To studio quality hopefully!

Im thinking of using the mic for singing (falsetto mainly) and rapping. If you think i should get a condenser mic instead then please tell me which ones!
Audio intefaces im currently interested in are these, please give me feedback which one will be the best value for money!

Edirol UA25 EX USB
Maudio fasttrack pro
Firewire Audio Intf (the below $200 one)

If you know of others please tell but these are in my budget :).

An SM58 is an $85 dynamic microphone. So, you would need a preamp that can be turned up loud enough to make is usable. All of the preamps on the interfaces you listed (and most of the ones in the $200 range) will be slightly noisy when you use them with that microphone. Which will mean that you're NOT recording at "studio quality". The equipment in studios costs a lot more than what you're looking to spend, and for good reason.

Like The Cancers said, you can get partway there by learning the very specific cases in which you can use a setup like the one you're describing. But in order to truly get to "studio quality" you will have to invest both a lot more time, and a lot more money. Focus on the things you can get and do cheaply at this point. And don't worry about the quality so much. Worry about the music you're making.
 
Like The Cancers said, you can get partway there by learning the very specific cases in which you can use a setup like the one you're describing. But in order to truly get to "studio quality" you will have to invest both a lot more time, and a lot more money. Focus on the things you can get and do cheaply at this point. And don't worry about the quality so much. Worry about the music you're making.
It's probably just me and my foibles, so take this with a pinch of salt.
Showing my age here, and I'm aware things have changed (I enjoy some of the changes too) but I get the impression from many of my friends that are 'audiophiles' down the years that they simply cannot enjoy music for music's sake because they are so often hung up on someone else's interpretation of 'studio quality'. And it becomes theirs.

I think Gizmo and Cancers have it right here - worry about learning the process with what you have or can get cheaply and get happy with that. Get good with that. Enjoy your music making and enjoy your music. Walk the learning curve. Listen to all the advice you get, eat the meat, spit out the bones, work through the contradictions you'll come across. Progression becomes then a natural rather than enforced way of being.

You know, over the last 50 years, lots of music of varying recorded qualities have been recorded in studios. Even the shitty ones (in someone's estimation) are 'studio quality'. Furthermore, I listen to stuff people on HR have recorded at their homes virtually all of it is totally listenable good stuff. I've gotten over the bit about marvelling that it wasn't done in some pro studio 'somewhere'. Tell you the truth, most times I couldn't tell the difference. I've heard some pretty ropey stuff come from studios as have many of us. I don't fancy starting a war here though ! :eek:

Sorry that I've not directly answered the question. On that score, you can more than get by with an SM58 although as you progress, you'll no doubt experiment with different mics, if only to satisfy your curiosity.
 
Wil the sound output with the usb connection have less noise when the preamp is max?
And plus would i still need to get an audio interface for this?

I have not tried it - you could email Shure about the noise question. It does produce a 16-bit digital signal, so you would not need another interface. It does not have phantom power so you could only use it with dynamic mics.

FYI, if you wanted a real interface, I think I would be looking at the Emu 0404 USB interface ($199) which does 24-bit recording, which gives you more headroom to bump up the volume after you record. Good clean preamps. I have the 0404 USB and when I tried its preamps just now with my SM58, I could get up to about a -24 db signal (peaking at -18 db) in Reaper without any hiss. That was using voice at 3" distance from the mic.
 
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Preamps should have a specification called "equivalent input noise". For a reasonably noiseless recording with a dynamic mic such as the SM58, that spec should be lower than -125dBA (A-weighted) or -120dB (unweighted).

Sadly, the Roland and M-Audio products you listed do not cite that specification. The M-Audio has a -101dBA signal-to-noise ratio spec, but that's a different specification that does not tell you much about how much noise you will experience. The Shure x2u USB adaptor isn't much better; it quotes a digital noise floor figure at maximum gain, but doesn't say on their website what maximum gain is, and my browser crashed trying to download the manual . . . :rolleyes:

OK, second try, the manual lists the "gain range" as 40dB, so if minimum gain is zero (might not be a safe assumption), then EIN would be -118dBA. But if minimum mic gain is 10dB, it would be -128dBA. I'm guessing the former figure is closer to accurate, but that's just a wild guess . . .

Good luck . . .
 
Preamps should have a specification called "equivalent input noise". For a reasonably noiseless recording with a dynamic mic such as the SM58, that spec should be lower than -125dBA (A-weighted) or -120dB (unweighted).

Sadly, the Roland and M-Audio products you listed do not cite that specification. The M-Audio has a -101dBA signal-to-noise ratio spec, but that's a different specification that does not tell you much about how much noise you will experience. The Shure x2u USB adaptor isn't much better; it quotes a digital noise floor figure at maximum gain, but doesn't say on their website what maximum gain is, and my browser crashed trying to download the manual . . . :rolleyes:

OK, second try, the manual lists the "gain range" as 40dB, so if minimum gain is zero (might not be a safe assumption), then EIN would be -118dBA. But if minimum mic gain is 10dB, it would be -128dBA. I'm guessing the former figure is closer to accurate, but that's just a wild guess . . .

Good luck . . .

Ok which products should i be looking at which give that spec?
Im guessing these ones will be more expensive
 
SM58 is a stage mic.

You want a quality dynamic for studio use like an SM7 or an RE20.

You'll want an interface with preamps that can drive them - especially singing falsetto. I don't see one on your list.

Save your money.
 
Emu 0404 USB preamps have EIN = -127 dbu (unweighted)

having read some reviews apparently this model has latency problems when recording.
I dont know if this a problem or not but if this is true I dont think i might get this one.
 
having read some reviews apparently this model has latency problems when recording.
I dont know if this a problem or not but if this is true I dont think i might get this one.

Emu 0404 USB has zero latency direct monitoring.

ASIO drivers seem pretty good. Only problem I have had is sometimes I have to restart Reaper so the Emu will playback sound.

I am running it on an XP machine. FYI, I have heard that the 0404 creates CPU spikes on Vista and Win7 systems. I have a Win7 system but am waiting for Emu to come out with Win7 drivers for the 0404 USB.
 
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Emu 0404 USB has zero latency direct monitoring. ASIO drivers seem pretty good. Only problem I have had is sometimes I have to restart Reaper so the Emu will playback sound.

I am running in on an XP machine - have heard that the 0404 creates CPU spikes on Vista and Win7 systems.

How much gain do you have to put in before hearing significant noise and clipping? Especially during recording vocals.

Thanks
 
How much gain do you have to put in before hearing significant noise and clipping? Especially during recording vocals.

Thanks

Like I said in my earlier post, I got a useable -24db signal (-18db peaks) in Reaper without hiss, with voice at 3" from the SM58 and using the 0404 USB's preamp. I had the trim pot on the Emu turned up to about 2/3 to 3/4 of its maximum (max = +65 db). At about 3/4 the way up I got hiss, at 2/3 I did not.

Speaking in a normal voice it did not clip at these settings - probably would have if I had yelled or sung loudly.

Later...
I tried the above test again, just to double check. This time I just put up the SM58 (last test had the SM58 and SM7b both going into the Emu 0404 USB). I was able to turn the trim up to 9/10 of way to max +65db (~ +59db) this time with no hiss. This confirms to me that the 0404 has enough useable gain for the SM58.
 
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