Muffled recordings

[dwfranks]

I am recording tracks on my home PC, but when I record (acoustic guitar or vocals) it is always a bit muffled sounding and lacking depth. Another, probably related, problem is that the recorded sound level is not very high, and I have to plug my pre-amp into a mixer, and have the pre-amp volumes set to full for it to record at a half decent level (the preamp's manual says that it should work plugged directly to the computer). Not sure why this is. Here is my equipment:

Sennheiser e835s microphone
Behringer Mic100 tube preamplifier
Home PC with onboard sound
cheap mixer

I'd very mcuh appreciate any ideas.

cheers

[homerecor]

If you are using the standard consumer sound card that came with your computer, then your problem could simply be the wrong input plug on the computer. One will probably be labeled as "mic" and the other one, maybe "line". Try them both. One is designed for a weaker signal than the other.

If that gets you nowhere then try bypassing the mixer. It sounds like you have plenty of pre-amplification going on. With a preamp and a mixer together, you should have enough volume level to compete with a small airport. Perhaps something is not set right on the mixer. Temporarily bypassing it will at least show if the signal gets cleaner. Or try using different outputs from the preamp or mixer.

Something else to consider is an incorrect cable or a bad cable. If a cable is shorted out it can weaken the signal horribly. Some outputs are balanced only. If you use an unbalanced cable, it may affect it. I don’t know.

Anyway, use the “process of elimination” method. Troubleshooting isn’t quite so intimidating that way.

Good luck with it.

[tdukex]

All preamp outputs should go directly to the soundcard whenever possible. Skip the mixer.

And get a decent sound card.

[dwfranks]

Thanks for your help - I try your suggestions by buying a new soundcard try a new mic cable.

If I take out the mixer from the setup, the sound volume bcomes incredibly low - to a whisper (even when the pre-amp's volume is turned up full). So I think that there must be something wrong somewhere.

I'll report back when I've tried the above. Thanks again.

[homerecor]

Also there are volume controls for recording through your standard sound card. You should check them out as well.

In Windows XP click on START >> Control Panel >> Sounds And Audio Devices >> Audio (on upper tab) >> Volume (Under Sound Recording)

Make sure these are not turned down too low or muted. They should be set to perhaps 80% or 90%. (Well, maybe 20% for all the freekin preamps you have going on there.)

Again, these controls only work for the consumer/on-board sound cards.

Let us know then.

[tdukex]

The M-Audio Audiophile ($150) soundcard will make a huge difference in your recordings.

And as homerecor suggested, make sure your mic and cable are working properly and that you are connecting the equipment correctly.

[dwfranks]

Thanks to everyone for helping. The problem is now resolved. Here is what I did:

* Bought a better soundcard. this helped a little.
* Replaced my mic xlr cable. this helped more as the old one was a bit faulty I think.

After this the sound level was stil FAR too low. what fixed the problem was buying a line matching transformer for my mic, which didn't cost much at all. Now I can bypass the mixer and the sound quality is great.

cheers