Recording using mic to 4 track directly to computer

[droofus1983]

I was able to get ahold of a Tascam Porta02 MK II a Sure SM 57 mic a monster cable a radio shack XLR to 1/4 adap and a stereo RCA to 1/8 stereo-I have hte Mic hooked up to the 4 track (not using tape in 4 track) and then the 4 track is hooked up using the rca to 1/8-to the computer-then i use Cool Edit pro 2.0 to record-I have no problems recording the guitar/vocals into the mic-however there is a horrid amount of hissing going on-i tried putting the 1/8 into the line in instead of the mic but that just sends the sound out into my speakers and records nothing-Please help (someone also chipped some paint off my new Takamine Elec acoustic while playing so i'm rather distraught about that to-this=last straw haha )
Thanks a bunch!
(ps-i included a clip of what the mic sounds like with no voice or anything-i can use the hiss reducer on the comp to help get rid of quite a bit of it but not all of it)

[starch]

If I am understanding you correctly, and had to guess, I would say that your adapter conglomeration is causing the majority of your issues.

First, if you convert an xlr to a 1/4" it is making the line unbalanced and an unbalanced mic cable is one of the best antennas you can find. You are going to pick up a lot of noise from that alone. Then you go into a mic pre (which is, by the way, the largest gain stage in a signal path) and amplify all that noise you are picking up. Then using adapters to bring your output into an 1/8" tip to go into your computer is definitely going to get you what you've got.

The best you will be able to do with your setup is to make sure you are maintaining the best signal-to-noise ratio throughout the signal path. Make sure all of your equipment is connected to the same breaker, and turn off or get far away from your computer monitor while tracking. Also, if you are picking up noise from your computer fan this will add, but shouldn't necessarily be what is giving you probs now (just isn't helping)

Hope something in here helps. Good luck.

[droofus1983]

Wow haha once again I realize there is much in this world I haven't the faintest clue about-
Thanks very much for your help-I shall follow your advice and see if i can perhaps figure out a method of recording that involves less adap and move my 4 track far away from my comp(or at least as far as i can-I was informed that if I simply buy a mic cable that goes from the XLR directly to the 1/4 inch instead of an adap that it will be less quality-however would that help to reduce the hiss? At this point quality isn't quite as important as getting rid of that horrid hiss-
Thanks very much
P.S.-if i recorded onto a 4 track first and then transferrrrred it to the computer would this perhaps help?