Mic question

[Ptownkid]

I recorded a drum track today and i used 8 mics to do it. When i play it back i get this airy hiss sound. I soloed each of the tracks and it's not overly present on each of them, but when you combine the, one by one it gets louder.

I'm using all apex mics

2 - 185's (overheads)
2 - 120's (toms)
1 - 415 (snare)
1 - 460 (room)
1 - 126 (kick)
1 - speaker (kick)

My mixer is a brand new alto s-16 (for phantom power) and i use 2 m-audio delta 44's. I made all the cables myself and they've all ben tested.

Hopefully i haven't forgotten anything.

So, my question is, why is this happening, and what can i do?

Cheers

[DJL]

Check for phasing problems.

[scrubs]

Originally Posted by Ptownkid

I recorded a drum track today and i used 8 mics to do it. When i play it back i get this airy hiss sound. I soloed each of the tracks and it's not overly present on each of them, but when you combine the, one by one it gets louder.

I'm using all apex mics

2 - 185's (overheads)
2 - 120's (toms)
1 - 415 (snare)
1 - 460 (room)
1 - 126 (kick)
1 - speaker (kick)

My mixer is a brand new alto s-16 (for phantom power) and i use 2 m-audio delta 44's. I made all the cables myself and they've all ben tested.

Hopefully i haven't forgotten anything.

So, my question is, why is this happening, and what can i do?

Cheers

As DJL suggested, the more mics you use, the more phasing becomes a possibility. It could also just be additive noise from the Alto's preamps, though you don't normally use much gain for miking drums.

[Big Kenny]

Apex are pretty noisy too. While you might be able to get away with one or two in a mix, I think the low quality is catching up to you

[Ptownkid]

i kinda figured that might be part of the problem.

Thanks guys.

[DJL]

You're welcome.

[krs]

It's not just the noise with those damn Apex mics, it's the high end I tell you. You're cymbals must sound like...

[Ptownkid]

Well, i found the problem, it was a bad cable and the speaker i was using for extra punch on the kick. Switched to a new cable and a brand new 500watt sub-woofer speaker and it's silent. Sounds good as hell too.

[DJL]

Hmm, I thought you were listening to recorded tracks... hmm... never mind... anyway I'm glad you found the problem.

[mcolling]

i gotta ask: how do you use the speaker for extra punch? i've heard this tossed around before on this board, but i'm interested to know the specifics and the theory behind it.

[Gidge]

Id like to hear a soundclip from this setup......between the Alto mixer, Apex mics, and the subwoofer/mic combo on kick, it sounds like a clusterfuck.......

[Big Kenny]

Not that it's a bad thing....................

[krs]

Originally Posted by Ptownkid

I soloed each of the tracks and it's not overly present on each of them, but when you combine the, one by one it gets louder.

So this was not correct? I'm curious too, I'd love to hear the all Apex drumset as well, (I've only used a couple of their mics). Post some mp3's.

[dkelley]

Originally Posted by Big Kenny

Apex are pretty noisy too. While you might be able to get away with one or two in a mix, I think the low quality is catching up to you

that's just not true. I use APEX mics regularly in recording, and they're very low noise. At least 6 tracks played back simultaneously and no noise. My acoustic-electric guitar DI'd has more noise than these mics.

I'm not surprised to hear that it was a bad cable.