Getting rid of the "hiss"

[gmudrick]

Ok, I'm pretty new at this whole process but I will describe my setup and see if any of you veterans can help me out. I am using the Lexicon Omega system through a USB port to my laptop. I am using Cubase LE software and two condenser mics, the MXL 990 and 991. Bascially I am recording my acoutsic guitar duo and vocals and after a few months of getting adjusted to the software and general mixing and techniques, I couldn't understand why the recordings have been coming out "unpolished" if thats a word. I finally realized its because of an annoying constant hiss in the backgound. Is there any way to alleviate this problem? Levels, recording space, mixing, any suggestions would be awesome...thank you!

Garrett

[scrubs]

You need to first determine where the hiss is coming from. It may be ambient noise in your recording environment (computer fan, refrigerator, wind blowing outside, etc. -- all problems in home recording), self noise from the microphones, or hiss from the preamps on the omega. There are other possibilities, but those are the most likely. Try unplugging the microphone and turning the preamp up all the way. Is the hiss present? If so, it's the preamp. If not, it may be the mic. Recording acoustic guitars is often problematic in this way because you have to turn the preamps up high, introducing more preamp, mic, and room noise to the recordings.

[mrface2112]

Originally Posted by scrubs

It may be ambient noise in your recording environment

that'd be my guess. we don't realise just how noisy our homes (and recording environments) are until we hang a mic and crank some gain.....makes a laptop computer sound like a 14000 BTU window AC unit.....


cheers,
wade

[smtcharlie]

Yes, good responses. Another thing to consider is mic placement. If you have the mic's too far away from your voice or acoustic, you'll have to crank up the pre-amp to get that part loud enough. Cranking things up tends to add noise. It's important to find a good spot for your acoustic which gives the mic and pre-amp a nice strong signal. You may need to get your mic closer to the guitar. I've tinkered with this for years to find my favorite spot.

There's tons of posts on mic'ing techniques around here...

Good luck,

smtcharlie

[gmudrick]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I was recording in a large closet to try to eliminate as much noise as possible with the laptop outside of the space. It sounds like my problem may be with having the pre amp turned up too much. If I record at a relatively low level can I pump up the volume by increasing the gain through Cubase on a recorded track and still have a quality recording?

[scrubs]

Originally Posted by gmudrick

Thanks to everyone who replied. I was recording in a large closet to try to eliminate as much noise as possible with the laptop outside of the space. It sounds like my problem may be with having the pre amp turned up too much. If I record at a relatively low level can I pump up the volume by increasing the gain through Cubase on a recorded track and still have a quality recording?

Well, adding gain after recording will increase the noise that is already present on the recording because your signal to noise ratio is established at the time of recording. If the preamp is extra noisy at high gain, you could try it and see if it works.