AT2020 sound quality / volume

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dotnick

New member
Hey everyone

I'm a gaming live streamer on Twitch.tv and I could use some help with some audio troubles I'm having that are driving me nuts.

I'm using an Audio Technica AT2020 XLR that plugs into my Behringer Xenyx QX1002USB mixer.

I usually have the mic in front of my mouth (~10 cm from my mouth) using a scissor arm. Unless I put the mic *very* close to my mouth (<5 cm) it sounds like the mic is too far away from me. I'm not sure how to explain it but its kinda similar to when you talk to the back side of the mic. The mic picks up every tiny sound in the room (my feet, chair, desk, breathing) at a similar level even though the mic is right there in front of my mouth. I don't use the compressor. I am 100% sure I'm talking to the front side of the mic, I've checked 20 times already :)

If you compare one of my past broadcasts (https://www.twitch.tv/thebeardontwitch/v/85240890) to one of another streamer that I know uses a similar mic (https://www.twitch.tv/towelliee/v/85584017 - he uses the AT2035 but from what I understand they are fairly similar mics) you can see that even though his mic is a fair bit away from his mouth, his voice is loud and clear compared to mine and you can barely hear any other sounds (keyboard, mouse etc)

I guess what I'm looking is to boost my voice compared to everything else.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Nick
 
dotnick said:
Hey everyone

I'm a gaming live streamer on Twitch.tv and I could use some help with some audio troubles I'm having that are driving me nuts.

I'm using an Audio Technica AT2020 XLR that plugs into my Behringer Xenyx QX1002USB mixer.

I usually have the mic in front of my mouth (~10 cm from my mouth) using a scissor arm. Unless I put the mic *very* close to my mouth (<5 cm) it sounds like the mic is too far away from me. I'm not sure how to explain it but its kinda similar to when you talk to the back side of the mic. The mic picks up every tiny sound in the room (my feet, chair, desk, breathing) at a similar level even though the mic is right there in front of my mouth. I don't use the compressor. I am 100% sure I'm talking to the front side of the mic, I've checked 20 times already :)

If you compare one of my past broadcasts (https://www.twitch.tv/thebeardontwitch/v/85240890) to one of another streamer that I know uses a similar mic (https://www.twitch.tv/towelliee/v/85584017 - he uses the AT2035 but from what I understand they are fairly similar mics) you can see that even though his mic is a fair bit away from his mouth, his voice is loud and clear compared to mine and you can barely hear any other sounds (keyboard, mouse etc)

I guess what I'm looking is to boost my voice compared to everything else.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Nick
Click to expand...

You do have Phantom Power engaged, correct? Seems obvious, but you'd be surprised.
 
The correct side of the mic is the side that has 'Audio-Technica' printed on it and should be facing you as it is a 'side address' mic. I looked at my AT2020 and it actually has the word 'Back' on the backside.

Are you using a laptop that has mics and perhaps those are enabled rather than the AT2020 (although you did say at 5cm it picks up better)? At 10cm that should be plenty close to pickup your voice clearly.

Are you fairly confident you've set the channel gain of the mixer properly?

Is the mic mounted in a shockmount on the scissor arm to reduce vibrations that may be on the desk?

Yup, a condenser mic will pick up room sounds easily :) Being close to the mic allows you to reduce the preamp gain hopefully reducing what the mic picks up for ambient sound/noise.
 
arcaxis said:
The correct side of the mic is the side that has 'Audio-Technica' printed on it and should be facing you as it is a 'side address' mic. I looked at my AT2020 and it actually has the word 'Back' on the backside.
Click to expand...

I'm confident I'm speaking to the front side, just checked again :)

arcaxis said:
Are you using a laptop that has mics and perhaps those are enabled rather than the AT2020 (although you did say at 5cm it picks up better)? At 10cm that should be plenty close to pickup your voice clearly.
Click to expand...

I'm on PC with only one other mic (webcam) but I'm using the correct one.

arcaxis said:
Are you fairly confident you've set the channel gain of the mixer properly?
Click to expand...

The gain and channel level knobs are all around 50%-60%. I played around the gain but increasing it also boosts noise pretty much linearly.

arcaxis said:
Is the mic mounted in a shockmount on the scissor arm to reduce vibrations that may be on the desk?
Click to expand...

Yes it is.

arcaxis said:
Yup, a condenser mic will pick up room sounds easily :) Being close to the mic allows you to reduce the preamp gain hopefully reducing what the mic picks up for ambient sound/noise.
Click to expand...

For a long time I've convinced myself of that and that I had everything configured properly. It only started bugging me again lately when I started watching other streamers and noticing how much clearer they sound with similar mics.

What is weird is that when a friend loaned my a few of his dynamic mics to test (including an SM58 and SM57) I didn't notice much of a difference, even though - based on what I've read - dynamic mics should do a better job at not picking up ambient noise.

Could it be because I'm in a small room? I've tried to treat the room the bit with a few panels on the surfaces directly in front of me/mic but I'm questioning everything at this point.
 
Here's a quick clip with an AT2020 handheld, no pop filter at about 12cm and X1204USB into Reaper(DAW). No processing other than a conversion to mp3 for posting. Room is untreated and not really that quiet.

The gain on the 1204 mixer was at about 4 o'clock for a normal speaking voice. No compression and EQ's at 12 o'clock.
 

Attachments

  • at2020 x1204usb test.mp3
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@dotnik
I listened to your audio for a couple of minutes. I think the ambient sounds are typical with your situation. You can set up a noise reduction plugin that will silence everything below a certain dbs (whatever you set it too). you'll have to experiment with this to see if it will work for you.

The best voice over you could get would be real close into a good dynamic, not moving away.....but I
don't get the impression thats your style
 
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