Can't get an electric guitar to record loud enough without hiss

G

Giacomo17

New member
Hi folks. I've been trying to do some research on the matter. It seems to be one of those things, where there's so much information out there on the topic that you can't find what you're looking for. At least its the case for me. Anyways....

So I'm running my electric guitar more or less straight into my amp right now (with some pedals on true bypass). Then I have a sennheiser dynamic mic a few inches from the grill, covered with a reflexion filter in the front. I also put some more sound absorption on the back of the amp, too. The mic then runs to my MOTU ultralite audio interface, then into Logic on my macbook. I then turn my amp up quite loud, until the buzzing sound is obviously too much for a decent recording. And I hit the record button.

When I don't have the audio interface's preamps on at all, the signal coming into Logic is ridiculously quiet. When I do turn them up, enough to hear the recorded guitar even half-decently, there is an unacceptably loud hiss, that masks over the entire song.

So I'm stumped, don't know what to do. I can't turn up my amp any louder without too much noise, can't turn up the preamps without too much noise, and there's no known source of too much noise otherwise that I see (I have this same situation with two very different guitars, so the problem isn't with them).

Any ideas would be HUGELY appreciated! thanks folks.

-Giacomo
 
A few questions.
Does the mic record if you speak into it? I'm just checking that the fault is not something much simpler. One very common problem is connecting the mic to the interface via the combo connector's jack connection. This is at instrument/line level - NOT - microphone level. I'm sure you haven't made this mistake but plenty do. If you have used the jack connector, then just replace the cable with one with an XLR plug on it, reconnect that and your gain available is much greater. Your symptoms sound like this type of problem.

What is the sound absorption material on the back of the amp for? Guitar amps are normally very loud, so are you trying to make the thing quieter?
 
Hey Rob. Thanks a lot for the response. The mic DOES record if I speak into it, but, like the guitar, it comes through extremely quietly. And I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about with connecting the mic to the interface via "the combo connector's jack connection" and how that's at line level. I'm assuming you're talking about the 2-in-1 inputs that the audio interface has, that can take xlr or 1/4 inch connections, but if they are at line level, wouldn't that make the incoming mic signal overly loud, not overly quiet? Any rate, I AM using that 2-in-1 input on my audio interface, and I'm using the XLR from my mic to go into it.

And about the sound absorption on the back of the amp, I'm using a RealTraps. It's just what I figured was my best shot at some room treatment.
 
Do you have the Mic Pad engaged by any chance?
If you do, that would certainly take 20dB off the level.
 
The multi connector is a Neutrik combo connector. It has mic level on the XLR, and instrument/line on the jack. If you have an XLR to XLR cable, then all is well - an XLR to jack plug isn't! The pad is another good idea. You're certain the mic is ok?
 
rob aylestone said:
The multi connector is a Neutrik combo connector. It has mic level on the XLR, and instrument/line on the jack. If you have an XLR to XLR cable, then all is well - an XLR to jack plug isn't! The pad is another good idea. You're certain the mic is ok?
Click to expand...
+1

Giacomo17 said:
I'm assuming you're talking about the 2-in-1 inputs that the audio interface has, that can take xlr or 1/4 inch connections, but if they are at line level, wouldn't that make the incoming mic signal overly loud, not overly quiet?
Click to expand...

Negative. A mic level signal is substantially lower than a line level signal.
If you go into the interface via TS/TRS then you're seeing a line input which expects a much hotter sign that a mic can provide, see?
Going into the XLR input puts a preamp in the path.
 
So it looks like I had the pad on my audio interface! That helped by about 18 db or so, but I still have a lot of buzz because I have to turn my amp up so loud.
 
Giacomo17 said:
So it looks like I had the pad on my audio interface! That helped by about 18 db or so, but I still have a lot of buzz because I have to turn my amp up so loud.
Click to expand...

When the amp is buzzing, does it improve if you unplug the guitar? It always will a bit because electric guitars are noisy mothers but if most of the noise is the guitar you might find moving it around makes the buzz come and go to some extent. However some folks seem to live in a place with a high hum field and there is little they can do.

If the buzz gets little better sans guitar there could be a fault in the amplifier..DOES IT HAVE A SAFETY EARTH?? And is it ACTUALLY connected to the chassis? But then some amps are just noisy b'stds!

There is a possibility that the hum is being coupled straight into the mic from the amp's power transformer. This is unlikely since Sennheiser make good kit but then there are plenty of amps with ***t transformers in them that radiate like flip! Again, try re-orienting the mic to see if the hum reduces. Best to monitor all this on headphones and a second pair of hands/ears can be invaluable.

Although the top recording guys here (I am but a tronics tech) will tell you there is no really "wrong" way to record guitar/amp/mic IMHO the acoustic filter is doing Jack. No harm but Jack s.

Lastly, -26dBFS is not ALL that low! You don't want to be tracking hotter than neg 18dBFS anyway.

Dave.
 
Just come to me. Are you using any "wall rat" or inline lump power supplies?

These are notorious for chucking out hum and other crap. The worst types are the AC in AC out ones.

Dave.
 
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