Few questions regrading my recording rig

[Benking34]

Hello everyone! First of all excuse my english

With the help of some members here I purchased myself a new recording rig month or two ago, was using it since then it's a Rode Procaster hooked to a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, hanged on a Rode PSA-1 and PSM-1.
I have some questions for you regarding it:

-I am troubling to find the best recording technique that will pick me up the best and will isolate the background the most and that it will not block my screen and will not hurt the microphone caspule. tried putting it to the side of the mouth but it doesn't seemed the best, tried "hanging" it with capsule kinda down but it doesn't seems the best too, best technique that worked was infront of my mouth, but that hurts the caspule right?
-From time to time I can hear myself breath to the microphone (when the third technique I tried is applied), will something like a foam ball help? will I sound dull or something?
-Is it normal that I have to apply about 3/4 gain with this audio interface and microphone?
-I have a kinda cheap XLR cable, from amazon for about 10$, should I replace it?

That's pretty much it, sorry for making it so long.

Thanks, any help is much appreciated!

 

[Steenamaroo]

Hi Ben,
I guess you're recording speech or vocals, right?

It's completely normal to use a mic 'head on'. You won't damage it.
Perhaps what you're thinking of is the possibility of plosives?

If you say that phrase into your mic close up it'll come out "Possibility of Plosives"
Just put a pop filter in front of the mic or a foam ball if you prefer. That should help.

Don't worry about the cable. Cheap cables tend to break sooner but if it works, it works. An expensive one wont sound better.

Isolating background noise isn't really a thing. A mic won't discriminate; If you can hear the noise, it can.

Now, if there's a source of noise like a computer fan, you can place it in the microphone's null and that might help.
You can also make a conscious effort to get as close to the mic as possible. This will let you turn the gain down a bit and will make the room noise lower, relative to your voice.

 

[Benking34]

Hi Ben,
I guess you're recording speech or vocals, right?

It's completely normal to use a mic 'head on'. You won't damage it.
Perhaps what you're thinking of is the possibility of plosives?

If you say that phrase into your mic close up it'll come out "Possibility of Plosives"
Just put a pop filter in front of the mic or a foam ball if you prefer. That should help.

Don't worry about the cable. Cheap cables tend to break sooner but if it works, it works. An expensive one wont sound better.

Isolating background noise isn't really a thing. A mic won't discriminate; If you can hear the noise, it can.

Now, if there's a source of noise like a computer fan, you can place it in the microphone's null and that might help.
You can also make a conscious effort to get as close to the mic as possible. This will let you turn the gain down a bit and will make the room noise lower, relative to your voice.

Thanks for the quick replay!

I am recording vocals, gaming commentary to be exact.
I do not have the problem of plosives, i'm just afraid of the air that is coming out of my mouth whenever I talk, I'm afraid it will ruin the caspule with moisture.
So you say it's okay to place the microphone like this? (I think I added a picture).

And about the background, I'll try maybe silencing my PC (Yes i'm a computer nerd) because the main noise is the PC.

 

[Bobbsy]

It's completely normal to have the mic directly in front of you--except that might bring on a "Problem with Plosives" and necessitate a pop filter. A bigger problem for you might be the mic blocking the view of what you're commentating on so an angle from above or slightly to one side (but with the capsule pointed at your mouth) might work for you.

The other thing to watch is the pattern of your mic. It's most sensitive directly in line with the front of the capsule and least sensitive directly behind it. This means that if you can put the computer (or other noise source) directly behind the mic, it helps to minimise noise issues. Obviously the reality will be a compromise. Another trick is to hang something soft (quilt, movers blanket) behind you so reflected noise into the sensitive front of the mic is reduced.

The other other thing is the "inverse square law". Don't worry about the math but means that doubling the distance from your computer will quarter the noise pick up. Similarly, halving the distance to you mouth will give you 4 times as much voice pick up compared to the noise.

As you can see, it's more a matter of trial and error rather than a single solution. Hope this helps!

 

[polarity]

I can't say about that interface or mic but if I set the gain on any of my interfaces to 3/4 I'm going to be clipping and recording every sound in a 16 block radius. Might want to consider turning that down a little. IMO it's better to have a quiet clear recording, you can always boost the volume later in software. A veteran may come in and prove me wrong on that, but that's my take.