Hi all. Apologies in advance if this is the wrong place - I thought about posting in Recording Techniques, but it's not a technique question per se. Just a cry for help (and I am a newbie, so...).
[the following paragraph is just detailed background/adding colour to the narrative - feel free to skip]
I've been doing some really simple home recording of vocals + piano for the past 10 months, after buying myself an AT2020 USB mic in January. I like the AT2020 in a lot of ways - as a USB mic, it's really straightforward to use and doesn't require any external parts (great for me, since I'm a weekend hobbyist at best), it has great quality for the price... but I've hit a point where I want something a little better. There's a kind of graininess to the AT2020, I find, and I find it adds a weird tinniness/shrillness to my high notes - which is a problem, since I'm a soprano. Of course, I know *I* could be the source of the shrillness but anyway, I was at a point where I just wanted to try something new for comparison - and, most importantly, a non-USB mic. I saw really good reviews of the XLR AT2020, but I settled on a step up to the AT4040 after researching the specs/watching a bunch of videos/reviews from female vocalists/etc.
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Since I'm just a casual hobbyist, though, having splashed out on the AT4040 I decided to look for budget options for the associated gear. I ordered the Behringer Xenyx 302 USB mixing device, and only realized after ordering that it only supplies 15V of phantom power when I need 48V for the AT4040. Per Behringer's advice, I ordered the InnoGear 1 48V phantom power supply to put between the mixer and the mic.
Okay. Cut to today. All my parts have arrived. I'm excited to finally try this out. I plug the Xenyx 302 into my computer (Macbook with USB3.0 ports), connect the InnoGear to the Xenyx MIC IN through one XLR cable, connect the AT4040 to the InnoGear through a second XLR cable. Plug the InnoGear in to my wall outlet and turn it on. Crack open Garageband, set the input device to "USB Codec" (which is how it recognizes the Xenyx), and hit record to test.
And the noise. is. unbelievable. It's definitely white noise, and what's funny is that it's present even when the InnoGear is unplugged and it's just the Xenyx with absolutely nothing attached, leading me to suspect it's an issue with the Xenyx itself. The second issue is that the microphone itself is SUPER quiet through the noise. I've fiddled a bunch with all the knobs and levers on the Xenyx - set the gain and mic volume down, etc. etc. - and if I get to a point where the noise is reasonable, I can't even hear my vocals. And yes, I am singing into the correct side of the mic. Same problem in Audacity, and after running a noise cut I just end up with such faint, distant vocals it's hardly any better.
I'm pretty disappointed. From what I can tell through the noise, the AT4040 is really nice to my voice and I'd love to be able to use this mic. But as it stands, I just can't. So I was wondering if anyone has any experience using any of the gear I've got in my setup, or general tips that may work for reducing noise, or glaring problems with my setup that I'm not aware of. Is it because I've got the 48v phantom power supply in between the mixer and the mic, and that's somehow effing everything up? It's frustrating, because all the parts I'm using individually have great reviews that often emphasize for they're "low noise"! What am I doing wrong?
[the following paragraph is just detailed background/adding colour to the narrative - feel free to skip]
I've been doing some really simple home recording of vocals + piano for the past 10 months, after buying myself an AT2020 USB mic in January. I like the AT2020 in a lot of ways - as a USB mic, it's really straightforward to use and doesn't require any external parts (great for me, since I'm a weekend hobbyist at best), it has great quality for the price... but I've hit a point where I want something a little better. There's a kind of graininess to the AT2020, I find, and I find it adds a weird tinniness/shrillness to my high notes - which is a problem, since I'm a soprano. Of course, I know *I* could be the source of the shrillness but anyway, I was at a point where I just wanted to try something new for comparison - and, most importantly, a non-USB mic. I saw really good reviews of the XLR AT2020, but I settled on a step up to the AT4040 after researching the specs/watching a bunch of videos/reviews from female vocalists/etc.
[/end]
Since I'm just a casual hobbyist, though, having splashed out on the AT4040 I decided to look for budget options for the associated gear. I ordered the Behringer Xenyx 302 USB mixing device, and only realized after ordering that it only supplies 15V of phantom power when I need 48V for the AT4040. Per Behringer's advice, I ordered the InnoGear 1 48V phantom power supply to put between the mixer and the mic.
Okay. Cut to today. All my parts have arrived. I'm excited to finally try this out. I plug the Xenyx 302 into my computer (Macbook with USB3.0 ports), connect the InnoGear to the Xenyx MIC IN through one XLR cable, connect the AT4040 to the InnoGear through a second XLR cable. Plug the InnoGear in to my wall outlet and turn it on. Crack open Garageband, set the input device to "USB Codec" (which is how it recognizes the Xenyx), and hit record to test.
And the noise. is. unbelievable. It's definitely white noise, and what's funny is that it's present even when the InnoGear is unplugged and it's just the Xenyx with absolutely nothing attached, leading me to suspect it's an issue with the Xenyx itself. The second issue is that the microphone itself is SUPER quiet through the noise. I've fiddled a bunch with all the knobs and levers on the Xenyx - set the gain and mic volume down, etc. etc. - and if I get to a point where the noise is reasonable, I can't even hear my vocals. And yes, I am singing into the correct side of the mic. Same problem in Audacity, and after running a noise cut I just end up with such faint, distant vocals it's hardly any better.
I'm pretty disappointed. From what I can tell through the noise, the AT4040 is really nice to my voice and I'd love to be able to use this mic. But as it stands, I just can't. So I was wondering if anyone has any experience using any of the gear I've got in my setup, or general tips that may work for reducing noise, or glaring problems with my setup that I'm not aware of. Is it because I've got the 48v phantom power supply in between the mixer and the mic, and that's somehow effing everything up? It's frustrating, because all the parts I'm using individually have great reviews that often emphasize for they're "low noise"! What am I doing wrong?