Extreme background hiss with Behringer Xenyx 302 USB mixer + AT4040 mic

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zoulvisia

New member
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?
 
Some random thoughts....
- The 15v phantom on the the 302 mixer is always on. Not sure how this might interact with the extra phantom power supply even if not a reason for the white noise.
- The mixer might not be be compatible with the USB 3.0 ports on the Mac. Does the Mac have USB 2.0 ports to try?
- The mixer was supplied with an AC adapter to function independently without USB power. Try the adapter with the mixer and see if you get white noise with headphones plugged into the mixer. This may show it's a problem related to the USB on the computer.
- Is the noise present with the knobs/controls set to zero/minimum or is there one control in particular that brings up the white noise?
- What will you be 'mixing' along with the microphone? If not 'mixing' in other audio, perhaps a USB audio interface (not a mixer with USB) may have been a better choice and it would have the proper 48v phantom power so an extra box would not be needed.
- Would it be possible to return the mixer and phantom power box for a refund/exchange to get a USB audio interface?
- Would something like this>> https://www.amazon.com/Alesis-IO2-2-Channel-Recording-Interface/dp/B003HR30FU be within your budget if you can get a refund/exchange as mentioned? We don't know where you are to suggest a retailer.
 
Not sure how macs "do it" but a blast of noise from a generic USB audio device in Windows indicates that the computer record levels need to be turned down..A LOT! Typically from the default 100% to 3, yup three percent!

But sadly, in your search for "smoothness" you have swapped one rather poor 16 bit converter for another rather poor 16bit converter.

If money is tight look at the Alesis i02 Express. M-Audio have recently brought out two sub £100 interfaces, get a good rep in the current Sound on Sound. The Tascam 2x2 is also well received and even better at this price point, Steinberg UR22.

But, and this stands repeating, you CANNOT blame the mic/AI/mixer until you eliminate the monitoring chain. What do top grade soprano CDs sound like through the system?

Just a further thought. A loud soprano probably needs a very expensive mic if you are going for a capacitor. Try to borrow a dynamic. Bet my one working Reslo RB would sound sweet!

Dave.
 
Can you return the Behringer gear for credit? As the other guys have already advised, a true audio interface is what you want to use.

I bought a Xenyx mixer (such a deal!), brought it home, plugged in an SM57, plugged the USB into my computer and after less playing around than you did, packed it all back up and returned it to GC the next day! Very noisy preamps, in my mind, but it was also a noisy A/D conversion taking place.
 
Thank you all for the thoughts and advice. The point that I don't really need a mixer, just an audio interface is spot-on - I don't anticipate needing to do anything but record vocals through a single mic. The Behringer is still noisy when simply plugged in to the wall with the adapter; both the gain knob and the mic volume that seem to have equal effect, and the noise is audible when both are well under 12 o'clock (which, based on my experimenting, means next-to-inaudible vocals when recording anyway). Not sure if I got a defective one or if I just set my expectations too high or if there's something else going wrong... bummer either way. At this point I think I'll see if it's still possible to return the Xenyx (hopefully I still have all the packaging flying around) and I'll look into the suggestions you've given for alternatives. And I'll try and see if there's somewhere I can rent or borrow a dynamic for comparison, too, thanks for the tip Dave! From what I've been able to uncover so far it does definitely sound like the AT4040 has some promise for my voice, though, so fingers crossed I can get it worked out.

Thanks again everyone!
 
Behringer pre amps are actually usually pretty good. Noise levels are low and that mixer should certainly be good enough for a belting soprano using a capacitor mic!

You either have a faulty one or it is the USB setup that is wrong. I hate single mic input devices, all computer sound systems are two channels in after all! If you had a PAIR of mic pres you could compare them.

Get rid.

Dave.
 
zoulvisia said:
Hi all. Apologies in advance if this is the wrong place -
And the noise. is. unbelievable. It's definitely white noise,
Click to expand...

I have just discovered that Behringer stopped providing their own drivers for some reason and apparently using their drivers results in much lower noise...
so see this youtube video some other chap made, there are direct links to the behringer drivers. good luck.
mark
search youtube for Fix to Behringer's Noisy Mixers by RIKU.
 
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