Hi everyone! I've been pulling my hair out for hours trying to get a good radio/podcast sound from a Behringer Xenyx 802/1002 (I own both) going into a Zoom h4n. (I'm using a Heil PR40 XLR to the Behringer any a TRS to the Zoom h4n.)
Last month I had my settings set up and it sounded great! If you're familiar with podcasts, my sound was similar to Leo Leport. Nice, compressed broadcast sound. But, long story short, I lost the settings that I had set on my Zoom and Behringer.
I'm NOT a pro. In fact my previous settings were set up completely by accident, but they sounded great. I'm totally a beginner, and I'm not trying to become and audio engineer. I just want to start podcasting and video voice over and I need a nice quality sound. Not amazing (like professional talk radio) just good radio/podcast sound. So, I'm here to ask for help.
1) I have no idea how to go about setting up my mixer: "level", "Trim", "Main Mix", etc. I've read several introductory articles online and none of them really explain how to start working on a sound boards levels one step at a time. I THINK I'm supposed to start by setting my line/track level to 0 (or "Unity") and my Main Mix to 0 (or "Unity"), and then adjust "Trim" until it sounds good. Is that correct?
2) Is the "Trim" on my behringer = to Gain, or Sensitivity? Is it best for the trim to be as low as possible, or as high as possible? Should I adjust my Level and Main Mix really high and then set Trim low?
3) I have no idea what my Zoom h4n "Unity" level is, but I assume that that's where I should start out my settings at and then work from there. The Zoom h4n has an effect called Vocal Pre that has a compression knob that goes from 0-10. This isn't very helpful as I have no idea what 0-10 is equal to. Should I aim to keep this low, or high? I think I'm after a highly compressed sound, but I'm not really sure. The Vocal Pre effect also has a Level option. I assume this is for setting the Level of the effect. Should the level be high, or low? The level goes from 0-100. No indication of dB. So, I'm at a loss.
4) The Zoom h4n also has a Limiter that I don't entirely understand how to use, but I'm under the impression that a Limiter is similar to a compressor in that it limits the volume to certain dB. It also goes from 0-100. So I have no idea what those numbers indicate in dB. The higher I turn it up the louder my Gain (I think). The less compression of sound I get. I was using this before too.
5) I'm also worried that the "signal" I'm sending from the Behringer to the Zoom h4n may be hurting the electronic components in the Zoom h4n due to something I read about attenuation, or line level something. (I have very little idea what I'm talking about). Is it possible that the signal I'm sending into the Zoom h4n via a TRS from the Berhinger's Main Out may hurt my Zoom h4n?
6) In the end I'd like to figure out what sort settings I need to get a good podcast/broadcast vocal sound. I know it's possible because I did it before, on accident. But since I'm a noob I don't know how to replicate it.
7) I forgot to mention that the Zoom h4n also has a recording level adjustment called Input Level. It goes from 1-100. I haven no idea what purpose it serves, all I know is that stuff gets louder when I turn it up. I don't know if this needs to be set at 0 (or "Unity"). And I haven idea what Unity would be because it just goes from 0-100 and there's no indication of what "Unity" is.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Last month I had my settings set up and it sounded great! If you're familiar with podcasts, my sound was similar to Leo Leport. Nice, compressed broadcast sound. But, long story short, I lost the settings that I had set on my Zoom and Behringer.
I'm NOT a pro. In fact my previous settings were set up completely by accident, but they sounded great. I'm totally a beginner, and I'm not trying to become and audio engineer. I just want to start podcasting and video voice over and I need a nice quality sound. Not amazing (like professional talk radio) just good radio/podcast sound. So, I'm here to ask for help.
1) I have no idea how to go about setting up my mixer: "level", "Trim", "Main Mix", etc. I've read several introductory articles online and none of them really explain how to start working on a sound boards levels one step at a time. I THINK I'm supposed to start by setting my line/track level to 0 (or "Unity") and my Main Mix to 0 (or "Unity"), and then adjust "Trim" until it sounds good. Is that correct?
2) Is the "Trim" on my behringer = to Gain, or Sensitivity? Is it best for the trim to be as low as possible, or as high as possible? Should I adjust my Level and Main Mix really high and then set Trim low?
3) I have no idea what my Zoom h4n "Unity" level is, but I assume that that's where I should start out my settings at and then work from there. The Zoom h4n has an effect called Vocal Pre that has a compression knob that goes from 0-10. This isn't very helpful as I have no idea what 0-10 is equal to. Should I aim to keep this low, or high? I think I'm after a highly compressed sound, but I'm not really sure. The Vocal Pre effect also has a Level option. I assume this is for setting the Level of the effect. Should the level be high, or low? The level goes from 0-100. No indication of dB. So, I'm at a loss.
4) The Zoom h4n also has a Limiter that I don't entirely understand how to use, but I'm under the impression that a Limiter is similar to a compressor in that it limits the volume to certain dB. It also goes from 0-100. So I have no idea what those numbers indicate in dB. The higher I turn it up the louder my Gain (I think). The less compression of sound I get. I was using this before too.
5) I'm also worried that the "signal" I'm sending from the Behringer to the Zoom h4n may be hurting the electronic components in the Zoom h4n due to something I read about attenuation, or line level something. (I have very little idea what I'm talking about). Is it possible that the signal I'm sending into the Zoom h4n via a TRS from the Berhinger's Main Out may hurt my Zoom h4n?
6) In the end I'd like to figure out what sort settings I need to get a good podcast/broadcast vocal sound. I know it's possible because I did it before, on accident. But since I'm a noob I don't know how to replicate it.
7) I forgot to mention that the Zoom h4n also has a recording level adjustment called Input Level. It goes from 1-100. I haven no idea what purpose it serves, all I know is that stuff gets louder when I turn it up. I don't know if this needs to be set at 0 (or "Unity"). And I haven idea what Unity would be because it just goes from 0-100 and there's no indication of what "Unity" is.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
