Mic input too weak

There are a lot of variables, sure, and the first thing that strikes me is that you're using a lot of long reverb there on your voice and guitar where the reference recording does not.
Your recordings are distorting a fair bit too making them sound harsh. It may be that the gain was too high when recording or it could be that they were boosted too far in software afterwards...Can't tell from here.

It all starts with the source, and I think the sound of your room is the first thing to look at.

This distortion is probably what is also causing the muffling of the sound would you say? Or at least what sounds like muffling to my ears.
When I said there's a constant battle between guitar and vocals, that was the harshness I was talking about. Panning left and right didn't really solve this problem, neither did EQing

(But yes I do recall boosting my levels after the recording in an attempt to make it sound more full, which I know now is not a good idea)
 
This distortion is probably what is also causing the muffling of the sound would you say? Or at least what sounds like muffling to my ears.
When I said there's a constant battle between guitar and vocals, that was the harshness I was talking about. Panning left and right didn't really solve this problem, neither did EQing

(But yes I do recall boosting my levels after the recording in an attempt to make it sound more full, which I know now is not a good idea)

It wouldn't help, sure.
As a general rule any kind of reverb is going to make something sound less direct, less focussed, less clear.
In your situation your room is doing that for you then reverb added in the mix is compounding it.

If your vocal and guitar are recorded live with the one microphone, as shown in your cover video, that compounds it even further
because the microphone is farther from the source(s) than it would be when recording one thing at a time and, therefore, the sound of the room ambience is even more prominent.


It's so easy to think the recording must be loud, and we can make it sound good later.
Really the raw recording needs to sound good. Worry about it being loud later.
 
It wouldn't help, sure.
As a general rule any kind of reverb is going to make something sound less direct, less focussed, less clear.
In your situation your room is doing that for you then the mix is compounding it.

It's so easy to think the recording must be loud, and we can make it sound good later.
Really the raw recording needs to sound good. Worry about it being loud later.

So to get my recordings to sound like the reference cover, which direction do I take now after I've treated the room? Do I continue recording the guitar and vocals the same way?
Or should I change to going guitar direct-in via jack?

In the reference vid, it sounds like the guys guitar is either plugged in or almost directly in front of the mic given the intensity of the strumming. But it's hard to tell whether he used a plug in to boost his RAW sound.
 
So to get my recordings to sound like the reference cover, which direction do I take now after I've treated the room? Do I continue recording the guitar and vocals the same way?
Or should I change to going guitar direct-in via jack?

The luxury of professional room treatment is nice but not everyone has that.
Trying to make the best of the environment you have can even go a long way.

If you have a room with a bed and a bookshelf in it, for example, that's probably going to be better than a room with only a wooden desk or whatever.
I'd try using the room that has the most soft furnishings and clutter.

If you put a flat empty wall in your line of sight when you're singing/playing then that wall is going to reflect a lot of sound back to the microphone and probably not sound great
whereas if you're able to put an open clothes wardrobe/cupboard, or bookshelf, in your line of sight, that will, to some extent, reduce the effect.

Combining that with keeping the microphone as close as possible to the source should help a lot.
There's only so close you can get before it just doesn't sound good, particularly with something like an acoustic guitar, but every inch makes an audible difference.

It's something to experiment with, for sure. :)
 
I took the audio from the video clip and normalised each section, and the results are interesting. the lower level clip and the 75% clip once normalised sound pretty similar, so not an issue for recording I think I'm surprised the C1 isn't a bit more perky - they're normally quite a loud mic from my own experience. The specs seem to confirm it's a quite loud mic. There's always a remote possibility yours is faulty - no way too tell without swapping it for another condenser of similar spec. It is, however quite a useful mic, just not the ideal partner to your interface for quiet sound sources.
 
I took the audio from the video clip and normalised each section, and the results are interesting. the lower level clip and the 75% clip once normalised sound pretty similar, so not an issue for recording I think I'm surprised the C1 isn't a bit more perky - they're normally quite a loud mic from my own experience. The specs seem to confirm it's a quite loud mic. There's always a remote possibility yours is faulty - no way too tell without swapping it for another condenser of similar spec. It is, however quite a useful mic, just not the ideal partner to your interface for quiet sound sources.

Interesting. All my condensers give pretty much the same result (ie. the same levels), if in fact the C-1 is a loud mic, then technically I shouldn't have a problem here yet once again the C-1 gives me about the same input as my other mics. Do you think possibly it could be a DAW issue (maybe the PC and DAW aren't communicating well enough), or perhaps the interface? But you did note that the recording may not be an issue so could be other factors here.
 
I've never known any software do things with levels once the digital data stream exists. If your mic gives the same levels via the interface then your performance seems controlled by the interface. With my condensers, I frequently need to turn the gain DOWN to stop it peaking on the loudest input levels - does yours do this? I tend to leave my interface gains alone by and large - and I see red lights on the cubase screen, and this makes me look at the interface level, and turn it down. I doubt my gain control ever varies by more than maybe 30 degrees, low to high?
 
I've never known any software do things with levels once the digital data stream exists. If your mic gives the same levels via the interface then your performance seems controlled by the interface. With my condensers, I frequently need to turn the gain DOWN to stop it peaking on the loudest input levels - does yours do this? I tend to leave my interface gains alone by and large - and I see red lights on the cubase screen, and this makes me look at the interface level, and turn it down. I doubt my gain control ever varies by more than maybe 30 degrees, low to high?

What do you mean to stop it peaking on the loudest input levels? Yes ofcorse you would turn it down at the maximum, as it will clip anyway. Unless you mean something else by that

I used to use Cubase for my scarlett 2i2, but since I got my audiobox 96 I got familiar with it's Studio one 3. When I see red lights appear, it's only because I start boosting it in the software, because it's not loud enough for me initially. The tracks don't sit right, that's why I start getting my distortion and the whole mix just isn't comfortable for the ear. On top of all that there's more hissing the more I boost the levels or increase the gain knob.
 
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That's enlightening I think.
My two interfaces are quite easy to overdrive, and start peaking on the loud unexpected bits. Do I take it that your mics and other sources cannot produce 0dB, under any circumstances and you are boosting within the software? I think the gain knob on a condenser sits around 60-70% typically and being suddenly loud brings on a red light there AND in Cubase. If you increase the level till your interface says "enough" - what kind of level is this in your DAW - maybe the interface is not working as it should?
 
That's enlightening I think.
My two interfaces are quite easy to overdrive, and start peaking on the loud unexpected bits. Do I take it that your mics and other sources cannot produce 0dB, under any circumstances and you are boosting within the software? I think the gain knob on a condenser sits around 60-70% typically and being suddenly loud brings on a red light there AND in Cubase. If you increase the level till your interface says "enough" - what kind of level is this in your DAW - maybe the interface is not working as it should?

I can go to 0db but only at 95% gain knob. The interface will go full but hissing and distortion will then start to muddy up the track and this is raw no editing.

I followed another tutorial using 2 condensers, my scarlett and behringer C1. In front of sound hole right next to each other facing 45degrees with respect to guitar (one towards bridge and one towards the 12th fret. I panned them left and right but only a slightly better result. I'm unsuccessfully filling up all the available music space and my recordings still come out too centered even when panning.
 
I can go to 0db but only at 95% gain knob. The interface will go full but hissing and distortion will then start to muddy up the track and this is raw no editing.

I followed another tutorial using 2 condensers, my scarlett and behringer C1. In front of sound hole right next to each other facing 45degrees with respect to guitar (one towards bridge and one towards the 12th fret. I panned them left and right but only a slightly better result. I'm unsuccessfully filling up all the available music space and my recordings still come out too centered even when panning.

Try this: NO mics plugged in*, phantom power off. Gains at max, record 30secs. Post it (attach 320k MP3 please) . If fairly quiet, do again with spook juice on. A third recording with gains at minimum should give you a noise floor close to -90dBfs, if not, crap interface IMHO.

*Yes, best to have a shielded 150 Ohm termnation but I find it only makes a few dB of improvement.

Dave.
 
I'm thinking the interface too after the results so far. I find it difficult to NOT go over virtually full gain to get to 0dB seems a fault?
 
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