New to recording, bought some gear and am useless at setting it up

[Paido]

Hi,

I recently bought an 'alesis multimix 4' mixer and a Rode NT1-A with the intent to sample my vocals and to use with my electric guitar, amplifier and midi keyboard (I have a GDEC 3 thirty).

I'm completely new to recording so apologies for my ignorance. Even though i know little about recording, I just can't get the NT1-A to sound anything like it's supposed to using the mixer, it sounds horrible.

I also get this really annoying hiss coming from the mixer. I use windows 7 and have been told there is no specific driver for the mixer and instead I should use the windows one. It works but the hiss makes recording pointless.

Firstly does anyone know how to get rid of this annoying hiss? Is there any equipment you would recommend me buying to progress further or will I be able to get some okay recordings with what I've got? I'm not looking for perfection but just something that at least does the NT1-A justice.

I also have a SM58 Shure micorphone that I could use to record acoustic stuff.

I'm currently using audacity, which I'm finding problematic, would it be worth investing in cubase?

 

[LDS]

What are you connecting the output of the mixer to?

 

[guitaristic]

Hi,

I recently bought an 'alesis multimix 4' mixer and a Rode NT1-A with the intent to sample my vocals and to use with my electric guitar, amplifier and midi keyboard (I have a GDEC 3 thirty).

I'm completely new to recording so apologies for my ignorance. Even though i know little about recording, I just can't get the NT1-A to sound anything like it's supposed to using the mixer, it sounds horrible.

I also get this really annoying hiss coming from the mixer. I use windows 7 and have been told there is no specific driver for the mixer and instead I should use the windows one. It works but the hiss makes recording pointless.

Firstly does anyone know how to get rid of this annoying hiss? Is there any equipment you would recommend me buying to progress further or will I be able to get some okay recordings with what I've got? I'm not looking for perfection but just something that at least does the NT1-A justice.

I also have a SM58 Shure micorphone that I could use to record acoustic stuff.

I'm currently using audacity, which I'm finding problematic, would it be worth investing in cubase?

Welcome to HR!

So I guess you're using the usb function on your alesis to record, correct? Chances are that the hissing sound might be due to the quality of the mixer. I'd recommend getting a solid audio interface of some sort instead of the mixer.

I know some people have had success recording with 58s, but I've found that they're not that great for recording purposes. But since you've got it, I'd still give it a shot anyways.

And instead of audacity, I'd recommend Reaper. It's a fully functioning, free DAW download http://www.reaper.fm/, and works for 30 days. After that you're supposed to pay $60 if you continue using it, but it still works even if you don't pay. I know there are many people on the forum that still do that, though I won't mention any names

 

[ido1957]

You should be able to get a decent clean sound out of that equipment.

Plug the mic in and put on your headphones.
Set the volume to 12 oclock
Adjust the gain to about 10 oclock
Speak into the mic
Adjust the gain until you get the level meters into the yellow but not the red.

Do you hear any hiss coming from the headphones?

If yes then the problem originates from either the mic or the mixer.
- Try both mic channels to see if you have a bad channel
- try turning down the gain and increasing the volume to see if the hiss gets less
- try another mic to see if it is the mic. You can bring it to a store and try out one of their demos if you don't have one of your own.
- try your guitar into the instrument input and try the headphone out of your keyboard into the line input(s) to see if they too get hiss.

If you get no hiss just using the headphones then the problem lies somewhere in your connection to the computer.

Connect the USB send into the computer and check for hiss - try each instrument mic individually to see if there is hiss from all or some channels.
Disconnect your USB and Connect the main out(s) to your microphone input on your computer. Mic inputs on a computer usually get crappy sound but you might get less hiss - usually you get more but it's something to try.

If the headphones on the mixer gives you hiss then take the mixer back.
If the USB gives you hiss (but the headphones don't) then it's the USB connection and might be related to the driver. Alesis doesn't have drivers you need so you could try ASIOforall drivers. http://www.asio4all.com/

 

[Yonce N Mild]

I had this same problem with my multimix 8. Anything I played through the mixer on phones sounded clean. It only happened with the audio output for the computer. I tried the aiso for all drivers with no luck. I just wrote off the mixer as a piece of shit and gave up.

 

[trigger]

Is there phantom power on your mixer and is it turned on to drive the Rode mic?

 

[ido1957]

Yes it has Phantom. If the headphone or mains is clear you could use that send through a BEHRINGER: UCA202 to your computer. Their web site shows a bunch of Windows 7 drivers.