Need help with boosting gain/volume with minimal hiss

[street_lyte]

Hey guys, great forum, would really appreciate some wisdom here...

I'm doing a simple project for my church recording solo chord-melody arrangements of hymns we do on a nylon string guitar.


I'm recording in single track stereo config, here is my gear -


iMac 27" i7 Lion OSX
Logic Pro 9 Studio (legit and current firmware 9.1.7)
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40

2x Art Pro Channel Single Channel Preamp
2x Rode NT5 Cardoid Condensor mic (each preamp is hooked to one of the NT5's)



Long story short, I can't seem to get a loud enough input into my DAW without a hiss level that I find acceptable. Even with using a high-shelf to eliminate high-end frequencies, it's still there. I prefer to mic further away to avoid boominess, but am open to mic placement/eq suggestions

I have ruled out cables, grounding (have a monster power conditioner) and all other simple fixes.

What are some possible ways/ideas to get a good solid gain input structure that
could give me the best results?

Below I linked a picture of my preamp for you guys to check out,


ART Pro Channel Tube Mic Preamp | Musician's Friend


Thanks!

 

[Track Rat]

Are you using the Arts as mic preamps? If so, why and how do you have it connected to the Focusrite?

 

[PRHunt]

If you are using the Arts as preamps, make sure that the phantom on the Focusrite is off. But, I would suggest that you try just running the mics directly to the preamps on the Focusrite.

Make sure that the pad is not engaged (as pad will cut your input),

The manual states that the Focusrite mic pre will provide +10dB to +55dB of gain which should be OK. I understood that the NT5 was pretty quiet.

Paul

 

[GuitarLegend]

You said you prefer to mix further away to reduce boominess but you didn't say how far away you were doing it. If you set the mics about 40cm away it should be ok but if you have to bring them in closer, you can then apply EQ (hpf) to eliminate the booming without affecting the top end. That may give you a little more grunt

 

[Track Rat]

Generally I only get boom with Dreadnaughts if I get the mic near the soundhole. Try the mic pointed at the neck/body joint, out about 12" or so.

 

[RAMI]

I can't seem to get a loud enough input into my DAW without a hiss level that I find acceptable.!

This raises a couple of question/points.

1) What do you mean by "loud enough input"? What level are you shooting for?

2) Just to be clear, the hiss you're getting is most likely there even at low levels, you just can't hear it. If the hiss is coming from the source (before the mic), then it's there no matter what.