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I think the best option would be a preamp with 1/4” inputs going in or a mixer. This seems to be a common complaint with Focusrite interfaces. The inputs on back are line level. Another option would be to turn it up in your DAW with a gain plug or one of the volume faders in the chain.

Most preamps do have enough gain for the 7B. However, most require you to crank the gain to 75% or better, bringing up the noise floor. Therefore, adding the mic activator inline results in much less noise. It adds clean gain to the incoming signal, so you don't have to crank the preamp so high...

That's exciting, Parris! Good for you! It's never too late! I think you'll find it to be a very rewarding journey! Best of luck to you!

It does make a difference. Sound quality can most definitely be increased at the audio interface. However, there would need to be a significant jump in the quality of the AD/DA conversion and/or the mic preamps before you would likely notice an audible difference. I went from an old USB...

That's a great example of a common technique that isn't obvious to a lot of people. To this day, I always feel a little guilty when I cut lows out of the sub bass and/or kick drums or other low frequency elements. It seems counterintuitive until you come to understand the benefits and carving...

It took me a long time to really identify some mistakes and bad habits that I was making. It's just not always obvious without a true reference to speed up the curve during the learning process. I've always wished I could have a well established expert sitting next to me to point out what I was...

While much of mixing is subjective, there is a science and hard math to it as well. I certainly feel that the best practice is to mix with your ears at the end of the day. However, if your ears have never had a true reference for comparison, then there's a lot of uneducated guessing and assuming...

We're on the same page. Analog consoles definitely introduce saturation. Mixing in the box, we are talking plugins. Good saturation plugins emulate the saturation that analog consoles and other hardware add to a mix. A good, free saturation plug is "Softtube," while we're on the subject.

If I had a dollar for every time something sounded right to me, but didn't end up being right, I'd just pay someone to mix everything for me. lol That's where training the ear comes into play. What sounds "right" is very subjective. Just because someone thinks something sounds right, doesn't...

Quite the objective assessment of your own abilities, though maybe a bit harsh. lol. I think most of us have struggled with the same feeling throughout the journey. Here's my advice, for what it's worth. 1. Experience in mixing doesn't automatically come with time. Some people have been doing...

If you by chance use FL Studio, it comes with a visualizer for exactly that purpose. Super easy to use.

Ahhhh! Mystery solved! Glad you figured it out, man! Your mix sounds great on my monitors! I think I'll avoid HP! lol Take care!

Eh, no need to aplogize! Music production is a blessing and a curse. But, mostly a blessing! Sounds like your ears might need a break. I know what you mean about having your fill. I was doing the math just yesterday. The best songs in the world get repetitive if you listen to them enough times...

One tell-tale sign of any masking going on would be if the swells occur in conjunction with the start of a new element. If the swells occur at any time that only one element is playing, you can probably rule out masking. Interesting issue you're having with AD, too. I'm not very familiar with...

Hmmm.. interesting that it doesn't happen while playing back other songs, and that it happens in the same place in the track every time. That would indicate a problem with the file and probably not the computer. Could be that there is frequency masking going on, or something along those lines...

Listening on the internal computer speaker at work, it sounds like some pretty common techniques. Check out the Haas effect. This works best when you record three identical takes. Each take will be a little unique, which enhances the effect. You'll want the main take dead center. Pan the other...

The first step is definitely checking your gain staging. Regardless of what app or DAW you're using, your audio interface controls the volume of your mic going in to your computer. I'm sure you've done this, but make sure you're giving it enough gain to begin with. By default, the level in any...

Definitely doing something wrong if you're "running out of gain." I'm sure this has already been said, but I'm going to say it anyway. There's not really any such phenomenon that is "running out of gain." Technically, you can put as many gain plugins on a track as your computer will allow you...

You can make virtually any sound out of virtually any other sound. Most sampling plugins are capable of facilitating this. You need to do some general research on sound design. There are any number of ways to do this with stock plugins in just about any DAW. I use FL studio. Let me give you an...

I recommend both. A direct website isn't going to initially get the exposure and traffic that you can get on YT. There are effective strategies to stroking the YT algorithms to get your content to show up more in search results. Now, you can do the same thing with a website, but you're going to...