acoustic guitar volume too low

[SheHadTheJack]

Dont know if i´m reposting, then bare with me.
Anyway: im trying to record my acoustic guitar through a shure mic sm57, into my Lexicon omega into cubase. The mic is about 15cm away from the guitar over 12th fret.

But the volume is really low. What do i do

 

[scrubs]

Unfortunately, dynamic mics have notoriously low output and I would imagine the preamp gain on the omega is not very loud, even when cranked. Moving the mic over the soundhole will get you more volume, but also more "boominess" that you'll have to eq out later. You can also bring up the gain inside your software, but that will also make any background noise louder. Aside from getting a condenser mic or a preamp with more gain, there's not much else to do, though.

 

[brandrum]

have you tried doubling the track?

 

[Nick98338]

I tried recording acoustic guitar with an SM57. Ran into the same problem. Using my Inspire 1394, I had to use the boost in the preamp, turn the gain in the preamp all the way up, and still had to get the guitar rather close to the mic to get reasonable volume. That caused the sound to be way too "boomy". Solution was a condeser mic. Don't need the boost, gain is about 1 o'clock, guitar about 30cm from mic. Nice clean sound. The average of the volume is at a good level. A few of the peaks need to be brought down with a little compressor. I use the SM57 only for vocals now. Voice is not "boomy" like an acoustic guitar, so the mic can be very close to the mouth which increases the volume. Then the gain can be lower and without the boost in the preamp.

 

[SheHadTheJack]

Well, earlier i was adviced in the forum, if i only would buy one mic and use it for both singing and acoustic guitar i should buy an sm57 - i guess that wasnt true.

So today i bought an ADK hamburg condensed mic really cheap. Just dont have phantom power, but im hoping to borrow a mixer from a friend.

Thanks

 

[scrubs]

Well, earlier i was adviced in the forum, if i only would buy one mic and use it for both singing and acoustic guitar i should buy an sm57 - i guess that wasnt true.

So today i bought an ADK hamburg condensed mic really cheap. Just dont have phantom power, but im hoping to borrow a mixer from a friend.

Thanks

The omega has phantom power.

 

[Newbie dude]

This is just an idea. It might be completely idiotic, but my intentions are good. Record the track as loud as you can, then once it's recorded turn the digital fader all the way up and your monitors all the way up. The take a cord and connect it from the audio output jack on your monitors to the the line input on your recording interface.


Oh yeah, here's another thing you can try. Go to inserts on the track's inspector, click on one of them and choose distortion. When you click that, there's, i think, three different types. Choose the Middle one. I frget the name, but I know its NOT DaTube. Select old school distortion. If it works for you like it worked for me, it will boost the signal but[ for some odd reason] won't distort it.

Here's another option. Use the Normalize function. Unfortunately, this can add background fuzz.

 

[SheHadTheJack]

The omega has phantom power, nice, couldnt see it anywhere.

Newbie guy thanks for the advices, guess i won´t be needing them. I have tried the to last ones before, and it words ok. Its just a little silly to make hissing recordings now that i have bought a rather expenssive soundcard.

Anyway, thanks all

 

[travelin travis]

I can't believe someone recommended a 57 for acoustic guitar!

 

[Newbie dude]

Nobody in their right mind would reccomend sm57 specifically for an acoustic guitar. However, if someone asked me whats a good cheap multipurpose mic, as I'm guessing this guy did, I would reccomend the sm57. So whoever recommended it for this guy wasn't an idiot.