Audio Technica 4050 Feedback when recording a powerful voice

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Peter Spero

Peter Spero

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This is the strangest thing. I'm recording a very powerful, operatic classical male voice, and there is some feedback in the recordings that I have no idea where it is coming from. I'm in Logic Pro, recording using an Audio Technica 4050 mic, through my Apogee Duet, into my macbook pro, Sony MDR7506 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphones. I'm don't have an isolation booth but there is no sound around when I record. I have not experience this with any other vocal recording, but this guy certainly has the most powerful voice that I've ever recorded.
Here are 2 mp3s to have a listen.
 

Attachments

Here's the no-reverb .wav - - Looks and sounds like some clipping. Should this be the case, simply reduce the gain setting on the interface.

wav clip.webp
 
Peter Spero said:
This is the strangest thing. I'm recording a very powerful, operatic classical male voice, and there is some feedback in the recordings that I have no idea where it is coming from. I'm in Logic Pro, recording using an Audio Technica 4050 mic, through my Apogee Duet, into my macbook pro, Sony MDR7506 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphones. I'm don't have an isolation booth but there is no sound around when I record. I have not experience this with any other vocal recording, but this guy certainly has the most powerful voice that I've ever recorded.
Here are 2 mp3s to have a listen.
Click to expand...
I don’t hear feedback - I hear clipping as @spantini has noted - looks like you have blown out the vocal.
 
I assume you had the pad engaged? That mic is capable of handling nearlu 160dB and that is mega loud! I suspect like others, you accidentally overcooked it.
 
Thank you Papante and rob aylestone for your response. I did have the pad engaged, here is what I'm seeing in logic.
Screenshot 2024-11-20 at 8.09.53 AM.webp
 
That picture of logic shows a track peaking at +9.1dB!! What do you think that is going to sound like?

You are recording 15-20dB too hot, to start with, or you’ve got some crazy FX going on.

Turn off EVERYTHING and start recording so your single track peaks are around -12dB before FX and then keep them there with whatever single track or vocal bus FX you’re using. Maybe they creep up a little, depending on how big the overall mix is, but if there’s a lot more going on, you’ll need to start low, or lower, and keep it there. For a non-accompanied vocal maybe -6dB, leaving some room for mastering.

P.S. many folks would put their reverb on an Aux and use Sends to control the amount, especially when you have multiple tracks using the same reverb.
 
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keith.rogers, thank you. What I struggle with sometimes is getting the proper level for the vocalist to properly hear their voice. The gain plug is a bit of a crutch so I can increase the volume that they are hearing without increasing the input volume of their vocal signal via my Apogee Duet app. Good advice on the reverb on an Aux and using Sends to control, thank you. Will use all of your info on my next recording, which is happening today. New terf for me recording operatic voices, VERY powerful.
 
When the source is very loud, it can be difficult to get the player/singer to hear themselves in headphones. You can always boost the headphone output at the interface, or use an external headphone amp, even a cheap Behringer, might give you more gain, without sending the mix into clipping/feedback territory.

If you are turning the headphone volume up so the singer can hear themselves over their own voice inside a vocal booth, I would not be surprised if the headphone output is being picked up by the microphone.

You have to keep levels below 0dB inside the DAW because that is operating on a digital signal, at least unless you have verified you're DAW and interface is using 32-bit float all the way through, including all plugins. Once you get to an analog output, like the headphones [amp], you can twist that [volume] knob until you reach unacceptable distortion in the amplifier.
 
Peter Spero said:
. . . The gain plug is a bit of a crutch so I can increase the volume that they are hearing without increasing the input volume of their vocal signal via my Apogee Duet app . . .
Click to expand...
I see your headphones have the 62 Ohm impedance rating. This really shouldn't be a problem with volume with the Apogee Duet 3 @ .5 Ohm headphone out. If, however, you're using the Apogee Duet 2 with the 30 Ohm headphone out, the 62 Ohm headphones should still be loud enough but may benefit from a separate headphone amp to satisfy customers such as your current vocalist.
 
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