subversive
New member
Hi there, I see some pretty smart people discussing things on here, hopefully someone can point me in the right direction here. I've got some equipment, most of it I owned previously but never used much. I'm trying to get myself set up to do some screen recordings, webinars, and podcasts for my business and I'm running into some challenges. Here's the details.
Equipment I own
Behringer Xenyx Q1202USB mixer
ART C3 condenser mic
Shure PG58 dynamic mic
Windows 10 PC with onboard sound, and Asus Xonar DG PCI sound card added. Audacity for recording & editing
various XLR and other cables.
Here's how I've got it cabled at the moment.
ART C3 mic into XLR1
2 track out to Xonar sound card line in
Xonar sound card output (the green one) to FX send on mixer (so I can hear myself through headphones)
Headphones connected to headphone jack on mixer
I've got the Level and gain set to 0 on channel 1, and main mix set to 0 on the mixer. Phantom power is turned on, and that's pretty much it. Seems like it should be pretty straightforward, but here's the problem. I'm getting a noticeable hiss which I can't seem to get rid of. I recorded to audacity and checked through a different set of speakers, just to make sure it wasn't some internal thing that I was only hearing on the headphones, and it's definitely coming out of the mixer. If I turn off phantom power and plug my Shure mic in instead, the hiss goes away, but I have to get up so bloody close to the mic to get an acceptable volume, that every breath sound, mouth click, and popping P is audible, so I'm thinking I'd prefer to use the ART mic (also, I think it's a better quality mic?).
So, I feel like this can be 1 of a few different options, let me know if I'm on the right track.
1. Crappy phantom power on mixer. I'm leaning to this, since there's no hissing problem when using the dynamic mic
2. Crappy XLR cables. I tried different cables, no change, but they were both cheap cables, so this is possible, I guess?
3. Mic problem with the C3. It's the only brand new piece of my kit, so could still be returned if I determine this is the problem.
4. Something I'm not thinking of, or a cabling problem. It would be awesome if this was the real solution, so I don't need to buy anything else...
I don't mind getting a new mixer or a USB interface for my computer (the USB interface on the Behringer mixer produces this unbearable hum no matter what I do, so I've given up on that already). This is stuff for my business, so I need to be able to produce good quality sounding recordings. I did some other searching around the web and a lot of people seem to say the Behringer mixers are crap, so is this my most likely culprit?
Thoughts on my process and/or suggestions?
Equipment I own
Behringer Xenyx Q1202USB mixer
ART C3 condenser mic
Shure PG58 dynamic mic
Windows 10 PC with onboard sound, and Asus Xonar DG PCI sound card added. Audacity for recording & editing
various XLR and other cables.
Here's how I've got it cabled at the moment.
ART C3 mic into XLR1
2 track out to Xonar sound card line in
Xonar sound card output (the green one) to FX send on mixer (so I can hear myself through headphones)
Headphones connected to headphone jack on mixer
I've got the Level and gain set to 0 on channel 1, and main mix set to 0 on the mixer. Phantom power is turned on, and that's pretty much it. Seems like it should be pretty straightforward, but here's the problem. I'm getting a noticeable hiss which I can't seem to get rid of. I recorded to audacity and checked through a different set of speakers, just to make sure it wasn't some internal thing that I was only hearing on the headphones, and it's definitely coming out of the mixer. If I turn off phantom power and plug my Shure mic in instead, the hiss goes away, but I have to get up so bloody close to the mic to get an acceptable volume, that every breath sound, mouth click, and popping P is audible, so I'm thinking I'd prefer to use the ART mic (also, I think it's a better quality mic?).
So, I feel like this can be 1 of a few different options, let me know if I'm on the right track.
1. Crappy phantom power on mixer. I'm leaning to this, since there's no hissing problem when using the dynamic mic
2. Crappy XLR cables. I tried different cables, no change, but they were both cheap cables, so this is possible, I guess?
3. Mic problem with the C3. It's the only brand new piece of my kit, so could still be returned if I determine this is the problem.
4. Something I'm not thinking of, or a cabling problem. It would be awesome if this was the real solution, so I don't need to buy anything else...
I don't mind getting a new mixer or a USB interface for my computer (the USB interface on the Behringer mixer produces this unbearable hum no matter what I do, so I've given up on that already). This is stuff for my business, so I need to be able to produce good quality sounding recordings. I did some other searching around the web and a lot of people seem to say the Behringer mixers are crap, so is this my most likely culprit?
Thoughts on my process and/or suggestions?