Classical Guitar

  • Thread starter Thread starter BigKahuna
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BigKahuna

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The signal to noise ratio of the mic is probably what's causing the hiss. i.e. ... It worked ok for vocals,drums and amps because those are louder and you didn't have to increase the gain as much. With classical acoustic ... it's a much quieter instrument ... therefore you increase the gain, which in turn increases the noise/hiss. This is not only due to the mic, but also possibly the mic preamp in the SBLive. If you use an external mic preamp and then go into the SBLive's line input, you will get better results.
As far as $400 for a sound card ... you can get a killer sound card for that money.
 
If I ever understand 80% of what's said here, then I think that should qualify me as knowing a third language.

I'm fairly satisfied with micing the amps of my bass and guitar and using the mic jack on my SBLiveP to do it. The $50 mic in the mic jack also worked satisfactorily for the drums and a screaming vocal. However, I got the wind let out of me when I tried to record my classical guitar. The recordings all have an annoying background hiss, despite hours and hours of fiddling with various settings.

Disregarding the sound card for now, what's a recommended equipment setup for recording classical guitar? And what's causing that hiss? Is it possible to get a decently clear sound for about $400?

Many thanks.
 
ya.... for $400 american.... you can get lots of good cards.

I have the gadgetlabs 424. And well I love it.... it records at 96/24 and has 4 tracks in and 4 tracks out all usable at the same time. Plus it has 1/4" jacks.... so no stupid adapters. But there are lotsa other cards for that price range so loook around. BUUUUT watch out, good soundcards don't have a build in preamp(mic port) so you will have to supply your own. So a ART tube preamp should do ya well =) U could get both for close to $400... but probly closer to $450... thats my thoughts anyway....
 
I don't think I would be alone in suggesting that you might (eventually) want to use a condensor mic for recording acoustic guitars.

matt
 
I think if you invest $200 into a Rode NT-1 large diaphragm mic and another $120 into a Behringer Eurotrack MX802A mixer, you'll find the classical guitar starts to sound pretty sweet. Then save some more money for a sound card, and while you are saving, you can research them to be sure you get what you need for the right price.
 
In case I can't find a local shop that carries that microphone, are there any others with similar price and performance that you would recommend?


Muchas gracias.
 
If you can't find the Rode in Tucson, you should be shopping in Phoenix. :)
 
I was looking for a microphone preamp and, given my price range, the Behringer MX 802A was suggested. So coincidentally, I ended up with what was suggested here. I then took another suggestion from here and got (in Tucson...took a while to track it down, however) a Rode NT-1...

I'd just like to thank everyone here for the advice. I did a few quick recordings, and the preliminary results sound very satisfying, many times better than what I was getting through that cursed Radio Shaft mic. I was about to pull my hair out speculating at the possible sources of the background noise and the daunting costs to fix them, but it seems like the vast majority of it was in the mic.

Many, many thanks.
 
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