Getting started

[JakeTheBaker]

Right now what I have is an A.I.R fat boy condenser microphone with a cheap pop filter. Basically I just wanna start recording vocals and shit but I am too much of a newbie to figure this out.

So the mic has an XLR input so obviously what I need is an XLR cable. But to connect it to my PC i apparently need a phantom power supply? and an interface? or a pre-amp? whut?

Exactly what components do I need to get to get this thing rolling without the sound quality suffering at any stage? The sound card on my PC is ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI. I feel like if I get an adapter from XLR to 1/8 inch the sound quality would suffer. Maybe. I honestly have no idea but I would like to get this right before I spend any money.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[ecc83]

Right now what I have is an A.I.R fat boy condenser microphone with a cheap pop filter. Basically I just wanna start recording vocals and shit but I am too much of a newbie to figure this out.

So the mic has an XLR input so obviously what I need is an XLR cable. But to connect it to my PC i apparently need a phantom power supply? and an interface? or a pre-amp? whut?

Exactly what components do I need to get to get this thing rolling without the sound quality suffering at any stage? The sound card on my PC is ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI. I feel like if I get an adapter from XLR to 1/8 inch the sound quality would suffer. Maybe. I honestly have no idea but I would like to get this right before I spend any money.

Any help would be appreciated!

Hi Jake,
I can't find much info on that microphone but it seems to be a fairly generic Chinese capacitor (aka condenser) large side address design, after the style of the T bones and Beringers. These are not at all bad mics and the A.I.R. should serve you well for the time being. ... Sorry! That is the end of the good news!

Yes, you need an Audio Interface, why?
The AI does several jobs but most importantly it has a mic pre amp in it to phantom power the mic and lift its signal to a level that can be converted to digital and sent (via USB these days) to the computer*.

Then AS important, it "decodes" the digital data and presents it in a controllable form that can be auditioned on headphones or, much better, on speakers and these speakers should be proper "monitors" specifically designed for the accurate reproduction of the recorded sound. PC speakers will not do here!

The sound card is of no use to you for "serious" sound work but in any case, any AI you buy will take over all duties regarding sound reproduction from the PC.

There is much more to learn. Room treatment (because it will sound crap, they all do!) Optimizing the computer. The Jargon! Have a good read of the stickies, especially the one listing interfaces. You can get one that gives excellent results for £100 but do consider what you might want to do in the future? Spending a little more, £50-70, now could be a wise move.

*What you have now, sight unseen, is surely good enough for recording. If it runs Win 7 it will surely run quite a few track of audio. But tell us anyway!

Jusfort! You will need a pop filter.
Dave.

 

[JakeTheBaker]

Hi Jake,
I can't find much info on that microphone but it seems to be a fairly generic Chinese capacitor (aka condenser) large side address design, after the style of the T bones and Beringers. These are not at all bad mics and the A.I.R. should serve you well for the time being. ... Sorry! That is the end of the good news!

Yes, you need an Audio Interface, why?
The AI does several jobs but most importantly it has a mic pre amp in it to phantom power the mic and lift its signal to a level that can be converted to digital and sent (via USB these days) to the computer*.

Then AS important, it "decodes" the digital data and presents it in a controllable form that can be auditioned on headphones or, much better, on speakers and these speakers should be proper "monitors" specifically designed for the accurate reproduction of the recorded sound. PC speakers will not do here!

The sound card is of no use to you for "serious" sound work but in any case, any AI you buy will take over all duties regarding sound reproduction from the PC.

There is much more to learn. Room treatment (because it will sound crap, they all do!) Optimizing the computer. The Jargon! Have a good read of the stickies, especially the one listing interfaces. You can get one that gives excellent results for £100 but do consider what you might want to do in the future? Spending a little more, £50-70, now could be a wise move.

*What you have now, sight unseen, is surely good enough for recording. If it runs Win 7 it will surely run quite a few track of audio. But tell us anyway!

Jusfort! You will need a pop filter.
Dave.

Thanks for the response! Already got a pop filter so all good on that front.

This thing has the best reviews and is also in a sensible price range Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 - Thomann Suomi. It only comes with a XLR-->1/4" cable so I reckon I also need an adapter for either 1/4" to line in or XLR to USB or something of that sort. Does adding adapters mess with the sound quality at all?

 

[Steenamaroo]

Thanks for the response! Already got a pop filter so all good on that front.

This thing has the best reviews and is also in a sensible price range Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 - Thomann Suomi. It only comes with a XLR-->1/4" cable so I reckon I also need an adapter for either 1/4" to line in or XLR to USB or something of that sort. Does adding adapters mess with the sound quality at all?

Phantom power is only supplied over the XLR connector.
Also, the preamps are 'behind' the XLR input - not TRS/TS inputs.
You'd need an XLR male to XLR female cable - No adapters.

 

[ecc83]

Adapters Jake do not OF THEMSELVES affect sound quality (most of us are for instance forced to use a 1/4" to 1/8" headphone adapter) but many are cheaply and badly made or get loose and crackly over time. The best philosophy is to avoid them whenever you can and if you MUST use one check it regularly and ask here if there is a better solution, e.g. a "custom" cable.

One of the few adapters that I use and find reliable is the RCA/phono to 1/4" jack.

On the AI front. The 2i2 is a very good interface (but quite why it is SO popular I really don't know!) but it IS about as basic as they get. I would urge you to read more, think on and maybe look at other units?

Dave.

 

[JakeTheBaker]

Phantom power is only supplied over the XLR connector.
Also, the preamps are 'behind' the XLR input - not TRS/TS inputs.
You'd need an XLR male to XLR female cable - No adapters.

Yes of course but the cable between the audio interface and the computer would have to be an XLR to USB right ?

 

[ecc83]

Yes of course but the cable between the audio interface and the computer would have to be an XLR to USB right ?

Noooooo! The interface to computer cable will be a USB "B" to "A" cable (A goes to PC) . A suitable lead will be supplied with whichever interface you decide upon.

Bit of quick dope on common audio cable (but DO read the stickies!)

XLR (female 3pin) to XLR (male 3 pin) : Used by anything but the cheapest, crap mic to connect to an AI, mixer or pre amp. Also used for "line " level signals but normally only found on "pro" setups*.

Tip Sleeve jack and plug (aka TS ) used for unbalanced audio e.g. guitar, guitar amps to speakers.

Tip Ring Sleeve jack and plug (aka TRS) used for balanced line signals e.g. a mic pre amp to a recorder of some sort. Also used to carry stereo signal e.g. headphones.

DIN 5pin leads: Now almost only ever found as MIDI connectors tho' some manufacturers who should know better still use them for low voltage power.

*NB, "Active" monitor speakers almost universally have an XLR input but few AIs have XLR outs so you would need an XLR to TRS jack lead in principle. Fortunately monitors always use a "combi" XLR socket that accepts a TRS plug.

Lots to learn Jake Innit?! Get to it chap!

Dave.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Yes of course but the cable between the audio interface and the computer would have to be an XLR to USB right ?

Negative. The interface is a USB device, just like a printer or anything else.
It takes analog audio, amplifies it, converts it to digital, then communicates that as data over USB...All in one neat little box.

The chain is mic - XLR to XLR cable - interface - Usb cable - computer.

 

[JakeTheBaker]

Ok I got the interface all set up and ready to go. Right now it goes Mic--> XLR-XLR cable----> Focusrite 2i2------> USB cable-----> computer

But my computer isn't picking up any signal from the microphone. Skype doesn't get anything from "Line in scarlett 2i2 USB", the sound control doesn't pick up anything from the scarlett 2i2, and I can't record on Ableton either. The audio interface's 48V phantom power light is on and whenever I flip a switch on the microphone the circle around the "gain" control lights up green. So it's deffo connected but for some reason there is no signal.

I did download all the drivers for the 2i2, so should be all good on that front as well. Anyone got any ideas why this is not working ? I'm confused

 

[Steenamaroo]

Ok I got the interface all set up and ready to go. Right now it goes Mic--> XLR-XLR cable----> Focusrite 2i2------> USB cable-----> computer

But my computer isn't picking up any signal from the microphone. Skype doesn't get anything from "Line in scarlett 2i2 USB", the sound control doesn't pick up anything from the scarlett 2i2, and I can't record on Ableton either. The audio interface's 48V phantom power light is on and whenever I flip a switch on the microphone the circle around the "gain" control lights up green. So it's deffo connected but for some reason there is no signal.

I did download all the drivers for the 2i2, so should be all good on that front as well. Anyone got any ideas why this is not working ? I'm confused

Ok, it's physically set up correctly and you're getting a signal to interface, from the sounds of things.
You need to be certain that the interface is installed and detected correctly.

What OS are you running. Sorry if you already mentioned. I don't see it.
I'm not a windows guy but you'll be looking for control panel / hardware / device manager, or something similar.
See if the USB interface is listed there.

If it is, you need to make sure it's selected as the input device for the applications you listed.
If the applications rely on whatever's chosen for system I/O, then you need to choose the interface as your windows sound device.

Let us know how you get on, please.

 

[JakeTheBaker]

Aight i got it working ! Basically the volume was too low on the audio interface, I just cranked that all the way up on both ableton and the 2i2 and the signal is coming out and it's REALLY good. Like super smooth, 0 feedback. Now I just need to train my voice a little bit to get that good shit going. I'll post here if I run into more trouble, thanks for all the help sofar !

 

[DM60]

Aight i got it working ! Basically the volume was too low on the audio interface, I just cranked that all the way up on both ableton and the 2i2 and the signal is coming out and it's REALLY good. Like super smooth, 0 feedback. Now I just need to train my voice a little bit to get that good shit going. I'll post here if I run into more trouble, thanks for all the help sofar !

FYI - you may want to pull back the volume a bit so you don't clip the little pre-amps in the interface. I ran into this problem a few months back when I was doing playback and was getting a terrible sound. For output volume I would not push it more than 75% as a general rule.