help related to studio projects b1

[burns]

hi, i really have no idea where to even post this or if this is even the place, but i need help so i might as well give it a shot. if there's a more suitable forum, i would appreciate if it could be moved there. anyhow.. excuse my stupidity if you will

after several years of recordin with cheap microphones i decided i wanted to spend some money on a decent one. i admit i'ma noob and don't know much about condenser mic's or the like. but, i bought a brand new 'studio projects b1 microphone' anyway, after hearin some people rave about it, which i planned to use on my pc (for vox, specifically). it came in the mail a few days ago, and i opened it up and plugged it in (after gettin a 3-pin xlr cable and a 1/4" to 1/8" jack at radioshack). no sound, like i said i'ma noob. i look through the manual again and realize it says i need 48+ volt phantom power supply, so i called around places lookin for that and none of 'em sell it.. so then i ordered the 'ART phantom III' and that came today. so, i plug all of this in, and suddenly i'm gettin this distorted feedback-ish sound (almost like it's pickin up the noises inside the computer) in the headphones, and still no response from the microphone. argh..

i have a creative labs sound blaster live! 24-bit external sound card. i realize i need a new one, but generally speakin i've produced pretty competent results with it so i'm not sure if that's the problem.

how can i get it to work? do i have to buy a mixer and/or preamp? or am i doin somethin wrong within the set-up? please don't be too harsh on me, thanks so much in advance!

 

[pandamonk]

hi, i really have no idea where to even post this or if this is even the place, but i need help so i might as well give it a shot. if there's a more suitable forum, i would appreciate if it could be moved there. anyhow.. excuse my stupidity if you will

after several years of recordin with cheap microphones i decided i wanted to spend some money on a decent one. i admit i'ma noob and don't know much about condenser mic's or the like. but, i bought a brand new 'studio projects b1 microphone' anyway, after hearin some people rave about it, which i planned to use on my pc (for vox, specifically). it came in the mail a few days ago, and i opened it up and plugged it in (after gettin a 3-pin xlr cable and a 1/4" to 1/8" jack at radioshack). no sound, like i said i'ma noob. i look through the manual again and realize it says i need 48+ volt phantom power supply, so i called around places lookin for that and none of 'em sell it.. so then i ordered the 'ART phantom III' and that came today. so, i plug all of this in, and suddenly i'm gettin this distorted feedback-ish sound (almost like it's pickin up the noises inside the computer) in the headphones, and still no response from the microphone. argh..

i have a creative labs sound blaster live! 24-bit external sound card. i realize i need a new one, but generally speakin i've produced pretty competent results with it so i'm not sure if that's the problem.

how can i get it to work? do i have to buy a mixer and/or preamp? or am i doin somethin wrong within the set-up? please don't be too harsh on me, thanks so much in advance!

You definitely have it connected up wrong. Right. It should go Mic > preamp > interface(soundcard). Now that soundcard probably has a mic preamp, but it's shit. So you need a preamp.

Because it's a condenser mic, you also usually need a preamp with 48v phantom power(almost all preamps come with phantom power). However with that box, you can get any pre(there's still a few that don't come with phantom power). If you just want one channel, then this has the cheapest pre i can think of. Then connect the tape/main outputs to the line in.

So connect mic > 48v box > mixer(xlr), outputs > sb live line-in. Bring down the buffer size if you can, during tracking, and it should reduce latency(which you will experience with creative soundcards).

However, If you're looking for the best results, I'd recommend a full upgrade. Get rid of the sb live, and the art.
What is it you're actually recording? Anyway, i'll suggest a setup with 2 inputs:

M-audio DMP3 - $150
Behringer FCA202 - $60
Behringer Truth b2031a(demos) - $200
and some headphones - $15.
$425 for a really decent setup, even though it's mostly behringer...

The Studio Projects B1 is a good budget mic. But with my first suggestion, i doubt you'll hear that. With the second, you should.

Great budget mic, great budget pres, decent convertion/interface(the interface shouldn't change the sound much anyway, unless it adds pops and clicks. I've read a couple good reviews about it too), great budget monitors, all for under $500!!! Then all i gotta suggest is acoustics!

 

[burns]

thanks for all the help. sorry for not respondin earlier, but i was at the rock the bells festival here in NYC the past couple days.

i'ma lil strapped on money at the moment, but i really appreciate those suggestions, i'm gonna save up and look into that set-up. it sounds great. for now, i'll buy the xenyx 502 as a temporary solution. so again, thanks so much! i'll check back once i get all of it set-up and let you know how it works out.

p.s. i'm a general producer, i get my feet wet with a lot of different genres. i make music that ranges from hip-hop to soul to indie rock.

p.p.s. thanks to whoever it was for the neg rep. hater!

 

[pandamonk]

thanks for all the help. sorry for not respondin earlier, but i was at the rock the bells festival here in NYC the past couple days.

i'ma lil strapped on money at the moment, but i really appreciate those suggestions, i'm gonna save up and look into that set-up. it sounds great. for now, i'll buy the xenyx 502 as a temporary solution. so again, thanks so much! i'll check back once i get all of it set-up and let you know how it works out.

p.s. i'm a general producer, i get my feet wet with a lot of different genres. i make music that ranges from hip-hop to soul to indie rock.

p.p.s. thanks to whoever it was for the neg rep. hater!

Btw, the Truths might not be there for much longer, which means you'll have to pay full price, or refurb - $260

 

[burns]

ok, so i got the xenyx 502 yesterday.. i've set everythin up right (i think) and am finally producin results from the mic, but unfortunately there's this ridiculous amount of hiss/feedback. i've never had a problem anythin like this before, even with cheap microphones and that shitty soundcard. i have no idea what's wrong. this is what it sounds like when i try to record:
zshare(dot)net/audio/298592710aebb7/
(replace the (dot) with .)

does this relate to:

Bring down the buffer size if you can, during tracking, and it should reduce latency(which you will experience with creative soundcards).

or could it be the 1/4" to 1/8" adapter i got from radioshack?
radioshack(dot)com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103707&cp=&sr=1&origkw=1%2F4+adapter&kw=1%2F4+adapter&parentPage=search
(replace the (dot) with .)

or is it just the soundcard?

note: i have to turn up the trim all the way on the xenyx 502 just to produce any sound from the microphone.

bah, this is frustratin.

 

[pandamonk]

That's not good... Could you tell me how you have everything setup?

It should go mic > 48v phantom power > mixer, mic preamp(xlr). You should set the level to 0, and use the gain pot to set your levels, making sure not to clip(go into the red) on the LEDs. Then you should go from the tape outs(via 2x rca - 1 stereo mini jack) to the LINE-in of your sound blaster. Check each piece of equipment, if you can, to find the fault.

 

[burns]

It should go mic > 48v phantom power > mixer, mic preamp(xlr). You should set the level to 0, and use the gain pot to set your levels, making sure not to clip(go into the red) on the LEDs.

ok, yes, i got it all correctly to this point.. but then..

Then you should go from the tape outs(via 2x rca - 1 stereo mini jack) to the LINE-in of your sound blaster.

this must be the problem. i was usin the main outs with a 1/4" cable and then usin the 1/4" to 1/8" adapter, haha. gosh damn, i'm dumb. okay, so where can i find that? is that what i should ask for (2x rca to stereo mini jack)?

thanks again for all the help, you have been very kind to a stupid noob like myself!

 

[pandamonk]

ok, yes, i got it all correctly to this point.. but then..

this must be the problem. i was usin the main outs with a 1/4" cable and then usin the 1/4" to 1/8" adapter, haha. gosh damn, i'm dumb. okay, so where can i find that? is that what i should ask for (2x rca to stereo mini jack)?

thanks again for all the help, you have been very kind to a stupid noob like myself!

Well the main outs idea would work, but you'd want to have a Y lead with 2 mono jacks to a stereo mini jack. With 1 mono jack to a stereo mini jack adapter, it'd work i think, but may add noise, and you should pan the mic the correct way. I've heard that if you want to use a mono jack into a stereo jack adapter, you shouldn't push it fully in, or something like that... Maybe i'm wrong.

However, with the 2 rca(phono) to 1 stereo mini jack, i doubt you can go wrong. You should find them at any good music store, or electrical store, selling tvs, hifis, pcs, etc.

Remember, plug into the line-in, not the mic-in, and make sure line-in is chosen in the settings/control panel...

 

[burns]

Remember, plug into the line-in, not the mic-in, and make sure line-in is chosen in the settings/control panel...

ok, i have it all correctly set-up, i believe.

studio projects b1 mic > ART phantom III > xenyx 502 thru xenyx mic preamp (xlr) > tape outputs to sb live! line-in/mic-in.

from what i can tell on my documentation, the mic-in is the same as the line-in on the sb live. i selected line-in in the playback settings in the control panel. for the first time, i'm gettin decent vocals; but it's only on the right side of the headphones, the left still has the feedback hiss (almost sounds like buffering inside the computer).. i can just copy the right channel and paste it over the left channel and get decent vox. but, i'm just wonderin if i'm stuck with this until i get a new soundcard or if maybe somethin is still wrong with the set-up?

 

[pandamonk]

ok, i have it all correctly set-up, i believe.

studio projects b1 mic > ART phantom III > xenyx 502 thru xenyx mic preamp (xlr) > tape outputs to sb live! line-in/mic-in.

from what i can tell on my documentation, the mic-in is the same as the line-in on the sb live. i selected line-in in the playback settings in the control panel. for the first time, i'm gettin decent vocals; but it's only on the right side of the headphones, the left still has the feedback hiss (almost sounds like buffering inside the computer).. i can just copy the right channel and paste it over the left channel and get decent vox. but, i'm just wonderin if i'm stuck with this until i get a new soundcard or if maybe somethin is still wrong with the set-up?

Well, the line-in is usually stereo, and mic-in is mono(i think the line-in might be on the back, as shown below).

Generally, if you are working with 2 channels, you'd want to pan one left and one right, giving you 2 separate channels to work with in the pc. You could change the settings in your software to record mono, which would save you copying the right track to the left(although mono is usually the left channel).