hiss noise

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bas van Dijk
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Bas van Dijk

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Dear All,

I just bought a Terratec Phase 26 USB soundcard. It is supposed to have a 100+ dB SNR (dBA). However, when I record from the mic input, there is a very clear hissing noise, stable, not fluctuating. It's not the mic, I tried different ones, but the hiss is there, even when I disconnect the mic. It does change with the level knob on the front panel. I think it is also there when I use the Phone input, but much, much less from the line input, so I'm guessing it's the pre-amp. I'm running 24 bits 48kHz. Did a spectral analysis and it shows a clear peak at 9 kHz.

I'm I expecting too much from this soundcard or is there something wrong? It's not cheap and I thought it would be very reasonable quality. Apart from the noise the quality is very good.

Thanks,
Bas
 
this sounds like not the soundcard but an impedence mismatch.
or the fact you need a mic preamp for the microphone.
heres the proper chain of events......
mic(eg low impedence 3 pin xlr eg shure sm57)>>>>>microphone preamp (eg
a mic mixer like yamaha mg or a vtb1)>>>>>sound card line input
is this chain how you have your set up ?
what gear are you using to feed soundcard ?
 
Hi,

Thanks for the reply.
As I said, the hiss is there also when I disconnect the input totally (of course that is the ultimate impedance mismatch).

But, I do not use the line input. The Phase 26 has a mic pre-amp inbuild. There is a 6.3 mm jack input on the front. I use a SM58 with an XLR > Jack cable.

Best wishes,
Bas
 
mic pre's on sound cards ive found tend to be poor. but never tried the phase sound card one. i would suggest you get hold of a mixer or preamp
and plug the mic into it then the output to line input of the sound card.
this is how most recordings are done for quality.
also look at the specs of the mic preamp of the phase. maybe its expecting a higher impedence microphone like one of those dinky computer mics you find at dollar stores for a few bucks with mini jacks on - these are higher impedence.. i suspect it doesnt like the low impedence
of the xlr mic. if using a preamp or mixer going to phase line input the hiss is still there then i might suggest a cabling problem maybe.
other than that i'm stumped. but imho i think the preamp/mixer solution will probably be the solution.
 
Your line Input volume might be turned up too loud and that could be why you are getting the terrible "hiss"
 
Hi guys,

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions.

First of all Manning: I tried to hook up the line output of my BOSS GT-3 into the line input of the terratec. The terratec has a Cinch connection on the front panel: same hiss... And I know that it is not comming from my GT-3. In fact, I've revisited some old recordings I did on my 30$ soundblaster card with the exact same setup and I have to say.. it sounded better :-(
Don't think it cables either, because these are different than the ones I used for the mic.

Now RD423:
RD423 said:
Your line Input volume might be turned up too loud and that could be why you are getting the terrible "hiss"
Click to expand...
Can you explain? The terratec has an input select switch. I assume that when it is on 'mic', the line input is disabled completely..?
But it does sound like there is a 'high gain' open channel mixed in yes....

Thanks again,
Bas
 
well im stumped then bas. sorry.
even with the gt3 ? the only solution is to contact the tech support team for the phase. sorry i cant help further.
 
bas just had a brainstorm ! or a mind melt. dont know if this works.
could it be that if you go into your normal windows mixer app dialogue -
that you have something there not muted thats giving hiss.
did you disable the on board sound of your pc for example. ???
just something to try.
 
Hi Manning,

I've contated support and send them a .wav file with an FFT analysis. ;-)

Thanks for all the help, this forum is wonderful!

Bas
 
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