Home Recording Set Up Help

[SecretDoor]

Hi all, Im in need of some assistance. I have got together a small home recording set up and Im getting hiss in the background of my recordings. This inst your normal hiss its loud and very noticeable. I think its to do with the mic im using. my gear is...

1x Samson C01 Studio Condenser mic
1x Zoom MRS 4 multitrack recorder
1x Stagg Phantom power
2x XLR Leads

The thing is when i plug the condenser into the portable desk its really quiet and if I turn up the gain on the input It begins to get this hiss. Im sure its a simple thing but as Im new to this I thought Id ask

Thanks

 

[JimmyS1969]

It seems your Zoom only has unbalanced inputs. I am not sure how that works with a separate phantom power supply with balanced outs.

Sorry I am of no help here. Sure someone will be along with actual advice.

 

[SecretDoor]

Im recording acoustic guitar from about 6" away. and the gain is set at 12 o clock which is were it begins to get the hiss. Im not boosting any frequencies just plugging in and hitting record

 

[SecretDoor]

The connection is a TS. The audio sounds alright at best. I'll try a dynamic into it and see how that sounds

 

[Atkron205]

first, welcome to the board. How are you converting from XLR to TS? the wiring on a typical XLR connection is Pin 1-ground, Pin 2- positive, Pin 3- negative. Phantom power is going to run in on pin 2. (Don't worry Jimmy will step on me if I am wrong) You may need to go with a interface that provides phantom power and a TS(1/4) output. Then you could run the XLR connection (mic) into the interface, then run the output to the zoom. Really not sure how phantom power will act on a TS connection. never tried it myself. you have signal on pin 2 and pin 3, (that"s what makes it balanced). An unbalanced connection only has a positive (tip) and negative (sleeve). Sorry I don't have a better answer. Good luck

 

[Atkron205]

Cool, yea, I have some of these too. So what happens to the "balanced signal" that is usually on pin 3 when you shunt it to ground? I have adapted mics before but never tried it with a condenser. What could be causing the hiss? I would be interested to see if a dynamic mic produces the same hiss. On my road rig I had 1:1 isolation transformers wired between pins 2 and 3 on all of my snake inputs to prevent hums and hisses. Thanks Mark.

OP lets us know how the dynamic works, got me curious. Thanks