i need help!!!

[dcoz3md]

i am trying to record vocals on logic express. i keep getting unwanted background noise when i do. it sounds almost like dead air. im using a rode ntk hooked up to a behringer xenyx 1204fx. can anybody help me? do you think my mic's broken?

 

[Massive Master]

Check your gain staging. I know it's not what you want to hear, but you're using one of the noisiest preamps I've ever heard through one of the noisiest mixers I've ever used. You need to keep it as "straight line" as possible. EVERYTHING in the chain at unity except the pre-gain (which you should set to give you levels floating around -18 to -15dB(FS)RMS or so. No effects (back to the "noisiest" part), no EQ (noisy), no nothing. In, gain, out.

 

[danny.guitar]

I've had a noise that sounded like wind hitting a mic and it was the cable. And the 2nd time it was the mic...so those are 2 other possibilities.

 

[TimN]

Where are you recording the vocals? Remember, that mic is going to pick up any noise, whether its the computer, a furnace, air rushing through a distant vent, etc. Surround yourself with blankets-- hang them from the ceiling so they are in back of the mic (no more than a foot back), and behind you (I'm assuming you're standing up, though you of course can sit--then throw the blankets over a clothes drying rack). If and when you record acoustic guitar, the blankets are a must. I use wool army blankets, doubled over. The other posts are correct--I use the same things you do (Xenyx), though I'm using a Behringer B-1, which I'm sure is noisier than the Rode. I've had good results, but up until I isolated myself (as much as that is possible), noise always ruined or comprimised the recording.

P.S.: Yeah, what MM said really is important: No EQ, or anything else . . . .

 

[dcoz3md]

i also used a m-audio mobilepre and got the same sound. this is pissing me off
im going to bring my mic by a friends house and hook it up to his stuff and see if it gets the same sound, i hope its a cable and not the mic. that would really suck cuz i bought it off e-bay

 

[dcoz3md]

his computer wouldnt read my mic for some reason, its a really old computer, about 10 yo or something. someone on a different forum said it might be my triode. i dont want to buy another one if its not that.

 

[gecko zzed]

there is many a slip . . . etc.

so you need to work through a process of elimination.

Is it mike, cable, pre, mixer or something else.

Here are some of the things I would consider:

1 The NTK needs phantom power. Have you got this switched on?

2 Have you tried the mike through another system? Your statement that "his computer wouldnt read my mic for some reason" doesn't make sense to me. Computers don't 'read' mikes, unless you have a USB mike, which the NTK isn't.

3 Have you tried another mike through your system?

4 Have you tried another mike cable?

5 Have you checked the signal path to ensure that there is a signal getting through, i.e. the path is routed through correctly?

6 Are you getting any vocal signal at all, or are you just getting noise from the mixer? For example, do the mixer LEDs light up when you say something?

7 If you are geting some vocal signal, is it possible that the mike is around the wrong way. The little gold dot should be towards you.

 

[dcoz3md]

i have the phantom power on. i tried the mic at a friends house and i dont know what it was but it wouldnt work over there. it just said searching devices for some reason. im going to try his mic through my system this weekend. i havent tried an other cable yet because the ntk cord has 7 holes and my friends has 3 and i dont want to buy one till i know that its the cord. the path is routed correctly, i can record but it sounds like shit. and its pointing the right way. here are two samples of how it sounds

1 normalized http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V8GWSUS9

2 before normalize http://www.megaupload.com/?d=K9UK21IO

 

[Studio Vinex]

Hmm. You may need to download the drivers for the mobile pre. Other than that, I also had the MP and plugged it right in my ports and recorded right off the bat. As far as the microphone, are you certain nothing is in the background? Sounds like a dryer in the background. Also try different cords, and different computers. As you said his computer was very old so that might have some effect. Might be a faulty mic. Ive had experiences with the NTK and really there were no problems.