Low levels on Mixer

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nicknoel

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For some reason I can't get levels on my mixer's VU meter unless the gain is turned up all the way. When I plug the mixer into my computer and record the levels are much higher without having to turn the gain all the way up, howver there is a constant hiss in the recording. This hiss is present regardless of whether a mic is plugged into the board. I have tried using a different mic, different cable and a different mixer, but I get pretty much the same results. Any ideas?

This is the equipment I'm using

Behringer XENYX 1204USB
SM 58
Behringer C1
Audacity or Adobe Soundbooth to record
 
Hiss wise, Have you zero'd all the channels that you're not using?
If not that'll contribute.

How loud is the hiss in comparison to your signal? Some hiss is probably normal, but it shouldn't be ridiculous.
 
Yes, every unused channel is zero'd. The hiss isn't too bad, the track is still listenable and when I play it back on my computer speakers most people may not notice it. However, when I listen to it in my headphones it becomes much more pronounced. I listen to a great many podcasts with the same headphones and none of them have this problem. Maybe some of them were just recorded with better gear, but many of the shows I listen to are fairly low-fi. I have tried using a noise removal filter in post, but it usually creates problems with the recording.
 
This may be a silly question, but are you using the XLR input or the 1/4" input on the mixer?
 
If the reverb returns are turned up, that will put noise on the stereo bus. Or, maybe the noise is related to the input channels having built in compression.. check that as well.
 
I keep the compression knob turned as low as possible and turn the effects off. If that is the problem, then I guess its inherent to the mixer and there isn't anything I can do about it.
 
My limited experience with a Xenyx mixer got the same result - crappy preamps. I took it back the next day and got a Mackie.
 
I returned the behringer and bout a Mackie ProFX8. Unfortunately, the exact same thing is happening. Having to turn the gain all the way up may be due to using the SM 58, but I have no idea what is causing the hissing sound. It is present in the same amount no matter how high I turn up the gain. It's very frustrating.
 
OK, isolate the problem.

Try a different mic,
Try a different cable
Try a different amp/mixer. (computer line in, guitar amp, anything just to prove where the fault is)
Try the using the main outputs
If you are already , try the ctrl room outputs
hell, try the alt. outputs.
Is there a headphone output? Try that.
Try a different set of speakers
try different cables going to the speakers.


Basically, assume that every piece of gear you have is faulty, then prove yourself wrong without doubt for each piece.
Simples :)


Of course as I said (and you said) this may just be par for the course.
Upload an mp3 with some reasonable parameters.
Normal talking volume, about 6 inches from the mic, gain at a reasonable level, maybe try to peak at -15 in software or thereabouts.


If i play a commercial mp3 at normal listening level then immediately flick to an audio voiceover session or similar, the VO will be pretty much inaudible by comparison. That throws a lot of people.
 
I have been messing around with the mixer and I think many of the issues were simply not understanding the nature of the SM 58. Whats weird though, is that when I plug my headphones into the mixer everything sounds great, but if I record to my computer and then listen to the recording on my headphones then the hiss is present. However, if I listen to the recording on my speakers then it sounds fine. Also, when I export it to mp3 the recording sounds distorted compared to the project file. I'm really confused as to what could be happening here. I have uploaded a very short sample of what I'm talking about, you'll probably need headphones to hear what I mean. Maybe what i'm hearing is normal and I'm just driving myself crazy for no reason.
 
if it sounds distorted compared to the project file when you export it then you may need to change the sample rate, I'm not an expert but that seems basic knowledge from my physics lessons
 
ollie99 said:
if it sounds distorted compared to the project file when you export it then you may need to change the sample rate, I'm not an expert but that seems basic knowledge from my physics lessons
Click to expand...

At the moment my sample rate is 44100 at 32 bits. I think may software may record higher, I'll give that a shot.
 
I read somewhere that CD quality is 44100 at 16 bits, not exactly sure what the bits actually are though?
 
If your file is worse after bouncing then that's a whole separate issue.
Check through all your settings when you bounce to make sure you haven't done anything.
Maybe there's an auto normalize or something turned on?


Without hearing the clip I can't answer for certain, but I'm starting to think if you need headphones to hear the hiss, it's probably just the 'normal' level of hiss that you'll get with any budget interface/mixer.

It could even be down to the quality of the headphone amp in your mixer?!
 
When I get a chance I'll try an upload the clip again. To address the possibility of it being the headphone amp in my mixer, I am playing the clip on my computer, with my headphones plugged into it. The mixer is out of the picture.
 
does this happen to every track you record?
if not then maybe you could go through each track and work out if perhaps its a particular instrument.
 
Don't bother with recording 32 bit. There is no such thing as a 32 bit converter, so you aren't recording at 32 bit and you aren't playing back at 32 bit. It all gets truncated down to 24 bit by the time you listen to it. It should not affect the quality of the audio, since there was only 24 bits of information in the first place.
 
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