mic input question

[paulf]

So im setting up my own little home studio here, and ive ran into a porblem. I used to make recordings by running a $14 radioshack mic in my soundcard. Now ive gone and bough a proper $80 Shure mic and an adapter to run it into my soundcard.

I ran it into my soundcard and recorded... and it sounded roughly ten times worse than the radioshack mic. It was muddy and almost inaudiable. Its a dynamic mic, but still thought phantom power to be the issue, so i ran the mic into my fender amp, and the line out into my compter. No results, sounds the same.

Anyone know what im doing wrong? I dont want to go spend more money on this if its still going to sound awful.

thanks in advance

 

[mshilarious]

Your Shure mic (SM57 or 58, I would guess) has a much lower output than the RS mic you were using. Your soundcard is going to be rather noisy when asked to increase gain enough for that mic. You will need a preamp to boost the level properly for your soundcard.

 

[scorpio01169]

So im setting up my own little home studio here, and ive ran into a porblem. I used to make recordings by running a $14 radioshack mic in my soundcard. Now ive gone and bough a proper $80 Shure mic and an adapter to run it into my soundcard.

I ran it into my soundcard and recorded... and it sounded roughly ten times worse than the radioshack mic. It was muddy and almost inaudiable. Its a dynamic mic, but still thought phantom power to be the issue, so i ran the mic into my fender amp, and the line out into my compter. No results, sounds the same.

Anyone know what im doing wrong? I dont want to go spend more money on this if its still going to sound awful.

thanks in advance

if you are trying to record into your stock soundcard thats one place you've gone wrong....audio interface is what you need...if you are serious about recording...you're gonna have to shell out some bucks and invest in the proper equipment.

 

[cannabis]

your fender amp - is that a pa or instrument amp?

how does the mic sound live out of the amp?


if it sounds good live, then the problem is from the line out onward

i assume you're connecting the amp's line out to the line in of the soundcard


phantom power is not the issue if it's a dynamic mic

like the sm57 or 58

 

[zacanger]

if you are trying to record into your stock soundcard thats one place you've gone wrong....audio interface is what you need...if you are serious about recording...you're gonna have to shell out some bucks and invest in the proper equipment.

Ja. At least get a better soundcard than the one that came with your computer.

 

[studiomaster]

Get a Firewire 410 by M-audio to get decent recordings to start off with. Or you could get something like the Audiophile 2496 along with a small mixer for pre's.

 

[cannabis]

you should be able to get at least a decent sound

with your stock soundcard



make sure the line-in fader is selected

(as opposed to the mic in)

in your soundcard's recording audio properties

and that the line-in volume is turned up