Mic - Preamp - Compressor - Audio Interface (Low Input Signal vs High Hiss Noise)

M

mactreouser

New member
HI,
All the while, I recorded my vocal & instruments like guitar directly from the Mics (condenser & dynamic) to the Audio Interface.
And, recently, grabbed a preamp + compressor for recording. Sound is good! In fact, facing an issue ~ Low Input Signal BUT High Hiss Noise Level!!! This makes me spent a big times to tweak the Denoiser + Expander + Noise Gate to reduced the Hiss Noise. Indeed, quality/colour of the recorded audio like guitar, cello... not as sweet & pretty like the source anymore after the tweaked!

My setting was :
Mic to Preamp to Compressor to Interface (am I wrong?)

Mic directly recorded from the audio interface (previously) given High Input Signal and Hiss Noise was acceptable.
But now, thru the preamp + compressor (I though it supposed producing Higher Input Signal) Input Signal was low. When turns up the Gain Level from the interface, Hiss Noise is turning up too.

Hope to hear from your precious suggestion and advices! Your replies are appreciated!
Thanks in advanced! ;)
 
sasquatch said:
Sounds like a gain staging problem.
You want the bulk of your gain at the mic pre.

Gary
Click to expand...

Gary,
Appreciate to your prompt reply!
In fact, the Gain on Mic Pre was all the way UP :P Still, the Output from Mic Pre was as high as possible (before Hiss Obviously ringing in)!

What do you think?
 
Set the gain on the preamp so that all the yellow leds are lit most of the time and the reds are just blinking here and there. If you are using a condenser, turn on the phantom power.

Bypass the compressor for right now, but make sure the output of the compressor is at unity, 12:00 should be unity.

Set the input of the firepod to unity and you should have proper recording levels.

If not, take the compressor out of the chain, just for troubleshooting purposes. Hook the preamp right to the line input of the firepod. Did anything change? If it did, you either hooked the compressor up wrong, or have it set so far into the reduction that you don't have much signal coming out.

If you still have to crank both the preamp and the firepod to get enough signal, the preamp is broken.
 
Farview said:
Set the gain on the preamp so that all the yellow leds are lit most of the time and the reds are just blinking here and there. If you are using a condenser, turn on the phantom power.

Bypass the compressor for right now, but make sure the output of the compressor is at unity, 12:00 should be unity.

Set the input of the firepod to unity and you should have proper recording levels.

If not, take the compressor out of the chain, just for troubleshooting purposes. Hook the preamp right to the line input of the firepod. Did anything change? If it did, you either hooked the compressor up wrong, or have it set so far into the reduction that you don't have much signal coming out.

If you still have to crank both the preamp and the firepod to get enough signal, the preamp is broken.
Click to expand...

Wow... This is quite clear and I'll proceed to the troubleshooting steps soon!
What I was curious is, When I hooked those chain into Zoom R24 (Gain/Input level @ around 10:00) ,sound far better than Hooked on Firepod! Though, audio recorded from R24 still contents the Hiss Noise (lower than the result from Firepod) ,but I'm still able to remove the hiss noise easily via a couple steps of expander, noise remover and EQ!
In fact, I recorded Acoustic Guitar via R24 (SM57A + a unit of Behringer C2) vs Cello Recorded via Firepod (neumann M147 + Audix OM5) with the same chain setup. So, Cello input level was far lower than the guitar ones, and noise level higher than the guitar ones!

Preamp Broken:
A normal preamp will sending high output level? Which means, Compressor will surely received High Input Level from Preamp, where signal c'ld be reach the yellow lit on the level meter? In another word, if the Gain & Output level turn all the way up to maximum, and the input signal from compressor still as low as -30 to -18, this means definitely Preamp is Broken? Am I correct?

Thank you and appreciate!! ;)
 
Possibly. Is there a level switch on the compressor? Is there a level switch on the preamp? If the preamp puts out -10 line level and the compressor is expecting +4 line level, that could be part of the problem as well.

There is no reason why the preamp should be cranked all the way up. What do the meters on the preamp say the level is?
 
I have same issue low mic recording.
With hissing/ground noise.
Set up is Mic to

Neve 1073SPX to Warm Audio Wa76 to Warm Audio WA2A then to UAD Apollo x16​

Can I have help with solution energency
 
With that signal chain, it almost has to be a gain staging problem. Possibly too much gain reduction on the two compressors having to be brought up at the interface. Without seeing the levels, it's just guessing.
 
Farview said:
With that signal chain, it almost has to be a gain staging problem. Possibly too much gain reduction on the two compressors having to be brought up at the interface. Without seeing the levels, it's just guessing.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply the 76 is just hitting the beginning of red and is +4 to GR
The A2A output at 70, peak reduction 60 and gain reduction flat 0 set to compress
 
Not sure exactly what you are saying.
How much gain reduction is happening in each compressor?
If you are, for example, hitting the 76 such that it is 12db into reduction, so you are adding 12db of makeup gain, then going in to the a2a and getting another 12db of reduction, then adding that back with makeup gain, it would cause your problem.
 
Farview said:
Not sure exactly what you are saying.
How much gain reduction is happening in each compressor?
If you are, for example, hitting the 76 such that it is 12db into reduction, so you are adding 12db of makeup gain, then going in to the a2a and getting another 12db of reduction, then adding that back with makeup gain, it would cause your problem.
Click to expand...
It worked and every working now
 
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