Mic/Soundcard Noise

  • Thread starter Thread starter DavesGuitar
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DavesGuitar

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Hi everyone, really hoping you can help. I play a few instruments and sometimes like to record my own stuff. I decided to get a better microphone, and purchased a 'Skytronic Cardioid Microphone 173.801.'. I tried a few mics in the music store and this one was great for Vocal and Guitar. Unfortunatly having got it back its just as bad as my old mics when recording on my laptop. I use Cool Edit and have a ' Realtek AC '97 Audio' soundcard. I know its not a brilliant sound card but all I want is noise free recording and what I get is full of noise (even silence). Also the mic is knowhere near as responsive as when it was plugged into the amps, and even when my mic is selected at max volume at audio controls I have to shout to get the desired volume. I fear the mic is too good for my crap soundcard and I may return the mic to the store. However if anyone can help me in making more of the setup I have I would be very appreciative.
Thanks
Dave
 
DavesGuitar said:
However if anyone can help me in making more of the setup I have I would be very appreciative.
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If you are adapting the xlr plug from the mic cable down to 1/8" at your soundcard, it's not going to work. You're going to need a mic preamp to boost the signal before it gets to the soundcard, which you could also benefit by upgrading.
 
Are you using an outboard mixer or the preamps built into the soundcard? The biggest noise in any of my recordings has come from preamps. I just have never had a decent mixer for recording. I solved this problem by buying the M-Audio USB Omnistudio from Musician's Friend for $200.00 It gave me virtually noise free recording (better than -100db) using my shure sm-57's. It has great pre's built in and I primarily use it to record on my iBook.
 
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