Muffled recordings

[lsnz]

When I record my voice, it sounds muffled. Post processing with high frequency boost and reverb helps some, but the problem is still noticeble. I have tried 4 mics, including an SM58. I have recorded with and without a mic preamp, tried both line in and mic jacks on the sound card, tried singing loud and soft, close to the mic and far away. My wife and son both sound fine when they record, even with a cheap mic directly into the sound card.

My setup is: directly to hard disk on a PC, using Cool Edit; instruments are audio files generated from midi (they sound great). The only problem is getting my voice to record well. I don't have this problem when going to analogue tape. Does anyone have any suggestions that might help solve this problem?

 

[distortedrumble]

if your voice is bassy then going directly into the system might be taking the highs out of it if the bass is more prominent. get a small mixer and try using a pre amp on that rather than a standalone.

 

[noisedude]

You need a preamp. Honestly. Pick up a Behringer UB502 for peanuts and connect it to the Line In (NOT the Mic In) of your soundcard. You can't really record without a preamp, you must believe me on this.

Are you right on top of the mic? Cardioid mics such as the SM58 have 'proximity effect' i.e. when you get closer they get bassier. Back off - you're not playing live so it's ok that you can't smell yesterday's curry on the mic grille!

An SM58 doesn't have the most detailed high-frequencies either, boosting your EQ doesn't make up for frequencies that aren't there. Get that Behringer mini-mixer, experiment with the low-cut filter and make sure you get your gain structure right:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct00/articles/soundcard.htm