MXL 990/991+TASCAM 144 White Noise/Hiss

  • Thread starter Thread starter sailfast
  • Start date Start date
S

sailfast

New member
Hi y'all,

I am brand new to home recording music, and I just received an MXL 990 mic, a 991 mic, and a Tascam 144 mkII USB interface with 2 audio cables.

I plugged in the 991 to record some acoustic guitar in garage band, and I get a constant white noise/hissing sound as soon as I begin to record. For the "input knobs" I have a choice of turning the knob down (says "line") or up, (says "mic"). The white noise is reduced if I have the knob turned all the way down, but not eliminated, and the mic does not pick up the guitar very well. If I turn the knob all the way up, it picks up the guitar, and a ton of white noise.
I have tried...
- mic closer and mic further, (2in to 12 in, no difference in hiss)
- using the other input, no difference
- using the 990 mic, still no difference
- moving the mic like 15 feet away from my laptop

My room is not huge and echoey, nor is it all that loud. I know I am bound to get some background noise, but this almost drowns out the guitar.

I would love, love some help.

Thanks!!
-Will
 
- Yup! phantom power is on
- Yes, the SIG/OL light goes green, and reddish if it gets too loud.
- I do not have any electrics at school unfortunately, so I can't test that :/
- I have tried it with headphones, yes, and still the same :/
 
if XLR means the three prong thing, then they are XLR to XLR. They are def the same on both ends.

thanks for the interest!
 
sailfast said:
if XLR means the three prong thing, then they are XLR to XLR. They are def the same on both ends.

thanks for the interest!
Click to expand...

yep thats the one and there goes my theory then hurmmph

It sounds like some sorta problem with the interface
 
poo. The interface is brand spankin new out of the box. I will tell you my setup as it lies: mic>XLR>XLR>interface>USB>comp>garage band.

Now this is interesting -- could be totally irrelevant. My computer speakers get feedback from a radio station whenever they are on. Could it be that the same thing is getting to my wires leading to the interface and so forth? does that sort of thing happen with stuff like this? just a random thought. Thanks for your help, seriously ha. I am so eager, yet so frustrated and so clueless.

it is like a loud, hissing "shhhh" sound as soon as the mic begins to record.
 
I not the best with computers so I'm not really sure if its relevant, maybe someone else can chime in with that.

Ok next round of question :D

Is the sound always happening?
Does it only hiss when the mics plugged in?
Does it happen when the phantom power is off?
And does it happen with both of the inputs in the interface?

Sorry for the 20 questions.
 
The sound is always happening on playback while the microphone is recording -- like when I play the guitar or sing and then listen to it back (playback?), I hear the obnoxious "shhh" over everything. When the phantom power is turned off, I don't think the mic functions at all.

yes, it happens with both inputs, and both cords :(, and both mics. but the "shh" noise sounds a bit different with the different mics, if that helps at all
 
It definetly sounds like an interface problem. Are you about to test the interface on another computer?
 
I am not, no. Should I?

I got decent sound out of it, but I still cannot seem to ditch that background noise :/
 
Whatever the problem is, it isn't phantom power. Without phantom power a condenser will have no output at all, not even low noisy output.

The different noise of the two mics suggests it's the mics. Can you borrow some other mic to try out?
 
Damn I was on the completely wrong track :facepalm:

Maybe get 10 posts and post a recording of both mics?
 
Some hardware supplies "phantom power" that's something like 12V rather than 48V. That works on lots of stuff but not everything. Can you measure the voltage coming from the US-144MKII?
 
I have the same mics you mention and I use them with my Tascam DP24 console. I do have a little noise with this setting. Yet, it is not something that prevents me from recording and making quality tracks.

Keep in mind, all electronic components have a "base-line electronic noise"; some worse than others. Do this, plug your headphones in your computer and raise the volume to 100% with nothing playing (the computer must be on) and I am sure you will hear static noise. That is natural. Add the mic and the interface, and the noise gets louder. Totally normal. If you have fluorescent lights in the room, that makes it even worse.

By the way, I hope you have nice XLR cables. Do not go cheap on the cables!!

Now, back to solving the problem: record like you are doing. Make sure you do not spike, yet you have good volume. Process your recording with your music software by doing noise reduction. This is how you do it: when you start recording any track for a multi-track recording of a song, start recording and for the first 10 secs do not make a noise (background noise recording) and start playing after those 10 secs. Using your software, use those initial 10 seconds as your noise profile for the software to filter-out from the entire recording. I use Audacity to eliminate this noise. It works every time.

Happy recordings!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top