Need some help setting up...please!

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BrettMckinney

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Hey guys, firstly..just found this site and oh my god..why couldnt have found it earlier! Oh well. ANyway..i'm a musician who has been doing home pc recording for about a year now just doing it very basically. Heres what i have, a Soundblaster Audigy, Shure BG2.1 mic and some Koss heaphones. The way i've done it is to just plug the mic in the mic-in jack on the soundcard and fire up Cakewalk Sonar and record the tracks in that and edit in Soundforge.

I've done a few tracks and to be honest they've scrubbed up alright. Now yes, i am aware that just plugging the mic in the back and using that for vocals and micing up guitar is very bad..i boost the signal in the sound properties and yep, very hissy.
So last night i made a promise to take the next step, i went and bought a 6 channel mixer. Its just a basic one, but has all i need(i hope) 3 band eq on all channels, pre-amp(yay) and phantom power. Now this is the first time i've played with one so im a bit unsure of how to operate it properly.

My main problem is this. To get my mixer to the soundcard i use the phono 6.5mm left and right plugs and go to line in on the soundcard with 3.5 stereo plug. (right??) Now, i go to my sound poperties and put my line level settings to full and the 'line' record setting to full. Now heres the problem. I fired up Cakewalk and when i talk into the mic, the level is clipping on the track but there is hardly a peep coming out of the mixer! Im confused with all the level dials! As i have, the trim control on the channel, the channel level dial and the main mix level(all on the mixer) plus then the record level on the soundcard.

Now if i plug my headphones just into the mixer and crank it up it sounds great..no distortion. But when i plug them into the soundcard, its twice as quite. And if i pump up the mixer i start to hear myself but its too loud on the soundcard..and distorts. I've tried turning down the record and then turning up the mixer but it just doesnt sound as good, and harder to hear. Soo..just to see what would happen, i used to rca outputs to a 3.5 mono and plugged it in the mic in on the soundcard...duhduh..the sound was loud again..and yes more noisy.

Now this cant be the correct way can it? I mean..the mic in is just mono..so whats the point of having the mixing desk? I just thought the line-in would be exactly what the mixer is sending it. This is the help i need! THe only theory i have is that its just a dynamic microphone and too quiet..so putting it in the mic jack amplifies it. Tomorrow i'm going to buy a Samson co1 condenser so hoping that helps things along. I'd really appreciate some feedback as i feel i stuck in limbo. Thanks..sorry about the big read too!
 
Try to follow your signal flow through the system, and make sure the levels are correct.

The first point will be your preamp trim or gain. Turn the channel gain and bus gain to UNITY, and the EQ flat. Then, turn the preamp up until you get the right level through the mixer. You should be able to see the level on the mixer's meter.

Once you know that you have proper levels running through your mixer, you can adjust your levels in the computer, itself.

The object is to get as much signal, without clipping, on to tape.
 
Yeah, the thing is though, that it distorts without even having much volume, the quality of sound is very ordinary. Is it possible that maybe the line-in jack on my soundcard is blown? Ages ago i plugged in my amp from its output to it and maybe that could have done somthing? Just finding it strange that if i go into the mic-in that the volume is the same as what the mixer is but line in is quiet and distorted.

So with the gains, the channel gain should stay at 0, i only ever use 1 channel, and the main mix at 0 too, and then just use the trim gain till the signal is coming through good..is that right? I have to hide my computer i think, i can hear the fan spinning!
 
You don't have to have your line-in fader on full. At least I don't. I think you're asking for noise and distortion if you have anything in the signal chain maxed out. Try turning down the line in on the windows mixer (or the Audigy mixer), and follow what Doug said about unity gain. If your mixer has meters or peak indicators, make sure nothing is red-lining. Sounds like you just need to clean up the path somewhere along the line.

ed
 
Ahh!! i found the problem! My line-in jack on the soundcard is stuffed!..or maybe there is a problem with the card? But anyway, i just took my mixer and mic to a friends computer, set all gains to 0 and trim to half, pluged in my 2 outputs from the mixer to his line-in and put my headphones in his soundcard. Ta-da..fine. The sound was clean..and sounded much the same as when i just put my headphones in the mixer. I had the windows line level up full and no distortion or anything. So it must be my soundcard.

One thing though, is it better to go from my mixer to the soundcard, then the line out of the sound card back to the mixer and then put my headphones in the mixer? The sound does have much less noise when i listen through the mixer. To all you computer recorders, how do you stop the mic from picking up your fans etc...i get noise constantly from it.
 
Yeah, you might've fried the card when you hooked an amp up to it!

Some people actually get extension cables to move their towers out of the recording room, as some computer's fans are loud. That is one way to deal with the sound.
 
Yeah might have to think about the cables. The plus side of my Audigy line-in dying...now im forced to buy a decent recording card!
 
Yeah might have to think about the cables. The plus side of my Audigy line-in dying...now im forced to buy a decent recording card!
 
Yeah might have to think about the cables. The plus side of my Audigy line-in dying...now im forced to buy a decent recording card!
 
Just hit the 'submit' button one time.........................it may take awhile sometimes, but you'll avoid double and triple posting. Some folks around here will tear you up for this type of infraction!!!! Just a little FYI !

ed
 
Yeah sorry guys! Wasnt intentional. I thought my net has stuffed up. Wont happen again..i hope
 
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