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BrettMckinney
New member
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!
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!